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Method Applicability | Focus: Production and Extraction Sectors

Which companies can set science-based targets for nature?

SBTN’s methods are open access and free to use for all companies and organizations. However, validation services are not available for the following:

Public sector, academic institutions or non-government organizations (SBTN methods were primarily designed for companies).
Service companies (SBTN methods focus on production and extractive processes, therefore not the best fit for service companies).
Financial institutions (SBTN is developing specific resources for financial institutions).
Oil and gas companies (Some companies in the value chain of the oil and gas sector are allowed to use the service, others must wait for GHG science-based target methods to become available).

More information on eligibility criteria is available in the validation procedure.

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Method Applicability | Focus: material and continuous pressures at the water basin or landscape level

Are the SBTN Methods suitable for my activities?

SBTN methods are relevant if your materiality assessment identifies any of the following material pressures for your activities: land use and land use change, freshwater ecosystem use change, marine ecosystem use change, water use, other resource use, GHG emissions, water pollution and soil pollution.

SBTN methods are designed for companies that exert continuous pressures within the same location at the water basin or landscape level.

For companies with short-term, project-based activities, only the Land No Conversion target applies for their direct operations.
If these companies plan to consistently source materials from the same suppliers over time, upstream freshwater targets may also become applicable.
Companies implementing several short-term projects within the same basin or landscape, where the impacts extend over a period of 5–10 years or more, are eligible to apply the full suite of SBTN Methods.

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Method Applicability | Are the SBTN Freshwater Methods suitable for my activities?

Freshwater quantity target:

In v1 methods, water use targets apply to water withdrawals from surface water and groundwater, and cannot be used for locations that are solely rainfed. This will not change in Freshwater v2 methods.

Freshwater quality target:

In v1 methods, water pollution targets apply to water with nutrient pollution (N or P) but cannot be used for water pollution caused solely from toxic chemicals and other sources of water pollution. However, targets related to Toxic chemicals will be included in the upcoming Freshwater v2 methods.

Freshwater targets are place-based targets. They are only relevant when a company has a sustained presence (at least 5-10 years in duration) within a specific basin —either through direct operations, such as multiple projects in the same area over time, or through upstream activities, where materials are consistently sourced from the same suppliers.

In Step 2, companies may exclude sites with negligible water-related pressures from analysis (if certain conditions are met)

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Method Applicability | Are the SBTN Land Methods suitable for my activities?

Land No Conversion target:

The Land No Conversion targets are applicable across all sectors with materiality to land
The land methods include a tailored pathway for companies in the Metals, Infrastructure, Construction, and Extractives (MICE) sectors. Under this pathway, the No Conversion Target only applies to critical habitat/key biodiversity areas and high conservation value areas (i.e. not across all types of natural lands), identified via IFC Performance Standard 6 (PS6) or IBAT/UNEP-WCMC.

Land Footprint Reduction target:

In Version 1 Land Methods, the Land Footprint Reduction Target (Target 2) is only applicable to large agricultural companies and companies that use significant agricultural land in their upstream (e.g. sourcing palm, soy, fibres or renewables using biofuels etc.). In Version 2 Land Methods, Target 2 will be updated to include the Natural Land Cover Target which will be applicable to all companies, across sectors.
Production or sourcing of non-timber forest products in land classified in FAOSTAT as forest can be excluded from the land footprint calculation.
Additionally, agricultural land can be excluded from land footprint calculations due to efforts to preserve traditional livelihoods, if proper justification is provided.

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Method Applicability | Are the SBTN Land Methods suitable for my activities?

Landscape Engagement target:

Landscape engagement targets are place-based targets, and are intended for situations where companies maintain a long-term presence in a specific location. Companies must set landscape engagement targets in material landscapes where they have sustained involvement—either through ongoing or future direct operations or through consistent sourcing activities.

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Method Applicability | Are the SBTN Ocean Methods suitable for my activities?

The Oceans methods and targets apply only to companies in the seafood value chain. For other marine-related sectors, such as offshore wind farms, Step 1 and 2 are still applicable to measure impacts but cannot be used to set ocean targets at this time.

There are 3 Oceans targets that apply differently depending on whether the seafood comes from wild catch or aquaculture:

avoiding and reducing overexploitation,
protecting structural habitats,
reducing risk to endangered, threatened and protected marine wildlife populations

Companies with land-based aquaculture, or that use aquaculture feed derived from agricultural products, may also need to set Land and/or Freshwater targets.

