SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0: What does it mean for your carbon credit and REC/EAC strategy?

For years, uncertainty around the Science-Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) position was one of the biggest brakes on corporate demand for carbon credits. That ambiguity is now gone.

Last week, the SBTi published Version 2.0 of its Corporate Net-Zero Standard, and for the first time, it formally recognises carbon credit use in its framework through a new Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (OER) programme. This creates a clearer, structured pathway for companies to take responsibility for ongoing emissions – the emissions released while working toward targets – through high-integrity carbon credits.

The story doesn’t end with credits. V2.0 also reaffirms energy attribute certificates (EACs), such as renewable energy certificates (RECs), as legitimate decarbonisation levers – with a higher integrity bar.

Here’s what it means for SBTi-aligned corporate buyers

Choose your level of ambition

The OER programme offers three recognition tiers, each with defined coverage and economics.

• Engaged – Address at least 1% of total ongoing scope 1-3 emissions through verified carbon credits or by establishing a carbon price.
• Advanced – Address 100% of scope 1 and 2 emissions plus additional scope 3, reaching at least 10% of total ongoing emissions, through verified carbon credits or by establishing a contribution budget at a carbon price of US$20/tonne.
• Leadership – Address 100% of ongoing scope 1-3 emissions by applying a carbon price of US$80/tonne to establish a contribution budget, using that budget to purchase verified carbon credits, and any remaining funds to support other eligible climate solutions. The SBTi describes this as the full internalisation of the cost of climate change.

There are two practical implications for corporate buyers. Firstly, the US$20 and US$80 benchmarks give you an externally credible anchor for your internal carbon price. Secondly, the entry point is deliberately low – 1% coverage is achievable for almost any company, which means the reputational cost of opting out entirely will rise as peers opt in.

Moreover, there is also new flexibility on scope 3. Companies may share coverage of scope 3 emissions with value chain partners that report the same emissions. For companies with large supplier or customer networks, this opens the door to co-funded climate contribution arrangements.

Build a diversified, portfolio approach

V2.0 reflects a need for the full spectrum of high-integrity solutions in credible climate strategies – spanning reductions and removals, across nature-based and engineered solutions – with clear quality criteria on additionality, verification and safeguards. It also formally recognises commodity certificates using chain-of-custody models such as book-and-claim, opening certificate-based pathways for scope 3 with sustainable aviation fuel certificates (SAFc) as a key example.

So a credible carbon credit portfolio in 2026 might blend high-quality reduction credits delivering near-term impact and financing flows to the Global South, nature-based removals building toward durability requirements, and early positions in engineered removals where supply is scarcest.

What unites every eligible instrument is the integrity bar. Credits must be ex-post and independently verified. The SBTi has committed to developing criteria and processes for recognising relevant third-party frameworks, standards and programmes – a mechanism widely expected to align with established integrity bars such as the ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles.

Ensure your EACs/RECs make the cut

The same logic now applies to your electricity strategy. V2.0 requires companies to set a location-based Scope 2 target plus a procurement-based target – with the primary pathway being direct procurement of low-carbon electricity or high-integrity EACs (such as RECs) that meet stringent matching criteria, increasing toward 100% low-carbon electricity over time.

Instruments must be geographically matched to the same grid region where electricity is consumed, and sourced from facilities commissioned or re-powered within the past 15 years. Temporal alignment is the clear direction of travel: larger users must now report their hourly-matched share, with a new optional SBTi recognition programme rewarding companies that hourly-match at least 50% of consumption, rising to 90% by 2035.

Start your carbon removals procurement journey now

V2.0 sets the clearest demand signal the carbon market has ever received from a voluntary standard.

From 2035, supporting carbon dioxide removals (CDRs) shifts from voluntary to mandatory for larger companies – starting at 1% of ongoing emissions and scaling linearly to 100% by your net-zero target year. Within that, the share of durable, long-lived CDRs starts at 10% and also rises to 100%.

Supply of high-quality durable CDRs is growing but remains structurally constrained, and every SBTi-aligned large company will eventually be procuring against the same requirement. Early movers that begin building their CDR procurement strategy now will lock in price, volume and credibility.

The bottom line

The question is no longer whether market-based instruments like carbon credits, RECs and other EACs belong in a credible net-zero strategy. The companies best positioned for 2035 and beyond are the ones building a portfolio approach to procurement today.

Whether you’re SBTi-aligned or not, CIX can help you navigate the complexities of building a credible climate action plan and procurement strategy spanning carbon credits, RECs and other EACs. Speak to our team today at contact.us@climateimpactx.com.