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    SBTi Excludes Fossil Fuel Companies

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    Stockholm (NordSIP) – The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), an organisation that champions science-based target setting as a powerful way to boost business’ competitive advantage in the transition to the low-carbon economy decided it will no longer accept commitments from these companies. The decision is in addition to its existing policy to not validate targets from fossil fuel companies.

    “This policy is effective immediately and removal of previous commitments will be completed on Thursday 10 March 2022,” the SBTi explains on its website. According to the SBTi, the decision affect five companies: CGP PRIMAGAZ (from France), FLUXYS BELGIUM, OKQ8 AB (from Sweden), James Fisher and Sons plc (UK), and PJSC Tatneft (Russia). However, “the SBTi reserves the right to remove other companies that, after careful evaluation, are considered to fall within the relevant industry categories,” the organisation says.

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    OKQ8 AB announced it had adopted science-based targets in October 2020, crediting itself as the first fuel company in the Nordic region to make such commitments. As one of Scandinavia’s largest fuel companies, Karin Hellgren, Communications Manager at OKQ8 AB, argued the company was keen to show how it contributes to reducing global warming. Having earlier adopted the goal of being climate neutral in its operations by 2030 and in its entire value chain by 2045, OKQ8 AB went further by aligning itself with the the Science Based Target methodology.

    “These companies may be reinstated following further development of the fossil fuel sector project. The SBTi will share further updates on the development of this guidance later in 2022,” SBTi explains on its website.

    “As a next step, the SBTi is planning a peer review of the oil and gas target setting methodology. To this end, the SBTi issued a request for proposals for a consultant that can facilitate a panel of independent external experts to complete a review of the oil and gas methods and guidance” the SBTi explains.

    The SBTi will however continue to allow companies that derive less than 50% of revenue from a) sale, transmission and distribution of fossil fuels, or b) providing equipment or services to fossil fuel companies to join. The same is true for companies with less than 5% revenue from fossil fuel assets (e.g. coal mine, lignite mine, etc.) for extraction activities with commercial purposes and for electric utilities that mine coal for their own power generation.

    Image courtesy of knerri61 via Pixabay
    Filipe Albuquerque
    Filipe Albuquerque
    Filipe is an economist with 8 years of experience in macroeconomic and financial analysis for the Economist Intelligence Unit, the UN World Institute for Development Economic Research, the Stockholm School of Economics and the School of Oriental and African Studies. Filipe holds a MSc in European Political Economy from the LSE and a MSc in Economics from the University of London, where he currently is a PhD candidate.

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