Climate Curve

Primary Project Category:

Project Summary / Description:

To support increased private sector GHG mitigation ambition aligned with the Paris Agreement, CDP, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), World Resources Institute (WRI), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) came together to collaboratively form the Science Based Targets initiative in 2015. Financial institutions are recognized in the Paris Agreement (Article 2.1(c)) as playing a foundational role in limiting global warming to well below 2¬∞C above preindustrial levels. Within the SBTi, WRI initiated and is leading the development of methods and guidance for financial institutions to set science-based targets for their investment and lending portfolios.

How Project Affects Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions:

The Paris Agreement of 2015 saw 195 of the world‚ governments commit to prevent dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius. This signaled an acceleration of the transition to a low carbon economy. Many companies are already demonstrating the skills, expertise and ingenuity to make this a reality ‚ but they need ambitious emissions reduction targets to ensure the transformational action they take is aligned with current climate science.Targets adopted by companies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are considered science-based if they are in line with the level of decarbonization required to keep global temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre- industrial temperatures, as described in the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5). Beyond ambition, the SBTi uses comprehensive criteria to clarify the connection between company targets and climate stabilization pathways; the criteria are listed on the website at: https://sciencebasedtargets.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/SBTi-criteria.pdf.

Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

WRI believes that economic and gender equality is not only a human right; it‚ imperative for achieving sustainable development. It‚ important to WRI that we apply an economic and gender lens to all bodies of work. While this initiative doesn‚ t have a direct connection to economic and gender diversity, we will work to ensure our project is responsive to social issues and diversity.

Mission Statement:

Science-based targets provide companies with a clearly defined pathway to future-proof growth by specifying how much and how quickly they need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. To support the transition to a low-carbon economy, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is developing target-setting methods and implementation guidance for financial institutions to align their investment and lending portfolios with the Paris Agreement. The combined methods and guidance will support financial institutions interested in setting science-based targets and having them validated by the SBTi. Over 30 financial institutions have already publicly committed to setting emissions reduction targets through the SBTi and an additional 70 institutions in this sector reported to CDP in 2017 that they intend to set a science-based target within the next two years.

Link: Facebook:

SBTi/Finance Project Website: https://sciencebasedtargets.org/financial-institutions/WRI Website- https://www.wri.org/SBTi Website- https://sciencebasedtargets.org/Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/worldresources/Twitter- @sciencetargetsLinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/groups/?gid=69154YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/WorldResourcesInstIn addition to the online presence outlined above, Science-based targets has been mentioned in the media 4,500+ times.