What is the Net Zero Graph? 📉
The Net Zero Graph is here to help measure your progress towards your Net Zero Targets 🎯
This tool allows you to model and visualise your net zero journey, tracking emissions performance with features to adjust your residual emissions, percentage of annual decreases, and near-term targets.
Definition of features and notes from the standard
| Object | What does this mean? | Notes from the standard |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline Year | To track emissions performance, you need a starting point. For most organisations, this will be the most recent year before setting a target. | Companies need to establish a base year to track emissions performance consistently and meaningfully over a target period. Companies that are submitting targets for the first time are encouraged to set the most recent year with available data as the base year. If a company has more detailed data for a previous year, this is acceptable for validation purposes as long as the most recent year's data is also submitted to be assessed for ambition. |
| Residual | To credibly achieve Net Zero, organisations must cut emissions significantly and neutralise any remaining with carbon removals. Residual emissions should not exceed 10% of the base year. | To reach a state of net-zero at the corporate level, companies must deeply reduce emissions and counterbalance the impact of any emissions that remain. |
| Implied Annual Decrease | This is what the annual reduction would be in order to achieve your stated Target. | |
| Net Zero Target | This is the year in which you have pledged to meet the criteria necessary to achieve Net Zero. | |
| Near Term Target | This serves as an interim target to ensure significant reductions on the path to Net Zero. The Target includes both a target date and an annual reduction percentage. | |
| Total emissions - Actuals | Actual annual emissions as calculated in Sumday | |
| Total emissions - Target | Net Zero annual reduction pathway including both near term and Net Zero target | |
| Net Zero threshold | Target Net Zero gross emissions based on the selected residual. This amount will need to be neutralised using removal credits to achieve Net Zero |
The following considerations are important for selecting a base year:
- Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions data should be accurate and verifiable.
- Base year emissions should be representative of a company’s typical GHG profile.
- Targets must cover a minimum of 5 years and a maximum of 10 years from the date the target is submitted to the SBTi for validation.
- The choice of base year must be no earlier than 2015.
- For targets submitted for an official validation in the first half of 2024, the valid target years are 2028-2033 inclusive.
- For targets submitted in the second half of 2024, the valid target years are between 2029 and 2034 inclusive.
- For targets submitted for validation in 2024, the most recent inventory data submitted must be for 2022 at the earliest.
The SBTi Net-Zero Standard defines corporate net-zero as:
- Reducing scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions to zero or a residual level consistent with reaching global net-zero emissions or at a sector level in eligible 1.5°C-aligned pathways; and
- Permanently neutralizing any residual emissions at the net-zero target year and any GHG emissions released into the atmosphere thereafter.
Neutralization
What: Measures companies take to remove carbon from the atmosphere and permanently store it, counterbalancing the impact of emissions that remain unabated.
Why: Although most companies will reduce emissions by at least 90% through their long-term science-based targets, some residual emissions may remain. These emissions must be neutralized to reach net-zero emissions and a state of no impact on the climate from GHG emissions.
Long-term science-based targets
What: These targets show companies how much they must reduce value chain emissions to align with reaching net-zero at the global or sector level in eligible 1.5°C pathways by 2050 or sooner.
Why: Long-term targets drive economy-wide alignment and long-term business planning to reach the level of global emissions reductions needed to meet climate goals based on science.
Near-term science-based targets
What: Previously known as “science-based targets”, these are 5-10 year GHG mitigation targets inline with 1.5°C pathways. When companies reach their near-term target date, they must calculate new near-term science-based targets to serve as milestones on the path towards reaching their long-term science-based target.
Why: Near-term targets galvanize the action required for significant emissions reductions to be achieved by around 2030. Near-term emissions reductions are critical to not exceeding the global emissions budget and are not interchangeable with long-term targets.
Notes from the standard are sourced from SBTi Corporate Net Zero Standard v1.1