The SBTi validation process, explained: stages, timings and costs

What is SBTi validation?

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) sets the standard for what a credible corporate emissions target looks like. Validation is the step where a company’s targets are independently checked against that standard.

The check is carried out by SBTi Services, the SBTi’s wholly owned validation subsidiary. A company builds its greenhouse gas inventory, models its targets using the SBTi’s methods, submits them through the Validation Portal, and a team of reviewers assesses whether they meet the criteria. Approved targets are published on the SBTi Target Dashboard and the company can describe them as SBTi-validated.

One distinction matters from the start. Validation assesses whether your targets meet the SBTi’s requirements. It does not verify your emissions data. SBTi Services describes its work as a limited-assurance assessment of the targets, and treats verification of the inventory as a separate exercise carried out by third parties.

The process is also mid-transition. Version 2.0 of the Corporate Net-Zero Standard was published in June 2026, validation against it opens on 1 February 2027, and it becomes mandatory for all new submissions from 1 February 2028. This article describes the process as it runs today under Version 1.3.1, and flags where V2.0 changes it. For what the targets themselves must contain under V2.0, see our guide to the Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0.

Do you need SBTi validation at all?

Not always. The SBTi is a voluntary framework and no UK regulation requires validated targets. What drives most businesses to consider it is a request from someone else: a client questionnaire, an investor, a parent company or a tender. So the useful question is what that request says.

In our experience, many requests ask for targets aligned with the SBTi rather than formal validation, and can be answered credibly with targets that follow the SBTi methodology on a full-scope, GHG Protocol-aligned footprint. PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plans require a Net Zero by 2050 commitment, not validation. B Corp’s Climate Action topic asks for targets and a transition plan. CDP, EcoVadis and CSRD’s ESRS E1 all recognise science-based targets without mandating validation.

Validation becomes the right call when:

• A client or investor asks for it by name. Larger companies with SBTi targets often set supplier engagement targets, and under V2.0 supplier alignment is one of the main Scope 3 target options for Category A companies. Some programmes count validated supplier targets only. 

• You want to use the SBTi’s name and logo. The SBTi’s communications guidance only permits this once validation has been granted, and a formal Claims Policy is expected from Q1 2027. 

• You want an independent check on your methodology before making a public commitment. 

If none of those apply, SBTi-aligned targets on solid data will serve most reporting needs, and you keep the option of validating later.

How much does SBTi validation cost?

SBTi Services publishes fees in its Target Validation Service Offerings. The figures below are from Version 6.1, effective 5 January 2026, and apply to submissions under the current standard. V2.0 pricing had not been published at the time of writing; SBTi Services has said its V2.0 validation resources will be released on 1 October 2026.

Pricing depends on organisation type and a turnover-based tier set at registration. Converted from USD as of September 2026:

Corporate fees (UK, GBP, excluding VAT)

SME fees (UK, GBP, excluding VAT)

You should also consult the SBTi Services website for the latest pricing.

The SME route has strict eligibility: under 10,000 tCO2e across Scope 1 and location-based Scope 2, plus three of four size tests (fewer than 250 employees, turnover under €50m, total assets under €25m, not in a mandatory FLAG sector), assessed at group level. Most mid-market businesses use the corporate route anyway.

The SME route is on borrowed time. V2.0 replaces the corporate, SME and financial institution classification with Category A and Category B, set on emissions, financials and location. The SME route remains available for V1.3.1 submissions until 31 January 2028, after which it closes with the rest of Version 1. A UK company with 250 or more employees, or turnover over €50m, or Scope 1 and 2 emissions of 10,000 tCO2e or more, will sit in Category A under V2.0, with the fuller set of obligations that brings.

Two points on budgeting. The package rate only applies when near-term and net-zero targets are submitted together. And the fee buys one validation service, so a rejected submission means starting again. The validation fee is usually the smaller cost. For Category A companies under V2.0, the larger additional cost will be third-party limited assurance of base year data, which is required before validation.

What is the SBTi validation process, step by step?

The process follows SBTi Services’ published Standard Operating Procedure. The mechanics (portal, reviewers, queries, decision) carry over to V2.0; what changes is what is checked at each step. Read our full guide on SBTi V2.0 for more details on what's changing.

1. Measure your footprint and set your targets

SBTi Services expects a complete Scope 1, 2 and 3 inventory built to the GHG Protocol before targets are modelled. Reviewers check boundaries, completeness, allocation across scopes, exclusions and base year.

Under V1.3.1 you can exclude up to 5% of Scope 1 and 2 emissions and 5% of Scope 3, if quantified and justified. Under V2.0 no exclusions are permitted, the base year must be the most recent year with comprehensive data, and Category A companies need limited assurance over that base year before submitting.

2. Register on the Validation Portal

Registration on the Validation Portal is where SBTi Services confirms eligibility, classifies you as corporate, financial institution or SME, and assigns your pricing tier, based on your latest financial statements. Under V2.0, this is where your Category A or B classification is determined, on consolidated group figures averaged over the two most recent financial years, and it is fixed for the full five-year cycle. Category B companies can also request SME status under the current standard in the meantime.