SBTN is conducting a validation pilot for Ocean V1 methods, scheduled to be completed in Q2 2026. Companies may get ocean targets validated once the pilot is concluded.

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Method Stability

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Step 1 | Methods stability and submission implications

How stable is the Step 1 method — will there be more updates?

Step 1 v1.2 was released in Sept 2025 to introduce new accelerated pathways so companies can get started on target-setting more quickly and easily with the data they already have. It also refines certain metrics and validation requirements to enhance clarity and ease of implementation.
Step 1 v.2 is planned for release in Q2 2026, with updates designed to align closely with Step 3 v.2 methods across Freshwater, Land and Ocean, incorporate new pathways for traceability, and increase interoperability with TNFD and other key frameworks.
Version 2 (2026) will be the last major release for Steps 1–2. Only incremental updates will follow, reflecting advances in science and evolving user needs.

Is rework required when new versions are released?

Step 1 v1.1 remains valid until March 2026. If you have begun working on Step 1 using the v1.1 version, you are not required to use the newly released methods or to do re-work: you can still submit your work for validation until March 31, 2026.
Step 1 v1.2 will remain valid for 6 months after v2 is released. We recommend that you use v1.2 if you are just getting started.
Once validated, your Steps 1-3 work remains valid for 5 years, even if updated methods are released in the meantime.

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Step 1 | Methods stability and submission implications

Should I wait for the release of Step 1 v2 if I intend to apply the Step 3 v2 methods?

Companies can confidently start now. Steps 1-2 validated using the v1.1 and v1.2 methods won’t need to be redone when moving to new Step 3 Target-Setting method versions..
Once Step 1 and 2 are validated, they remain valid for 5 years and can be used with different versions of the Step 3 target-setting methods.

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Upcoming Methods | v2 Freshwater Targets will be published in Q2 2026

SBTN’s Version 2 freshwater targets (v2) will provide a more comprehensive framework for companies to address water impacts. With an expanded set of actionable targets, more businesses—particularly in water-intensive sectors such as food and agriculture, fashion, textiles, beverages, and chemicals—will be able to set freshwater science-based targets.

v2 will complement the current freshwater methods – which help companies address surface water use and nutrient pollution – by introducing new guidance focused on addressing impacts related to unsustainable groundwater use and toxic chemicals pollution.

v2 is expected in Q2 2026. As it will mainly expand the scope of current freshwater targets, companies are encouraged to start now with the current version (v1). v1 will remain valid for six months after v2 is released, ensuring a stable framework in the meantime.

Please visit SBTN’s website for more information and FAQs on upcoming v2 FW methods

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Upcoming Methods | v2 Land Targets will be published in Q2 2026

The v2 Land targets build on v1 with the latest science and greater specificity.

The main changes are in Target 2:

new land quality targets will enable companies to set targets to address land degradation
a new natural land cover target will apply to all companies, and will be relevant for activities related to regenerative and organic agriculture

Other changes include the introduction of:

Place-based land thresholds across more than 800 ecoregions to support target-setting with greater science-based specificity
New Accounting Guidelines to support companies in taking robust and consistent approaches to understanding and measuring their impacts on land
Improved feasibility measures, such as options that support target-setting in low-data contexts.

Please visit SBTN’s website for more information and FAQs on upcoming v2 Land methods

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Step 1 - Feasibility Options

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Step 1a | Materiality Assessment

What should my organisational boundary be?

Companies that have previously defined an organizational boundary for setting climate science-based targets are strongly recommended to use the same approach for setting nature science-based targets.
Companies can set their organizational boundary at either the parent company (including all subsidiaries) or the subsidiary level, allowing them to start with a more manageable scope.
Please note that companies will have the opportunity in Step 1b to narrow their organizational boundary to a specific business unit, allowing them to focus their value chain assessment on a smaller scope. This approach is specific to the SBTN methodology and differs from the SBTi framework.

Can I use the ENCORE 2024 database as an alternative to the Materiality Screening Tool (MST)?

Companies are recommended (but not required) to use the existing MST to screen their materiality. This will provide consistent results and an automatic process to complete Step 1a. If preferred, companies may instead use the updated ENCORE [2024] database for their screening.
Companies must use either the MST or the Encore [2024] database across all pressure categories, without combining the tools or their results.

