The SBTN target-setting process is divided into five steps; Assess, Prioritize, Set targets, Act and Track. Each step contains methods, tools and additional resources to guide companies through the process. The first two steps in the target-setting process help companies assess and prioritise their environmental impacts and then set targets across freshwater, land, and - as of March 2025 - ocean. Biodiversity is integrated across the guidance, and climate targets are set via a partner organisation, the Science Based Targets initiative.
SBTN has developed detailed technical guidance for the first three steps of the process with further guidance on the final two steps – Act and Track – to follow. The Accountability Accelerator, host of the independent validation function of SBTN, has officially opened its validation service for companies setting science-based targets for nature.
About the Publisher
The Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) is a civil-society and science-led initiative. It was founded in 2019 by a group of global NGOs to help collectively define what is necessary for companies and cities to do 'enough' to stay within Earth’s limits and meet society’s needs.
Founding partners are CDP, World Resources Institute, WWF, United Nations Global Compact (also the founding partners of the Science Based Targets initiative) as well as Conservation International, UNEP-WCMC, and World Economic Forum. The SBTN is a fiscally sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors: a non-profit organisation (501c3) that accelerates philanthropy in pursuit of a just world.
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