The Science-based Targets Network (SBTN) released a report on Monday highlighting the benefits and challenges experienced by the first cohort of companies when piloting targets for nature.
Drawing upon a pilot launched in May 2023 involving 17 companies, including giants like Nestle and LVMH, the SBTN published five preliminary takeaways on the themes of opportunity, ambition, risk management, data challenges, and the importance of expertise.
The companies emphasised the business benefits of nature-based target-setting, including improved reputation and competitive advantage, as well as SBTN’s contribution to an overall ecosystem of frameworks aimed at tackling interrelated nature and climate goals.
A representative from Bel Group, responsible for brands such as dairy-oriented La Vache Qui Rit and Babybel, said: “By doing SBTN you are paving the way for other frameworks … SBTN gives us a clear pathway to create a resilient food model.”
The initial report also claims that setting targets has encouraged participating companies to raise their nature-related ambitions.
“[SBTN] has helped us identify areas where we can strengthen our existing climate-focused initiatives, such as our forest-positive and regenerative agriculture programmes, to better respond to nature-related risks and opportunities across our value chain,” according to Conor McMahon, global net zero and nature lead at Nestle.
Additionally, monitoring of nature impacts has uncovered hidden risks within company supply chains. This is “prompting [companies] to prioritise action in locations where it really matters,” according to the report.
Last May, SBTN encouraged global businesses to begin targeting their nature impacts, using a similar science-based backing to that of climate targets, with the launch of a method focused on ecosystem protection and restoration, freshwater use, and freshwater pollution.
The SBTN pilot is billed as interoperable with other sustainability initiatives such as the Science-based Targets initiative (SBTi), the EU’s European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), and the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
CHALLENGES
However, in the new report, pilot companies identified data collection, data quality, and technical expertise as presenting significant challenges when participating in the SBTN process.
“One illustration of this challenge, highlighted by the pilot, lies in the necessary place-based emphasis of science-based targets for nature, and therefore the need for upstream traceability,” according to the SBTN report on top-line learning.
Moreover, unlike greenhouse gas-oriented SBTi target-setting guidance, or emerging ESRS and TNFD disclosure regulations, SBTN’s value-chain assessment methodologies are not sector-specific.
This led some companies to express a need for more flexible and tailored methods.
A workshop with pilot companies also noted that they require technically skilled staff to carry out SBTN processes, including expertise in lifecycle assessment and foot-printing, proficiency in spatial analysis, and understanding of environmental data.
By Alejandra Padin-Dujon – alejandra@carbon-pulse.com
