CDP Science-Based Targets Campaign

CDP launched the Science-Based Targets (SBT) campaign in 2020 with the goal of incentivizing the world’s highest-impact companies to decarbonize and set science-based targets. The combined ambition and commitment from CDP’s capital market signatories and Supply Chain members to engage with portfolio companies and suppliers has helped drive over 550 high-impact companies to join the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) across all four cycles of the campaign.

As the 2023-2024 cycle marks the final edition of CDP's SBT campaign, we take a look back at the success of the campaign in accelerating the adoption of science-based targets globally.

Limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires immediate and effective action. Climate change poses an urgent and unprecedented threat to people and planet, as well as the entire global economy, with global GDP expected to decline by as much as 12% for every 1°C of warming.[1]

Target-setting is critical. Companies from across the globe must urgently set robust and credible emissions-reduction targets as a crucial first step towards limiting global warming and future-proofing the economy. Research shows that companies pursuing science-based targets are reducing emissions at a faster and more ambitious pace than the economy as a whole.[2]

As a founding partner of the SBTi, CDP kicked-off the Science-Based Targets (SBT) Campaign in October 2020. This unique campaign built on CDP’s robust collective engagement mechanism, harnessing the power of collaborative engagement from global financial institutions (FIs) to drive portfolio companies in setting robust and ambitious emissions reduction targets. Alongside this, the campaign also provided an opportunity for CDP Supply Chain members to use their buying power to engage with their suppliers and increase the number of suppliers that are 1.5°C-aligned, making it easier for them to meet their own Scope 3 targets.

The campaign successfully drove a total of 551 high-impact companies globally to join the SBTi* across all four cycles – accelerating the decarbonization of investment portfolios and global value chains in the process.

* Refers to companies joining via commitment and/or getting targets validated. Please refer to the SBTi’s commitment compliance policy for more information.

• 307 Financial Institutions with more than US$ 32 trillion in assets and 60 CDP Supply Chain members with a collective purchasing power of $1 trillion engaged with their portfolio companies and suppliers through this year’s campaign.

• 2,132 high emitting companies were targeted in CDP’s 2023-2024 SBT Campaign. 71 companies with a combined market capitalization of US$ 1.1 trillion joined the SBTi as a result.

• These 71 companies are responsible for a combined total of approximately 50 million metric tonnes of CO2e (across Scope 1 and Scope 2) – equivalent to more than the annual GHG emissions of Sweden.[3]

Regional breakdown of target-setting companies

Commitments were global, with companies from the United States, Japan, China and other countries setting targets.

Sectoral breakdown of target-setting companies

High-emitting sectors are leading the way. The manufacturing sector, responsible for one-fifth of carbon emissions globally, represented the biggest proportion** of companies setting targets after being targeted in the campaign.[4]

**By Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, in tonnes of CO2e.

Between 2020 and 2022, more than a quarter (26%) of the 1,830 high-emitting companies targeted in the campaign joined the SBTi.

Following on from the success of the first three cycles of the campaign and seeking to drive greater impact, CDP expanded the target company list to reach over 2,000 high-impact companies in the fourth edition that kicked-off in 2023.

The campaign saw a steady growth in supporters from 2020-2024 – demonstrating that FIs and large corporate buyers are increasingly aware of the critical role they can play in driving investees and suppliers to set targets. FI support for the campaign grew on average by 31% year on year.

Originally beginning as an investor-led campaign, in 2021 CDP invited multinationals that are part of the CDP Supply Chain program to participate. Twenty-six members signed up in 2021 – this figure grew to as many as 60 CDP Supply Chain members in 2023, representing an average of 52% growth each year.

The collective efforts of participating FIs and CDP Supply Chain members over the past four cycles of the SBT campaign have successfully helped to achieve the goal we set out with at the start of the campaign – to mainstream the support for broad, global decarbonization of high-impact sectors and drive the adoption of robust science-based targets. Policymakers, corporates, and decision-makers now widely recognize emissions reduction targets set through the SBTi as the gold standard for credible climate targets worldwide.

The progress achieved through the CDP SBT Campaign is proof of the combined influence and power of capital markets actors and corporate buyers in scaling net-zero ambitions globally. This is an important foundation from which to drive further ambition and action. As science-based targets have become increasingly mainstream in the market, the focus must now also turn to the transition – ensuring that companies are setting credible 1.5-aligned transition plans and taking the necessary steps to meet their targets. We encourage financial institutions and corporate buyers to continue to leverage their influence by engaging with portfolio companies or suppliers to drive the action that matters most for our planet.

Further resources

• Resources: SBTi services
• Resources: Science-Based Targets initiative
• Climate transition plans

Footnotes

1. Climate crisis costs 12% in GDP for each 1°C temperature rise | World Economic Forum
2. SBTi Monitoring Report 2022 - Science Based Targets Initiative
3. CO₂ emissions - Our World in Data
4. Reducing the carbon footprint of the manufacturing industry through data sharing | World Economic Forum