Why the request has landed with you

Large companies with science-based targets usually have to tackle Scope 3, the emissions in their supply chain. Under the SBTi's near-term criteria, version 5.3.1, a company whose Scope 3 is 40% or more of its total footprint must set Scope 3 targets that together cover at least 67% of its Scope 3 emissions. One way to do that is a supplier engagement target: a promise that suppliers making up a set percentage of their Scope 3 emissions, or of their spend, will have science-based targets within five years.

If you are one of those suppliers, your target helps your customer hit theirs. That is why the request often comes with a deadline, and why the customer may keep asking each year until you have one.

What exactly the customer needs

The criteria are more flexible than many requests suggest. For a supplier engagement target:

  • Your target must be in line with the SBTi's near-term criteria.
  • SBTi validation is recommended but not required. The criteria say so in recommendation R9. Some customers insist on validation anyway, so ask.
  • The customer's deadline is at most five years from when its own target went to the SBTi, and the SBTi recommends 2030 or earlier.

Before you reply, ask three questions:

  1. Do you need an SBTi-validated target, or a target that follows the SBTi criteria?
  2. By when?
  3. Would a public commitment with a date for submitting the target be enough for now?

The target a small supplier can set

The SBTi's SME route is the simplest option for most small firms. Our guide to science-based targets for SMEs covers eligibility in full; in short, you need fewer than 10,000 tonnes of Scope 1 and location-based Scope 2 emissions and to meet size tests such as having fewer than 250 employees. The target:

  • covers Scope 1 and 2, as an absolute cut;
  • is at least 4.2% for each year between the base year (2015 or later) and the target year;
  • uses 2030 as the recommended target year;
  • doesn't need a near-term Scope 3 target, though you should measure and work on Scope 3.

A worked example

An illustrative firm's 2024 baseline: an office using 30,000 kWh of electricity and 60,000 kWh of gas, and diesel vans covering 25,000 miles. With the 2024 government factors, its Scope 1 and 2 come to 27.25 tonnes CO2e.

  • Minimum cut on the SME route: 4.2% × 6 years = 25.2%.
  • 2030 target: no more than 20.39 tonnes of Scope 1 and 2.

For a firm like this, a green electricity tariff helps the market-based Scope 2 figure, but the gas and the vans are most of the footprint, so a credible target usually means a plan for heating and vehicles too. The target is an absolute cut: if the business grows, the tonnes still have to fall.

Timing: the SME route and V2.0

The SBTi's Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 takes effect on 31 January 2027. It ends the separate SME route and puts companies into categories, with lighter requirements for Category B, where most small firms are expected to sit. You can still submit under the current criteria, including the SME route, until 31 January 2028.

V2.0 also changes what your customer counts. Supplier engagement targets become broader supplier alignment targets, measuring the share of suppliers that are "in transition" or "net-zero aligned". The details are in the standard, but the direction is the same: customers will keep asking suppliers for targets and progress.

If you can't do it yet

A good holding answer has four parts:

  1. Your current Scope 1 and 2 emissions, with the period and method.
  2. A reduction target you are confident of, with a base year and target year.
  3. The date you plan to submit a target, or to align it with the SBTi criteria.
  4. A link to your published Carbon Reduction Plan, if you have one.

Some firms also make the free SME Climate Commitment through the UK Business Climate Hub: halve emissions by 2030, net zero by 2050 and report progress each year. It isn't validated by the SBTi, so check whether your customer will count it. For other requests that arrive alongside this one, see our posts on what customers can reasonably ask suppliers, answering a CDP supply chain request and transition plans for small firms.

How Carbon Recycling helps

Carbon Recycling works out the base year inventory a target is built on: Scope 1, location-based and market-based Scope 2, and Scope 3 by category, with the government factors for each year. Its Carbon Reduction Plan lets you set your target percentage and year, draws the path from your baseline, and tracks each later year against it. The free supplier questionnaire answer bank turns your figures and target status into model answers for the customer's form.