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Step 1 b| Value chain assessment

What if i don’t have much upstream data?

In Step 1b, companies can advance even without full data coverage by focusing on parts of their value chain where data and traceability are available.

Companies can exclude small procurement volumes up to 10% of their High Impact Commodities (HIC). Companies are not required to assess all sourcing volumes, as long as their analysis covers at least 90% of HIC volumes and 67% of total material commodity volumes per pressure category. This approach enables companies to begin taking action where they have the greatest leverage, while progressively filling remaining data gaps over time.
To get started, companies just need the estimated or modeled locations of their direct and upstream activities. The location of upstream activities can also be marked as ‘unknown’ in the data template.
Companies can also use model based estimates to quantify pressures.
Commodity volumes that companies cannot trace to the sub-national level will be deprioritized from initial target setting in Step 2 and included within “Target Boundary B.” SBTN will release guidance in 2026 on how to address these untraceable volumes.

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Step 1 | Set targets on a focused scope

What if we lack data for certain impact areas or parts of our value chain?

There are feasibility options for companies to set SBTs for nature for the parts of their business where they have good data.

Accelerated Pathways give companies a flexible way to start setting science-based nature targets. After a quick initial materiality screening (Step 1a), companies can narrow their focus for the next steps (from the value chain assessment in Step 1b to target setting in Step 3) to the parts of their value chain that matter most. This helps them take credible action faster while concentrating efforts where they’ll have the biggest impact.

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Step 1 | Data checklist

	Step 1 a	Step 1b
Direct Ops	List of economic activities associated with direct operations, aligned with ISIC groups List of high-impact commodities in direct operations (primary production)	List of all directly owned or operated sites, including location and the activity/commodity involved Estimates of material pressures per location using prescribed SBTN indicators Estimates of State of Nature values per location using prescribed SBTN indicators
Upstream	List of economic activities associated with the company’s production inputs, aligned with ISIC groups List of high-impact commodities (and whether raw/processed/transformed) in upstream (sourced)	List of all production inputs procured from upstream suppliers (Tier 1) List of IUCN threatened species and CITES listed species in the company’s sourcing Estimated volume of high-impact commodities and other production inputs Estimated locations for each activity (at highest impact level) for each relevant pressure Estimates of State of Nature values per location using prescribed SBTN indicators

The scope of Step 1b data collection can be limited to a business unit, a realm or a value chain segment using the accelerated pathways

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Zoom on Step 1 - Accelerated Pathways

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Accelerated pathways | Set targets on a focused scope

Instead of requiring companies to assess their entire value chain upfront, the accelerated pathways offer a modular approach for companies to narrow down the scope of their target setting by business unit, environmental realm and value chain segment (subject to eligibility)

Companies that have chosen multiple business units may choose different realms and/or value chain segments for each business unit.

In what way do the Accelerated Pathways enable a company to more easily and quickly move to target-setting?

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Business Unit Approach | Adapted to your context

How to define and choose business units?

For large, downstream companies, we recommend getting started on their science based targets journey with selected business units which lets them set targets on specific parts of their operations.
The Accelerated Pathway indicates two fundamental criteria for defining the business units:

The chosen business units must correspond to existing internal operational structures such as team structures, operational practices, budget, disclosures…
The scope of the selected activities must be clearly defined and easy for the public to understand, so that any third party can hold the company accountable for its SBTN target claims.

Validation criteria for the Business Unit Approach:

Explain rationale for the business unit approach: feasibility, data readiness, leadership buy-in…
Justify operational autonomy to allow target setting (or strong support from the C-suite)
Justify prior existence of business unit: The BUA should not be applied to business units that have been delineated solely for the purpose of setting science-based targets for nature.
Confirm materiality of the BU direct and upstream operations
Disclose the relative size of the chosen business unit(s) relative to the overall business (e.g. % revenue)

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Business Unit Approach | Adapted to your context

Companies can divide their organization into business units using the following dimensions, either separately or in combination:

Legal entities: legal entities that are part of a conglomerate or corporate group can be considered business units.
Geographic areas: Companies can define business units by location, such as countries, regions, or subnational areas.
Type of economic activity: This is relevant for companies that operate across different stages of production (vertically integrated) or for conglomerates active in many industries. For example, a vertically integrated food company might separate its farms into one business unit and its food manufacturing sites into another. Similarly, a conglomerate could create separate business units for its energy division, machinery manufacturing, and construction activities.
Activity, product line, brands: For companies with diverse activities, business units can be based on product categories or brands. For instance, a food company might separate specialty foods, beverages, and pet foods, while a retailer could group units into apparel, electronics, or health and personal care.

