SBTi Requirements: Why They May Matter More Than Regulation

Welcome back to Teaching Sustainability, Aclymate's weekly series created to help small and mid-sized business leaders understand what sustainability means, why it matters, and what to do next.

Over the past several chapters, we've talked about science-based targets, regulation, reporting requirements, and the importance of making sustainability claims you can actually support.

This week, I want to connect those ideas around an organization that is becoming increasingly important in corporate sustainability: the Science Based Targets initiative, or SBTi.

Here's the most important thing to understand:

SBTi is not a government regulator.

No legislature passed a law requiring companies to participate. Companies voluntarily choose to set targets using SBTi's standards.

Yet those voluntary commitments can still have very real consequences for suppliers.

That's what makes SBTi so interesting.

SBTi Is a Market Standard, Not a Government Mandate

The Science Based Targets initiative provides companies with standards and methodologies for setting greenhouse gas reduction targets aligned with climate science.

Thousands of companies have now committed to or established targets through SBTi. You can see participating businesses in the SBTi Target Dashboard. Aclymate

That level of adoption changes the significance of the standard.

SBTi's influence doesn't primarily come from government enforcement.

It comes from companies deciding that science-based climate targets matter.

And once enough large companies adopt a standard, it can begin influencing how they choose suppliers, structure contracts, collect data, and evaluate business partners.

Your Customer May Matter More Than Washington

When sustainability comes up, executives often ask me:

"Are we required to do this?"

That's a reasonable question.

But increasingly, I think there's a second question that may be even more important:

"What are our customers going to require from us?"

A company may be completely outside the scope of a climate regulation.

It may not have investors demanding climate disclosure.

It may have no plans to make its own SBTi commitment.

But one of its largest customers may have a science-based target.

And that customer's target can eventually affect the supplier.

Why?

Because large companies don't generate all of their emissions inside their own buildings.

Much of their footprint can sit in the supply chain.

That's Scope 3.

Why Scope 3 Pulls Suppliers Into the Conversation

We covered Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions earlier in this series.

Scope 1 includes direct emissions.

Scope 2 generally covers purchased energy.

Scope 3 captures emissions across the broader value chain—including purchased products, suppliers, transportation, travel, and other indirect sources.

That means one company's Scope 3 emissions are often another company's Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions.

This creates a chain reaction:

1. A large company establishes a science-based target.
2. It needs to understand and reduce emissions across its value chain.
3. It begins asking suppliers for emissions data and reduction commitments.
4. Those suppliers may need information from their own suppliers.

The requirement moves downstream.

SBTi explicitly addresses value-chain emissions and supplier engagement within its corporate target-setting frameworks. Aclymate

Sustainability Is Becoming a Procurement Issue

This is why sustainability questions are changing.

Several years ago, a supplier might receive a sustainability questionnaire once a year.

Someone answered it.

Procurement filed it away.

Done.

Increasingly, sustainability information is being incorporated into:

• RFPs
• Supplier scorecards
• Vendor qualification
• Customer sustainability assessments
• CDP requests
• EcoVadis assessments
• Procurement reviews
• Product carbon footprint requests
• Supplier engagement programs

CDP, for example, enables large purchasing organizations to request environmental information directly from suppliers through its Supply Chain program.

Once this information affects whether you qualify for business, sustainability stops being simply an environmental initiative.

It becomes part of sales and customer retention.

We've covered this broader shift before in Why Customers and Partners Are Asking for Sustainability Data.

Regulation Still Matters

None of this means regulation is irrelevant.

California's corporate climate disclosure laws are a good example.

California's SB 253 creates greenhouse gas reporting requirements for certain large companies doing business in California, while SB 261 addresses climate-related financial risk for companies meeting its applicable thresholds. The California Air Resources Board maintains the latest implementation information. Aclymate

But here is the part smaller companies should pay attention to:

You might not be regulated.

Your customer might be.

And when your customer needs information about its value chain, some of that work can arrive at your company.

The regulation belongs to them.

The data request lands with you.

What SBTi Requirements Could Mean for Your Business

I don't think every small or mid-sized company needs to immediately pursue SBTi validation.

That's not the lesson.

Instead, understand your position in the supply chain.

Start by asking:

Are our largest customers setting science-based targets?

Search the SBTi Target Dashboard.

You may be surprised by how many familiar companies are there.

Are customers asking for emissions data?

A request for Scope 1, Scope 2, Scope 3, CDP information, EcoVadis documentation, or a corporate carbon footprint is a signal that your customers are becoming more sophisticated about sustainability.

Is sustainability appearing in RFPs?

If yes, treat it as a commercial issue.

Do we know our own footprint?

Eventually, most serious sustainability requests come back to the same foundational question:

How much do you emit?

If you can't answer that yet, you're not alone.

But that's usually the place to begin.

SBTi Reporting Starts With Carbon Accounting

Science-based targets require measurement.

You cannot set a meaningful emissions reduction target without understanding your starting point.

That's why carbon accounting matters.

The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard provides the widely used framework for companies to organize and calculate greenhouse gas inventories.

Your footprint becomes your baseline.

Your baseline enables a target.

Your target enables progress tracking.

And progress tracking enables credible reporting.

That's why we view carbon accounting not as a one-time exercise, but as the foundation of an ongoing sustainability program.

What to Do This Week

• Look up your top five customers in the SBTi Target Dashboard. See whether they have established or committed to science-based targets.
• Review recent RFPs and customer questionnaires. Look for requests involving emissions, Scope 3, CDP, EcoVadis, climate targets, or sustainability performance.
• Ask your sales team what customers are asking about. They often see new procurement expectations before leadership does.
• Determine whether you know your basic Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. If not, identify the utility, fuel, facility, and operational data you would need.
• Don't wait for a customer deadline. Sustainability data is much easier to organize before an important customer gives you 30 days to produce it.

How Aclymate Helps

Aclymate helps small and mid-sized companies prepare for exactly these kinds of requests.

Aclymate Explorer gives companies a free starting point to estimate their carbon footprint and understand where their emissions come from.

For companies that need ongoing carbon accounting, reporting, supplier data, and sustainability management, Aclymate combines software with expert support so you're not left figuring everything out alone.

The goal isn't to make every business a climate expert.

It's to make sure you can respond confidently when customers start asking questions.

The Takeaway

SBTi isn't a law.

That's precisely why companies sometimes underestimate it.

Its influence comes from market adoption.

Large companies establish science-based targets. Those targets require action across their businesses and value chains. Their suppliers become part of the solution.

That means the sustainability requirement that matters most to your company may never arrive from a regulator.

It may arrive from your biggest customer.

And the businesses that already know their emissions, understand their data, and have a repeatable sustainability process will be much better prepared when it does.