SBTi Marks 1,000 Japanese Targets, 100 Financial Institutions and 800 Net-Zero Targets

The Science Based Targets initiative celebrated three simultaneous milestones in April 2024: more than 1,000 Japanese companies setting validated science-based targets, more than 100 financial institutions with validated targets, and over 800 companies setting science-based net-zero targets globally. The number of companies and financial institutions setting science-based targets has roughly doubled each year since the SBTi validated its first targets.

Japan leads all countries in absolute SBTi target counts, accounting for approximately one fifth of all globally validated targets. The 1,000-plus Japanese companies span 46 sectors, with Electrical Equipment and Machinery leading, followed by Construction and Engineering, Trading Companies and Distributors, Commercial Services and Supplies, and Automobiles and Components. Japan's position as a major upstream supplier and exporter means its science-based target adoption creates ripple effects across global supply chains, with Indian manufacturers in adjacent value chains facing downstream pressure to set their own targets as a result.

The milestone of 100 validated financial institution targets, reached four years after the SBTi launched its Financial Sector Science-Based Targets Guidance in October 2021, reflects the growing expectation that banks, insurers and asset managers align their portfolios with 1.5 degree pathways. Over 200 additional financial institutions were committed to validation. Meanwhile, 800-plus corporate net-zero targets represent a significant expansion from the first years after the Corporate Net-Zero Standard was released in 2021, with more than 3,000 further commitments in the pipeline.

The SBTi released minor updates to the Corporate Net-Zero Standard alongside these milestones, along with an updated Corporate Net-Zero Tool, to align the existing standard more closely with its expanding catalogue of sector-specific resources. These updates are non-substantive and do not change the core conformity requirements. A major revision of the standard is separately underway, with a draft for public consultation expected in the coming months. For Indian companies benchmarking against global peers, these milestones signal that science-based target setting is becoming a standard expectation across finance, manufacturing and services sectors.

Key figure — 1,000+ Japanese companies with validated SBTi targets across 46 sectors