{"id":10218,"date":"2019-02-21T16:32:36","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T05:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/?p=10218"},"modified":"2019-09-27T13:58:06","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T03:58:06","slug":"science-based-targets-now-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Science-based targets: where are we now and where do we go from here?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

It is becoming increasingly clear to companies the importance of climate resilience for a myriad of reasons, ranging from increased investor confidence to supply chain resilience. In response, companies around the world are working to combat climate change through setting science-based\u00a0<\/em>emission reduction targets.<\/p>\n

One route to setting a science-based target is through the Science Based Targets Initiative<\/a> (SBTi), which now has over 500 companies world-wide\u00a0<\/a>committed to set or already having set a science-based emission reduction target. The trend in companies signing on to the initiative is growing, with over 100 companies joining on to the initiative in the last six months alone.<\/p>\n

In Australia, we\u2019re seeing movement toward target setting span new industries. For example, recently companies in the property sector such as Frasers, Investa and Dexus have committed to set, and in Investa\u2019s case have\u00a0<\/em>set, science-based targets.<\/p>\n

It is exciting to be part of this movement as it is gaining momentum. Edge has worked with companies across a range of sectors to help them better understand their carbon footprint and develop strategies and targets to do their part in limiting global warming and making their own company more resilient. Working across various sectors and companies allows us to see commonalities and links, which has led to productive collaborations and partnerships.<\/p>\n

Naturally, as climate science improves and we\u2019re better able to make more informed projections, targets may need to shift. The SBTi works to stay abreast of the latest climate science to ensure the initiative\u2019s methodologies and recommendations are in fact science-based and align to the goals of the Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n

What does the latest climate science say?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The IPCC\u2019s Special Report, commissioned by governments across the globe following the 2015 Paris Agreement, has highlighted the importance of limiting global warming to below 1.5\u00b0C. The purpose of the report was to assess the difference between 1.5\u00b0C and 2\u00b0C of warming, with findings showing a stark difference between the two.<\/p>\n

For example, the change from 1.5\u00b0C to 2\u00b0C leads to an additional 10 centimeters in sea level rise. This change in sea level rise at 2\u00b0C puts an additional\u00a0<\/em>10 million people at risk of flood than the projected sea level rise at 1.5\u00b0C.<\/p>\n

The Report states that in order to minimize the worst impacts of climate change, significant changes must happen in the coming ten years, specifically a rapid decarbonization of the global economy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What does this mean for carbon reduction pathways?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Previously, from an absolute-based perspective, global emissions needed to reduce 49% by 2050\u00a0<\/strong>from 2010 levels to hold temperature rise below 2\u00b0C.<\/p>\n

As per the recent IPCC Report, the shift from holding temperature rise from below 2\u00b0C to below 1.5\u00b0C means global emissions need to reduce 45% by 2030\u00a0<\/strong>from 2010 levels, and reach net zero by 2050.<\/p>\n

This change creates a drastically different trajectory for carbon reduction pathways.<\/p>\n

The SBTi is working to revise their current methodology to reflect the new pathway. However, it is likely not as simple as it seems. The SBTi\u2019s Sectoral Decarbonisation Approach is based on the International Energy Agency\u2019s least cost pathway to limit temperature rise to 2\u00b0C. The resulting pathway was developed by identifying the least-cost technology mix available to meet final demand across all sectors and considers differences across sectors, such as growth and mitigation potential.<\/p>\n

Difficulties arise in translating the previous pathway to the new pathway, as technologies projected for development post-2030 may not be available in the short term. This would therefore alter sector-specific pathways as what was least-cost to 2050 may not be so to 2030.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, some companies have already set targets aligning to the 2\u00b0C pathway. What does this mean for them?<\/p>\n

