SBTi’s CNZS V2: A Disappointment for CDR and a Threat to the Net Zero Concept

November 2025
By the CDR.fyi Team

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) released its second consultation draft of the Corporate Net-Zero Standard 2.0 (CNZS V2). It is an important evolution in how companies are guided to take responsibility for their ongoing emissions, but a big disappointment for durable carbon removal (CDR).

The new framework replaces the previous distinction between carbon removal and Beyond Value Chain Mitigation (BVCM) with a single concept: Ongoing Emissions Responsibility. This new approach encourages companies to take financial responsibility for their emissions now, rather than waiting until they achieve net zero. It also requires companies to disclose whether they are financing climate action and, if not, explain why. This is a meaningful step toward normalizing climate responsibility as part of corporate practice. It sets the expectation of responsibility, not an optional sustainability gesture, but an expectation of doing business in a net-zero world.

Where the framework falls radically short is in its treatment of durable CDR.

There is no requirement for companies to begin supporting durable removals today. Companies can earn recognition for taking responsibility for ongoing emissions even without including any carbon removal in their portfolios.

Under current timelines, the responsibility for ongoing emissions becomes mandatory only from 2035 onwards, and applies only to a small share of emissions, and even then, durable removals account for only a fraction of the required coverage. The new language on “neutralization at net zero” also introduces uncertainty: SBTi replaces the earlier expectation of full neutralization through permanent removals with a fixed 41% threshold for “long-lived” removals, leaving the rest open to being short-lived.

While this likely reflects SBTi modelling assumptions that most residual emissions will be biogenic or short-lived, as written, it dilutes the principle of counterbalancing fossil emissions with permanent carbon removal. This puts the whole concept of net zero at risk. If companies continue to emit fossil fuels without fully neutralizing them with durable removals, warming will persist as short-lived removals return carbon to the atmosphere.

Our minimum expectation is that the SBTi clarify that fossil fuel emissions must be neutralized using permanent carbon removals. For now, the ambiguity risks debasing the net-zero concept.

It is not all dark, though. One positive clarification in CNZS V2 is that companies can share responsibility for Scope 3 and ongoing emissions. If value-chain partners have already purchased removals, others need not double-count or double-compensate. This could unlock significant demand, as it will likely enable companies to sell products with embedded carbon removal claims.

Another interesting and somewhat controversial addition is that removals used for neutralization will not be allowed to be “claimed by another entity for compliance or NDC accounting purposes.” This means, for example, that EU CRCF credits would not be eligible, as they count for EU NDC accounting purposes. The SBTi further writes that “[w]here removals are authorized for use under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, a corresponding adjustment by the host country shall be demonstrated.” Expect to see more on this topic.

Why early action still matters

Durable CDR will be essential by 2035, and there’s no path to net zero without it. However, without near-term demand, the ecosystem may never scale fast enough to meet that need.

Companies serious about long-term climate integrity shouldn’t wait. Acting now through offtake agreements, R&D support, or forward-funded removals helps ensure that durable carbon removal capacity will be available when the world finally requires it.

Early movers are not only buying removals; they are building the market that everyone will depend on later. Now, more than ever, is the time for climate leaders to step forward.

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At CDR.fyi, our mission is to accelerate durable carbon removal worldwide by tracking the data that drives it, orders, suppliers, projects, purchasers, and prices. We believe transparency is the foundation for trust and trust for informed action.

As frameworks like CNZS V2 evolve, CDR.fyi will continue to surface the insights that help all stakeholders navigate this transition with clarity and accountability.

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