SBTi Publishes Mandatory Five-Year Target Review Guidance for Corporates

The Science Based Targets initiative has released the Mandatory Five Year Review Guidance and an updated Commitment and Target Statuses document to support companies in meeting their five-year target update requirement. The new statuses will take effect on the SBTi Target Dashboard after 18 December 2025.

SBTi published two key documents in July 2025 to help companies navigate the mandatory review of their validated science-based targets. The Mandatory Five Year Review Guidance directs corporates and SMEs to review and, if necessary, update their targets within 12 months of reaching their five-year validation milestone. The process is designed to ensure targets remain aligned with the latest SBTi Criteria and best available science, rather than assessing progress made against existing commitments.

In parallel, SBTi is expanding the range of target status categories on its public Target Dashboard to improve transparency and accountability. The existing statuses—Committed, Commitment Removed, and Targets Set—will be supplemented with sub-statuses indicating whether commitments and targets are active, extended, updated, expired, inactive, withdrawn, or archived. This granular status framework will help investors, regulators, and other stakeholders assess the currency and credibility of corporate climate commitments more accurately.

The updated Commitment and Target Statuses document takes effect on 18 December 2025, superseding the current Commitment Compliance Policy. SBTi Chief Technical Officer Alberto Carrillo Pineda stated that maintaining alignment with evolving climate science and best practice over time is essential for the long-term credibility of the framework. Companies with targets approaching their five-year milestone are encouraged to begin the review process proactively, ensuring uninterrupted compliance with SBTi Criteria.

Key figure — December 18, 2025 effective date for updated Target Dashboard statuses