On April 28th, the SBTi will launch updates to our Target Dashboard and data download – the open-source data on commitments and targets we update every week on our website.
The updates aim to support the SBTi’s work to enable greater transparency and accountability surrounding science-based targets. They will do this by:
Making it easier to understand each company’s status regarding their targets and commitments by simplifying the dashboard design
Making the data easier to analyze through a new data structure that lists each of a company’s targets and commitments, including historical commitments
The updates represent a significant stage in our wider program to improve our Target Dashboard, with additional improvements to be scheduled and informed by the needs of our stakeholders. We therefore encourage you to share your feedback on the updated dashboard.
We will keep you updated on plans for future improvements via email and in this forum.
We are committed to giving stakeholders at least one month’s notice of further updates, to give you time to adjust your processes accordingly.
We look forward to receiving your feedback on the updates.
This is really great news! Thanks so much for pursuing this update and improvement. Will the update also make absolute emissions data underlying the target available? And ongoing emissions data, to enable transparent / public / scientific tracking of performance against targets? Thanks in advance for information on this. Best, Bill
Thank you for the feedback. We are currently only able to publish data which we are permitted to share according to our contracts with companies which submit targets for validation. However, we are committed to enhancing transparency and integrity in holding SBTi companies and financial institutions accountable for their climate targets. We are continuing to explore opportunities to achieve this goal and will be sure to share information about future changes to the dashboard as soon as we’re able.
Thanks so much for this response, Toby. I appreciate SBTi’s efforts to enhance transparency in the future.
Given that the scientific method is predicated on the notion of replicability of results, which of course requires transparency of data, it seems contrary to the scientific commitment of SBTi to enter into contracts that preclude the transparency necessary for independent verification of targets and performance.
Could you please share the rationale for entering into contracts that preclude the ability to independently enact the scientific method in the first place.
Hi @tobyhopwood – tagging you to check in on a response to my above query: “Could you please share the rationale for entering into contracts that preclude the ability to independently enact the scientific method in the first place.” Thanks! Bill
thanks for this update, @tobyhopwood . I just discovered this forum and immediately found a thread with one of the biggest questions I had since I recently started to look into the SBTi
I really want to second @billbaue’s comment here. Making this kind of data as open as possible should be a main objective in my opinion. I would also be very interested in the rationale behind this decision. I suppose companies want to avoid opening up their emissions data and their detailed reports as much as possible. I can see this being a difficult matter to negotiate with companies. But as Bill said, without this kind of information there is not much else to rely on other than my trust in SBTi’s processes and the companies’ integrity. Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to say that SBTi is not trustworthy. However, I don’t think relying on trust fits the premise SBTi sets.
Also wouldn’t it be beneficial simply in terms of “sharing the workload” if independent verification would be allowed and supported?
@Julian I think it might be safe to assume that we’re not going to get a response from @tobyhopwood or anyone at SBTi. Who knows, maybe Toby is actually quite sympathetic with our query, but he’s silenced by higher-ups at SBTi.
I suppose I could raise this issue with Board Chair Lila Karbassi, with whom I have a good relationship, but to be honest, I’ve engaged with her on so many other dysfunctions of SBTi that it’s hard to know how to prioritize.
In any case, it’s deeply disappointing that SBTi hosts this platform, but essentially ghosts its users. Why have a communications platform if you’re only going to use it to silence healthy engagement?
