For most large companies, "science-based target" means a target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. Version 2.0 of its Corporate Net-Zero Standard is the most significant revision of the framework since its launch. It changes how targets are set, how often they are reviewed, and, most important for the carbon market, exactly where carbon credits fit.
- The SBTi published its Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 on 11 June 2026. Validation under it begins in early 2027, and it becomes mandatory for all new target submissions from 1 February 2028.
- Carbon credits still cannot count toward scope 1, 2 or 3 targets. Progress is measured on a company's own emissions inventory.
- "Beyond Value Chain Mitigation" is replaced by Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (OER), a voluntary recognition programme with three levels.
- From 2035, large "Category A" companies must support carbon removals equal to at least 1% of ongoing emissions, rising to 100% by their net-zero year, with a rising share of long-lived removals.
- At net zero, all companies must neutralise residual emissions with removals, and long-lived greenhouse gases need long-lived removals.
- Why this standard matters
- The timeline
- Category A and Category B
- Credits do not count toward targets
- From BVCM to Ongoing Emissions Responsibility
- The 2035 removal requirement
- What the numbers look like
- Neutralisation at net zero: like for like
- Other V2.0 changes buyers should know
- What V2.0 means for the carbon credit market
- How V2.0 fits with the EU's new claims rules
- What to do in the next twelve months
- Frequently asked questions
Why this standard matters
Since the original Net-Zero Standard launched in 2021, SBTi has validated targets for over 11,000 companies, covering around 41% of global market capitalisation. When SBTi changes its rules, procurement budgets, sustainability plans and carbon credit demand move with it.
The timeline
The standard becomes effective on 1 February 2027, with validation under the new rules starting in the first quarter of that year. Companies can still submit under the previous version, V1.3.1, until 31 January 2028, and V2.0 becomes mandatory for all new submissions from 1 February 2028.
Companies with existing validated targets are not forced to switch overnight. But anyone planning a target renewal in 2027 or 2028 needs to decide which version to use, based largely on whether their assurance processes and transition plan are ready.
Category A and Category B
V2.0 splits companies into two groups. Category A carries mandatory transition plans, third-party assurance and annual reporting obligations, while Category B has lighter requirements.
Category A covers companies with at least €450 million in turnover or at least 1,000 full-time employees, plus mid-sized companies in high-income countries with large scope 1 and 2 footprints. The category is determined using consolidated group turnover, employees and emissions averaged over two financial years, together with the World Bank's income classification.
The category matters enormously for carbon credit strategy, because the mandatory removal requirement from 2035 applies to Category A only.
The rule that has not changed: credits do not count toward targets
The headline for buyers is continuity. Progress against scope 1, 2 and 3 targets is measured on a company's physical greenhouse gas inventory only. Buying credits does not reduce reported emissions for target purposes, and it never did under V1.
What changes is everything around that rule. Credits now have two formal roles: the voluntary OER recognition programme from 2027, and the mandatory removal requirement that starts in 2035. At the net-zero year, residual emissions are neutralised with carbon removals.
From BVCM to Ongoing Emissions Responsibility
Under V1, companies were encouraged to invest in climate action beyond their value chain, known as Beyond Value Chain Mitigation or BVCM. It was loosely defined and rarely measured. V2.0 retires the term BVCM and introduces Ongoing Emissions Responsibility in its place. The idea is the same, voluntary carbon market engagement beyond what a company's target requires, but OER comes with a structured recognition programme and a clearer three-tier structure, and it operates entirely outside target compliance.
The three tiers, as reported by market participants analysing the final text, are Engaged (mitigating at least 1% of ongoing scope 1 to 3 emissions), Advanced (covering 10% of the full footprint with a minimum spend of $20 per tonne) and Leadership (covering 100%). Companies should confirm the exact criteria in the standard itself before committing budgets, because the tier definitions carry specific conditions on eligible contributions.
Participation is public. Every company validated under V2.0 declares its OER position openly.
The 2035 removal requirement
This is the part of V2.0 that creates a genuinely new demand signal for carbon removals.
The standard's own text says that from 2035, companies shall support eligible carbon removals equal to at least 1% of ongoing scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, including a defined and increasing share of long-lived removals. The requirement applies to Category A companies and rises linearly from 1% to 100% of total ongoing emissions by each company's net-zero year.
