Net Zero is entering a new phase – and that changes the conversation

The release of the draft ISO 14060 Net Zero Standard, alongside Version 2 of the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard, feels like more than coincidence. Although the two frameworks have different objectives, they both reflect the same underlying trend: the conversation is moving beyond target setting and towards delivery.

For much of the last decade, organisations have focused on establishing credible net zero commitments. That was the right priority. Science-based targets, robust emissions inventories and public commitments have all helped raise expectations and improve consistency across the market.

The next decade presents a different challenge because many organisations have already captured the easier emissions reductions. Renewable electricity, energy efficiency projects and operational improvements have often delivered lower emissions alongside lower costs. The remaining reductions are likely to depend on more difficult decisions involving supply chains, product design, capital investment and emerging technologies, often with greater uncertainty and weaker short-term financial returns.

As organisations approach 2030, the credibility of a net zero commitment will depend less on the ambition of the target and more on whether the organisation has the governance, leadership and transition planning needed to keep making difficult decisions year after year.

That is why ISO 14060 stands out. Rather than concentrating solely on targets, it looks at whether an organisation has built a credible system for achieving net zero, covering governance, pathway selection, transition planning, implementation, monitoring and independent validation and verification. One particularly interesting feature is that it allows organisations to justify the most appropriate science-based pathway for their business, rather than prescribing a single methodology, while its approach to Scope 3 encourages companies to prioritise areas where emissions are both material and within their ability to influence.

None of this diminishes the role of SBTi. In fact, Version 2 also places greater emphasis on implementation and accountability. Taken together, these developments suggest that the market is maturing. Stakeholders increasingly want to know not only whether a target is science-based, but whether the organisation has a credible plan for achieving it.

For organisations that have not adopted SBTi, ISO 14060 could provide an internationally recognised framework for demonstrating the robustness of their net zero strategy. For those that already use SBTi, it offers a complementary lens through which to strengthen governance and transition planning. Either way, the next phase of net zero will be defined less by the targets organisations announce and more by their ability to demonstrate that they can deliver them.

Challenge Sustainability offers a Readiness Assessment on ISO14060 DIS for companies preparing to make a net zero claim under the Standard.  Once the final version of the Standard is released, Challenge Sustainability will offer Independent Validation leading to an externally published Validation Statement.