The Science Based Targets initiative recently published the first major revision of its Corporate Net-Zero Standard. Version 2.0 landed in June 2026, and while the headlines will focus on what's new, the more useful question for most companies is simpler: what actually changes for me, and when?
More than 11,000 companies set validated targets under V1 of the CNZ Standard, which offered an initial framework for what a net-zero target looks like.
V2.0 is designed to close the gap between target setting and implementation, with updates reflecting this shift toward driving decarbonization in supply chains.
One note before we dive in: V2.0 sorts companies into two groups, Category A (large and mid-market) and Category B (most smaller companies), with proportionate obligations for each. Several of the requirements below apply in full to Category A and more lightly to Category B, so the first thing worth knowing is which side of that line you're on.
Now, these are the changes worth your attention:
Under V2.0, every company needs a credible transition plan, and large companies have to disclose theirs publicly at the point of validation. Targets also now require board-level sign-off.
For sustainability leads, this is one of the most useful changes in the Standard. If you've struggled to get climate work onto the leadership agenda, V2.0 has made it a validation requirement.
This is the change generating the most discussion, and the one to read most carefully.
V2.0 now opens the door to using market instruments toward target progress when a company's Scope 3 emissions sit inside shared systems like electricity grids, logistics networks, or raw material supply chains—but only once direct Scope 3 reductions have been exhausted.
The logic is that no single company can decarbonize a shared grid alone, so credible system-level instruments can count.
In practice, this is where renewable energy certificates, SAF certificates and similar instruments come in, and the procurement rules around them are getting more specific.
The approved list of instruments and the accounting and reporting guidance that governs them are still being finalized, with most of it expected in Q4 2026. If certificates are part of your value chain strategy, this is the section to watch as the guidance lands.
Scope 1 target-setting now offers three paths: absolute reduction, a sector intensity pathway, or a new asset transition approach.
That third option is the notable one. It's designed for companies whose emissions are shaped by long-lived physical assets (factories, fleets, industrial equipment) that can't be swapped out quickly or easily.
If your footprint is tied to capital stock with a long life, this gives you a more realistic way to set credible targets.
V2.0 assesses progress at the end of the target timeframe on a best-efforts basis, and companies that fall short aren't automatically delisted. If you miss a target but can document the barriers you hit and show you kept reducing what you could, you stay in the system and set steeper targets in the next cycle.
This matters because the fear of falling short has kept some companies from committing. V2.0 acknowledges that real-world decarbonization runs into real-world obstacles, and it rewards good-faith effort over perfect outcomes.
Alongside reductions, V2.0 introduces a framework for the emissions a company is still producing on the way to net zero. For large companies, taking responsibility for a share of those ongoing emissions becomes mandatory from 2035, scaling up to full responsibility by the company's net-zero year.
The important nuance is how that responsibility can be met. High-integrity carbon credits as well as funding early-stage clean projects, low carbon research, and climate resilience efforts are all routes forward, but these measures do not count towards the actual target. They only serve as complementary actions that recognize early efforts and incentivize climate finance.
Validation against V2.0 opens in Q1 2027. From then until January 31, 2028, companies can submit targets under either the current V1.3.1 or the new V2.0. From February 1, 2028, V2.0 becomes mandatory for all new target submissions. Existing validated targets stay valid through their current timeframe.
Because a meaningful amount of guidance is still expected in Q4 2026, the smartest move right now is to understand the shape of the changes and watch for the detail, rather than scrambling to act on rules that aren't fully written yet.
V2.0 is, at its heart, about delivery. The targets you set matter, but increasingly, you'll be judged on the strategy behind them, the progress you can show, and the transparency with which you report it.
For companies that have been doing the real work, that's good news. For everyone else, the next eighteen months are a good time to close the gap between ambition and action.
A lot is still to-be-determined, and we'll be tracking it as it lands. If you have questions about what V2.0 means for your targets, your Scope 3 boundary, or how to think about certificates in your value chain, the Green Project team is happy to talk it through.