Inside that total sits a durability rule. Companies must support long-lived removals equal to at least 10% of covered emissions from long-lived greenhouse gases (CO2, N2O and halogenated gases), rising linearly to 100% by the net-zero year. Emissions from short-lived gases such as methane may be addressed with short-lived removals, long-lived removals, or a mix of both.
There is also a separation rule. Mitigation outcomes already used for the voluntary OER programme cannot be reused to meet the post-2035 requirement. A company cannot count the same tonnes twice.
One important caveat: the post-2035 requirement is not yet locked. SBTi describes it as illustrative, intended to signal the direction of travel, and says the criteria will be reviewed in the next major revision, Version 3, to reflect the best available science at that time. Treat 2035 as a planning signal, not a fixed invoice.
What the numbers look like
The obligation starts small and grows fast. One published illustration models a company emitting 1 million tonnes in 2035 that reduces to a 10% residual by 2050: its obligation starts at 10,000 tonnes of removals in 2035, peaks around 280,000 tonnes a year in the early 2040s, and settles at 100,000 tonnes at net zero.
The peak comes before net zero because two lines move in opposite directions: emissions fall while the required coverage rises from 1% toward 100%. The year when the falling emissions line and the rising coverage line produce the largest product is the year of maximum removal purchases. For most companies with a 2050 net-zero year and a steady reduction path, that peak falls in the 2040s.
For planning, the arithmetic is mechanical. Take your projected scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions for each year from 2035 to your net-zero year, multiply by that year's coverage percentage, and split the result into the long-lived share and the remainder.
Run the arithmetic on your own figures.
The Removals Planner applies the V2.0 coverage ramp and the long-lived share year by year, and shows removal supply by type.
Neutralisation at net zero: like for like
At the net-zero target year, all companies, Category A and Category B, must neutralise all residual emissions through carbon removals delivering verified mitigation outcomes in the same reporting period, and residual emissions from long-lived gases must be neutralised with long-lived removals specifically.
This "like for like" principle is now a hard requirement: fossil CO2 cannot be balanced with a forest credit. A tonne of fossil carbon stays in the atmosphere for centuries, so it has to be matched by a removal that stores carbon for a comparable period, such as geological storage from direct air capture, some forms of biochar, or enhanced mineralisation.
Responsibility is split by scope. Companies must take direct responsibility for neutralising all residual scope 1 emissions, but may share scope 3 neutralisation with value chain partners, with safeguards against double counting.
Companies must also report whether removal credits used for neutralisation have been authorised by the host country and are subject to corresponding adjustments. That links corporate net-zero claims directly to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, and makes host-country authorisation a question buyers will increasingly ask project developers.
If your planning was based on the November 2025 draft, check it again. That draft specified a fixed neutralisation mix of 41% long-lived and 59% short-lived removals. The final standard's durability rules work differently, so portfolio plans built on the draft percentages need revisiting.
Other V2.0 changes buyers should know
Carbon credits are one part of a wider rewrite. The changes most likely to affect sustainability teams:
- Scope 1 and scope 2 separated. Scope 1 now gets its own target, no longer bundled with scope 2, with three methods available to set it.
- Tighter scope 2 rules. Energy attribute certificates face new quality criteria, and from 2030 the largest electricity consumers (10 GWh or more) must report hourly matching of their electricity use.
- Targeted scope 3. Scope 3 targets are mandatory for Category A and must cover every scope 3 category making up 5% or more of scope 3 emissions.
- A cycle, not a certificate. V2.0 introduces recurring assessment, mandatory base-year inventory assurance for larger companies, annual public reporting of progress and a formal end-of-cycle review.
- Fixed windows and no exclusions. A fixed five-year near-term window and zero inventory exclusions.
What V2.0 means for the carbon credit market
The clearest effect is on removals. Before V2.0, corporate removal purchases were driven by voluntary leadership. From 2035, for Category A companies, they are driven by a written requirement with a rising curve. Sylvera's modelling suggests that even with moderate adoption of the new claims, SBTi-driven carbon credit demand could rise by nearly 170% by 2030, with a more bullish scenario approaching 1.1 billion tonnes by 2035.
The pressure falls unevenly. Durable, long-lived removal supply is small today, and the durability share rises every year after 2035. Buyers who need long-lived removals in the 2040s will be competing for a supply that has not yet been built. That is why several large buyers are already signing multi-year offtake agreements for durable removals rather than buying spot.