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Business Unit Approach | Companies must explain their rationale for the selection of the business unit

**The examples provided below are from companies with validated targets**

Scope of BU:	Product Line	Brand and Country Combined	Subsidiary
Example	Plant-based product line (yogurts, drinks, desserts) of a global dairy company that is a subsidiary of a larger global food company -has validated land and FW targets	Global company with country-defined business units combined with an in-country “private label” department to define a scoped down business unit- has validated land and FW targets	Subsidiary, responsible for ingredient development, of a multinational consumer goods company - has a validated FW target
Rationale	Readiness and leadership buy-in To test the SBTN methodology within the company, provide feedback to global teams, and evaluate its potential for future company-wide implementation.	Impact and Feasibility The selected business unit oversees upstream agricultural production, identified as the most impactful activity in Step 1a. Additionally, the French market accounts for approximately half of the company's overall business.	Impact and Feasibility The selected subsidiary is responsible for R&D, procurement and manufacturing cosmetic products for the parent company, contributing to two-thirds of the group's total turnover.

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Accelerated pathways | Unchanged data requirements

What are the data requirements for the Accelerated Pathway?

The data requirements for the accelerated pathways are the same as in the regular methods. The difference is that data is only needed for the selected scope to complete Steps 1b-3.

The existing minimum scope requirements for the value chain assessment (i.e., 100% of direct operations and 67% of upstream, including 90% of HICs, and 100% of EUDR-commodities), are applied for each business unit and realm combination selected.

Realm Focus: companies choosing this reduced scope by realm will only have to map the activities and locations that are material for any the associated pressure categories in these realms:

For a focus on Land: activities that are material for land use and land use change or for soil pollution.
For a focus on Freshwater: activities that are material for water use or for water pollution.
For a focus on Ocean: activities that are material for marine ecosystem use and change or for biological resource extraction.

After selecting their business units and realms, companies may in certain cases further reduce the scope of their target setting to the direct operation or the upstream value chain segment (see v1.2 methods for details)

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Accelerated pathways | Validation and Claims

How does the accelerated pathways affect target setting?

Companies wishing to use the accelerated pathways for target setting, must: :

Complete Step 1a, the materiality screening, for the whole organization boundary
Carry through the down-scoping choices made in Step 1b (Business unit, realm and value chain segment) to Step 2 and 3 target-setting.
Use claims language and follow disclosure requirements that provide stakeholders context on how target-setting and related steps were down-scoped relative to overall impacts.

If we have done Step 1 using the comprehensive pathway, can we still do Step 2 and 3 for a reduced “accelerated pathway” scope?

Yes, even if you have already completed and validated Step 1b for the complete scope, it is possible to complete Step 2 and 3 for a reduced scope.
During Step 1, using the standard methodology, volumes and locations related to pressures will already be split out by value chain segment (i.e. direct operations and upstream will be separate) and by realm (each pressure is estimated separately).
This means that you can specify in your Step 2 submission how you would like to reduce your scope and focus on the relevant pressures and value chain segments accordingly.

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Accelerated Pathways - Case Examples

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Step 1 | Accelerated pathways - Case Examples

GlobalEats Group is a global food services company with operations across multiple countries. It sources both agricultural and seafood products through upstream supply chains. Following its materiality assessment, the company determined that all SBTN targets within the Land and Freshwater realms are relevant. However, because GlobalEats Group completed Steps 1 and 2 before the release of the ocean methods, it has not yet evaluated its seafood impacts using SBTN’s guidance, even though it acknowledges that its activities affect marine ecosystems.

GlobalEats Group has more comprehensive upstream seafood data for one country operation than for other parts of its business and wants to take ambitious, science-based targets on seafood.

Since GlobalEats Group completed Steps 1 and 2 before the ocean methods were released, ocean-relevant pressures—marine ecosystem use and change and other resource uses—were not included. The company will need to add these to its initial enterprise-wide Step 1a screening using the SBTN Materiality Screening Tool or the ENCORE 2024 dataset.