The SBTi will be providing new technical resources and criteria in April 2019.\u00a0Existing\u00a0<\/em>targets will be classified as aligning to either: 1.5\u00b0C, well-below 2\u00b0C or 2\u00b0C, with companies being notified of their classification via email at that time. Beginning in October 2019, all new\u00a0<\/em>targets submitted for validation will need to align to the well-below 2\u00b0C or 1.5\u00b0C pathway, as defined in the IPCC\u2019s Special Report. All companies are encouraged to align their targets to the most recent climate science available.<\/p>\n

The new goal is certainly more ambitious; however, that does not mean it is unreachable. The IPCC Report touches on the shifts to the economy required to align to the new pathway, such as the need for investments in renewables to grow substantially and the use of coal to significantly diminish.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll certainly see first-movers across business taking the step to align to the 1.5\u00b0C pathway. However, companies don\u2019t have to wait for the new SBTi method. We\u2019re already seeing companies such as Frasers and Lego go beyond\u00a0<\/em>the science-based pathway and committing to carbon zero and 100% renewables. We can only hope that these leaders push current boundaries and bring others with them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is becoming increasingly clear to companies the importance of climate resilience for a myriad of reasons, ranging from increased investor confidence to supply chain …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":10219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":""},"categories":[518,93,1,625],"tags":[189,603,602],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/02\/SBTs-small.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Maisie Auld","author_link":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/author\/maisie-auld\/"},"yoast_head":"\nScience-based targets: where are we now and where do we go from here? - Edge Environment US<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Science-based targets: where are we now and where do we go from here? - Edge Environment US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is becoming increasingly clear to companies the importance of climate resilience for a myriad of reasons, ranging from increased investor confidence to supply chain …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Edge Environment US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-21T05:32:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-27T03:58:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/02\/SBTs-small.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1181\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"787\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Maisie Auld\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/\",\"name\":\"Edge Environment US\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/02\/SBTs-small.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/02\/SBTs-small.jpg\",\"width\":1181,\"height\":787,\"caption\":\"yellow blue smoke from two tubes of plant\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/\",\"name\":\"Science-based targets: where are we now and where do we go from here? - Edge Environment US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-21T05:32:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-27T03:58:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/c10d3d2f49468585bff598c02a1d508b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Science-based targets: where are we now and where do we go from here?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/c10d3d2f49468585bff598c02a1d508b\",\"name\":\"Maisie Auld\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4c25ac98fdd828fe4f42ef2666c8acb5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4c25ac98fdd828fe4f42ef2666c8acb5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Maisie Auld\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/author\/maisie-auld\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Science-based targets: where are we now and where do we go from here? - Edge Environment US","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Science-based targets: where are we now and where do we go from here? - Edge Environment US","og_description":"It is becoming increasingly clear to companies the importance of climate resilience for a myriad of reasons, ranging from increased investor confidence to supply chain …","og_url":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/","og_site_name":"Edge Environment US","article_published_time":"2019-02-21T05:32:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-09-27T03:58:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1181,"height":787,"url":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/02\/SBTs-small.jpg","path":"\/home\/hurrican\/domains\/edgeenvironment.com\/public_html\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/02\/SBTs-small.jpg","size":"full","id":"10219","alt":"","pixels":929447,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Maisie Auld","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/","name":"Edge Environment US","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/02\/SBTs-small.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/02\/SBTs-small.jpg","width":1181,"height":787,"caption":"yellow blue smoke from two tubes of plant"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/","name":"Science-based targets: where are we now and where do we go from here? - Edge Environment US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2019-02-21T05:32:36+00:00","dateModified":"2019-09-27T03:58:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/c10d3d2f49468585bff598c02a1d508b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2019\/02\/21\/science-based-targets-now-go\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Science-based targets: where are we now and where do we go from here?"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/c10d3d2f49468585bff598c02a1d508b","name":"Maisie Auld","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4c25ac98fdd828fe4f42ef2666c8acb5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4c25ac98fdd828fe4f42ef2666c8acb5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Maisie Auld"},"url":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/author\/maisie-auld\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10218"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}