Avoidance and reduction credits do not disappear. They remain eligible for climate contribution strategies before net zero where they meet integrity criteria, but they are not part of a neutralisation strategy. In practice, many companies will run two portfolios: a contribution portfolio for OER recognition, and a separate, increasingly durable removal portfolio aimed at 2035 and net zero.
Further SBTi guidance is still to come on interpretation, market-based instruments, interoperability and climate claims. Some details of how credits are counted and communicated will be settled in those documents, not in the headline standard.
How V2.0 fits with the EU's new claims rules
Two frameworks now pull companies in the same direction. SBTi measures targets on physical emissions only, and until the post-2035 phase applies, companies should avoid any suggestion that climate contributions offset, neutralise or reduce their own emissions. Since 27 September 2026, the EU's Empowering Consumers Directive has banned consumer product claims of neutrality based on offsetting.
The consistent message across both: reduce your own emissions, describe your credit purchases as contributions, and reserve the word "neutralise" for removals applied to residual emissions at net zero. Our guide to the EU's new carbon neutral claims rules covers what companies can still say to consumers.
What to do in the next twelve months
- Confirm your category. Run the Category A test on two-year averages of turnover, employees and emissions.
- Decide your version. If a target renewal falls in 2027, choose between V1.3.1 (until 31 January 2028) and V2.0 based on assurance and transition plan readiness.
- Map residual emissions by gas. The share of CO2 and other long-lived gases in your residuals sets how much of your eventual neutralisation must be long-lived.
- Model the 2035 curve. Apply the coverage ramp to your projected emissions and identify your peak year.
- Separate your portfolios. Keep OER contributions and future removal commitments in separate ledgers, since tonnes cannot be reused across them.
- Ask about host-country authorisation. For removal projects you may rely on for neutralisation, find out whether the host country has authorised them under Article 6.
- Check project quality now. Registry history, methodology status and durability class matter more when purchases become obligations. CRBN.credit's projects database lists removal-category projects across seven registries, including Isometric, a registry dedicated to durable removal.
Related reading. See carbon registries compared, and our due diligence checklist for the checks to run on any project before it enters a removal portfolio.
CRBN.credit provides data and research on carbon markets. It does not broker, sell or execute trades in carbon credits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can carbon credits count toward SBTi targets under V2.0?
No. Progress against scope 1, 2 and 3 targets is measured on a company's own greenhouse gas inventory. Credits play a role only in the voluntary OER programme, the post-2035 removal requirement and neutralisation at net zero.
When does SBTi V2.0 apply?
It becomes effective on 1 February 2027, with validations starting in the first quarter of 2027. Submissions under V1.3.1 remain possible until 31 January 2028, and V2.0 is mandatory for new submissions from 1 February 2028.
What is Ongoing Emissions Responsibility?
The replacement for Beyond Value Chain Mitigation: a voluntary, public recognition programme for companies that take responsibility for emissions they have not yet cut, with three levels of recognition.
Who must buy carbon removals from 2035?
Category A companies: broadly those with at least 450 million euros turnover or 1,000 employees, plus mid-sized companies in high-income countries with large scope 1 and 2 footprints.
How big is the 2035 requirement?
At least 1% of ongoing scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions in 2035, rising linearly to 100% by the net-zero year, with long-lived removals covering at least 10% of long-lived greenhouse gas emissions at the start and rising to 100%.
Is the 2035 requirement final?
SBTi describes it as illustrative and says it will be reviewed in Version 3 of the standard before it takes effect.
Can a forest credit neutralise fossil CO2 at net zero?
No. Residual emissions of long-lived greenhouse gases must be neutralised with long-lived removals.
Sources
- SBTi, Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0, Chapter 6: Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (standards.sciencebasedtargets.org)
- Sylvera, SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2 and the carbon market (sylvera.com)
- Climeworks, SBTi's Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 and what it means for removals (climeworks.com)
- CEEZER, what carbon credit buyers need to know about SBTi V2.0 (ceezer.earth)
- ClimatePartner, how to prepare for SBTi V2.0 (climatepartner.com)
- OneStop ESG, what changed for corporate climate targets (onestopesg.com)
A note on this article. This summarises the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 as published on 11 June 2026 and analysis available as of 28 September 2026. It is general information, not advice or an SBTi validation. Confirm current requirements with the SBTi before setting targets.