Then in Step 1b, using the accelerated pathways, GlobalEats Group will narrow down the scope of its value chain assessment to the country business unit with robust upstream seafood data. Only ocean-related pressures and locations will be assessed, while other pressures will be excluded. Given the available upstream data on seafood sourcing, this step should be relatively easy to complete.

GlobalEats Group will then move forward to Step 2 to prioritize sourcing locations that require targets. The number and type of seafood targets to be set will depend on whether its suppliers source seafood from wild capture or aquaculture operations.

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Step 1 | Accelerated pathways - Case Examples

GlobalDrinks Group is a multinational beverage company getting started on Steps 1 and 2. The company is expected to have material pressures across both the Land and Freshwater realms and will likely fall within scope for all three Land targets and both Freshwater targets.

Based on previous work conducted on its direct operations, Company B already has a good understanding of where it would ideally set freshwater targets. Several high water stress areas where it operates have been identified as high-impact locations for freshwater quantity targets. As a result, the company has chosen to focus on setting freshwater targets for its direct operations first.

GlobalDrinks Group will conduct Step 1a for its entire organization, then use the Accelerated Pathway in Step 1b to expedite progress through Steps 1 and 2 and focus on setting freshwater targets for its direct operations. By focusing on the Freshwater realm, the company will restrict data collection for pressure estimation and state of nature assessment to freshwater-related pressures. In addition, its focus on the Direct Operations segment will exclude upstream activities from the scope of this data collection and analysis.

Finally, in Step 2, if the high water stress locations are not already prioritized based on indexed values and biodiversity state of nature data alone, GlobalDrinks Group can justify strategic significance (Task 8) to ensure these critical locations are prioritized for target setting.

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Step 1 | Accelerated pathways - Case Examples

TerraCotton Ltd., a large primary producer of cotton—identified by SBTN as a High Impact Commodity—anticipates that all land and freshwater pressures are relevant to its operations. The company aims to complete and validate Step 1 but is finding the data requirements challenging and is uncertain where to begin. To make progress, TerraCotton Ltd. can use the Accelerated Pathway to narrow the initial scope of its target-setting process and scale its efforts over time.

It has chosen to focus first on the land realm, where it likely has the greatest impact and capacity for rapid action. It has also chosen to further narrow its scope to its direct operations, given that companies mainly engaged in primary production activities may exclude their upstream activities from the value chain assessment for the Land realm.

TerraCotton Ltd will conduct Step 1a for its entire organization, then use the Accelerated Pathway in Step 1b to expedite progress through Steps 1 and 2 and focus on setting land targets for its direct operations. By focusing on the Land realm, the company will restrict data collection for pressure estimation and state of nature assessment to land-related pressures. In addition, its focus on the Direct Operations segment will exclude upstream activities from the scope of this data collection and analysis.

After validating Step 1, if the company proceeds to Steps 2 and 3, it will likely need to set all three Land targets, given its size, sector, and materiality results.

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Step 1 Validation and Claims

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Step 1 | Validation and Claims

What kind of claims can we make once Step 1 is validated?

The following standardized language is required when making a validated Step 1 (materiality screening and value chain assessment) claim: “[Company, subsidiary or business unit] has completed a materiality assessment of its impacts on nature as part of SBTN’s framework, using the technical guidance Step 1 V1.1”

What kind of claims can we make once Step 1 is validated using the accelerated pathway?

V1.2 enables companies to complete the Step 1b assessment using the accelerated pathways, which allows companies to reduce the scope of the assessment through a focus on business units, realms, and value chain segments. The reduced focus will be reflected in their Step 1 and 2 claims, as specified in the claims guidance of v1.2: “[Company, subsidiary or business unit] has completed a materiality assessment of its [freshwater / land / ocean] impacts in its [direct operations and/or supply chain] as part of the SBTN framework, using the technical guidance in Step 1 [Version number].”

How do I expand my work to other business units, realms or value chain segments?

Companies using accelerated pathways (v1.2) to scope down their organizational boundary in Step 1b to specific business units, realms, and/or value chain segments to set targets will need to complete a new Step 1b and Step 2 on additional business units, realms, and/or value chain segments to expand target coverage in the future.