SBTi v2 for financial services: the SBTi FI standard, financed emissions and what corporate v2 does not cover

Financial institutions are exposed to the climate performance of their lending and investment portfolio. Financed emissions usually dominate the footprint, and the SBTi FI standard is the authoritative source on how to set targets against them.

• Financed emissions across loans and investments (typically the largest line item).
• Insured emissions for relevant lines of business.
• Operational supply chain including data and software services, business travel and corporate real estate.

• Investee and borrower specific emissions where available, scored against PCAF data quality.
• Documented methodology aligned to PCAF, sector pathway and asset class.
• Operational supplier specific data for the largest non financial categories.

• Engage major operational suppliers on supplier specific data for non financial Scope 3.
• Set sector level engagement priorities for the highest emitting parts of the portfolio.
• Build a clear evidence trail for financed emissions disclosures and any external reporting.

Want a personalised view for your company? Run the SBTi v2 Impact Checker.

The SBTi Financial Institutions Near Term Criteria and the FI Net Zero Standard set out target boundary, asset class coverage, sector pathways and engagement expectations specific to FIs. They are updated separately from the Corporate Net Zero Standard.

If you are a corporate buyer engaging banks or insurers on their own emissions, treat them as portfolio companies under the FI standard rather than expecting Category A corporate v2 alignment.