What are science-based targets for nature?

We define SBTs as measurable, actionable, and time-bound objectives, based on the best available science, that allow actors to align with Earth’s limits and societal sustainability goals.

By setting SBTs, actors—for the purposes of this guidance, companies—can align their actions to both the scientific boundaries that define a safe operating space for humanity in terms of Earth’s limits and the societal sustainability goals that set out global objectives for equitable human development.

Nature focused SBTs as currently designed will allow companies to take action that aligns with a subset of the goals set out in the UN conventions on biodiversity (UNCBD), climate change (UNFCCC), land degradation (UNCCD), and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs).

A critical component of these societal goals for nature has now been finalized: the Global Biodiversity Framework (UNCBD) and its high-level goals for species, ecosystems, and “nature’s contributions to people”—the life-sustaining services that nature provides. This Framework defines our common goal to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030 and requires all large business and financial institutions to assess and disclose their risks, impacts and dependencies on biodiversity. The time for action is now.

A group of leaders from many organizations working with SBTN supports the following global goal for nature: “Nature-positive.”

As defined by this group, a nature-positive world requires no net loss of nature from 2020, a net positive state of nature by 2030, and full recovery of nature by 2050.

Achieving a nature-positive future—and defining corporate alignment to it—must start with understanding the science of nature loss.

The key governmental panel on nature science, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, otherwise known as IPBES, has found (Figure ES2) that globally, declines in the state of nature (measured in terms of ecosystems, species, and nature’s contributions to people) were the result of five key pressures:

land and sea use change
direct exploitation of organisms
climate change
pollution
invasion of alien species.

These pressures in turn have resulted from underlying drivers, fueled by human values and behaviors.

Figure ES2: Drivers, pressures, and states of nature loss, adapted from the IPBES Global Assessment, 2019. The “drivers” feed into “pressures,” which then fuel the degradation and loss of nature (measured in state variables) within the land, freshwater, and ocean realms. The percentages on the bars represent the approximate global importance of different pressures in each realm; see the IPBES Global Assessment for more details. The right-hand side highlights some of the key “states” of nature loss related to ecosystems, species, and nature’s contributions to people.

These pressures and drivers are core components of SBTN’s framework for measurement of corporate environmental impact and our framework for positive corporate action.

If we wish to live in a nature-positive world, we need urgent and ambitious action by all stakeholders.

In our guidance, we highlight key types of action-summarized as our Action Framework (AR³T) - that companies can get started on today:

Avoid and reduce the pressures on nature loss, which would otherwise continue to grow.

Restore and regenerate so that the state of nature can recover (e.g., the extent and integrity of ecosystems and species extinction risk).

Transform underlying systems, at multiple levels, to address the drivers of nature loss.

These types of action and our understanding of the dynamics behind the loss of nature give structure to SBTs for nature—both in terms of the actions required of companies and the ambition level of targets that must be set and achieved. Within this structure, each company will set different targets, depending on its sector and specifics of its business.Readers should note that in our guidance, we emphasize the actions that companies can undertake on their own because these are often easier for companies to get started on today. However, the science is clear that the problems facing business and society are system-wide, intertwined, and connected to a broad array of actors.The problems we face therefore demand that companies go beyond individual action to push action through their value chains and explore system-level collaboration and transformation, such as through landscape and jurisdictional initiatives.

Click here to read our complete Initial Guidance for detailed actions companies can take for nature, using SBTN's Action Framework.

How SBTs take aim at the drivers and pressures of nature loss

Figure ES3: High-level target categorization for SBTs for nature — how SBTs take aim at the drivers and pressures fueling the degradation of nature and the state of nature itself. On the previous page, SBTN’s Action Framework (AR3T) summarizes the types of actions that companies will take to align to Earth’s limits and societal goals for nature.