3. Commit (optional)

Corporates can make a public commitment to set targets, which starts a 24-month window to submit. Separate near-term and net-zero commitments are available until 31 January 2027. After that there is a single “SBTi Commitment”, open only to companies with no previous commitments or targets, and it can only be fulfilled under V2.0.

4. Submit

Company structure, reporting years, inventory and target details are entered into structured forms in the portal. You then pay, sign the Target Validation Service Agreement via DocuSign (no edits or external terms permitted), and are assigned a service start date. The Lead Reviewer begins work before that date, so final documentation must be in at least five business days beforehand.

Under V2.0, a board-approved transition plan is a condition of validation. SBTi Services validates that the plan exists and contains the required elements, not its quality.

5. Review by SBTi Services

Corporate reviews follow a published 30-business-day Validation Schedule with a dedicated Lead Reviewer and Peer Reviewer.

SBTi Services commits to corporate results within 40 business days of the start date. In January 2026 it reported a 47-calendar-day average, down by more than half since mid-2024. SMEs follow a simpler email-based query cycle, estimated at around 21 business days for the review.

SBTi Services has not yet published a V2.0 schedule. Expect the review to cover more ground: the transition plan’s required elements, assurance statements for Category A, the significance screen for Scope 3 categories, and the new target methods.

6. The back and forth

Queries are the core of the process, not an exception to it. Common topics are accounting methods, assumptions, data interpretation and target-setting method, and reviewers compare your submission against your published reports and sector peers. Response windows are fixed, and missed deadlines may result in rejection. Having the people who built the inventory available during the review is what keeps a submission out of the Evaluation stage.

7. Decision and publication

The outcome is approval or rejection. On approval, SBTi Services issues a Validation Statement and proposes a publication date. Targets must be announced within six months of the decision or the validation lapses. Under V2.0, Category A companies must also publish their transition plan at validation or within 15 months of it.

8. Disclose, and (under V2.0) close the cycle

Approved targets come with communications guidelines and permission to use the SBTi logo. Under V1.3.1, companies then report progress annually and complete a mandatory five-year review.

V2.0 replaces the review with a structured cycle. Near-term targets run for five years. Companies report progress and barriers annually, SBTi Services may run spot checks, and within 12 months of the end of the cycle the company undergoes an end-of-cycle assessment against its targets (with third-party assurance for Category A). New targets are then validated from a fresh base year, no earlier than 24 months before and no later than 12 months after the cycle ends. Validation stops being a one-off credential and becomes the start of a repeating loop.

Should you submit now or wait for V2.0?

The SBTi’s own advice is not to delay. Companies with commitments or renewals due in 2026 or 2027 are told to submit under V1.3.1, which stays open until 31 January 2028. Existing validated targets remain valid through their cycle, and a Renewal Policy expected in Q4 2026 will set out how V2.0 elements become available to Version 1 users. Which version you can use depends on your situation:

The case for going now under V1.3.1 is the flexibility it keeps: combined Scope 1 and 2 targets, the 67% Scope 3 coverage threshold, 5% exclusions and no assurance requirement. That matters most for a first full-scope footprint where some data is still spend-based.

The case for waiting is weaker than it looks. A V1.3.1 validation is not wasted work: the inventory, boundary documentation and hotspot analysis carry straight into the next cycle. What does change is what you build alongside it. Building the inventory with no exclusions, keeping the base year current, screening every Scope 3 category against the 5% threshold, and drafting a board-approved transition plan now means the next cycle has nothing to retrofit. For Category A companies, lining up an assurance provider early is the one step that cannot be rushed later.

How Seedling can help

Most of the work of validation happens before you log in to the portal. It sits in the quality of the footprint, the rigour of the target modelling, and having someone who knows what reviewers look for.

A footprint reviewers can trust. We build full Scope 1, 2 and 3 inventories to the GHG Protocol, using activity data wherever available, with clear boundary documentation and a traceable audit trail. With no exclusions and limited assurance arriving under V2.0, we structure the inventory the way an assurer expects to see it.

SBTi-aligned targets, modelled properly. Our target-setting and reduction tools help you choose the right method for each scope, meet the minimum ambition, and quantify the actions behind the numbers, which is the substance of a V2.0 transition plan.

Support through submission and review. Your Seedling adviser helps with registration, the submission forms and reviewer queries within the schedule. Our Carbon Impact Lead, Henry Jones, is one of only a small number of SBTi Certified Experts in the UK.

Alignment without validation, if that is the right call. If clients are asking for SBTi-aligned targets rather than a certificate, we help you set and report them credibly, with the option to validate later on the same data.

Seedling is a B Corp carbon management platform trusted by more than 500 businesses, with over 500,000 tonnes of CO2e measured and a 95% client retention rate year on year. Book a demo to talk through your targets.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• SBTi Services, Target Validation Service Offerings v6.1

• SBTi Services, Validation Schedule

• SBTi Services, Standard Operating Procedure for the Validation of SBTi Targets v1.1

• SBTi Services, Guide for Companies in the Transition to Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 (June 2026)

• SBTi Services, SME FAQs v6.2

• SBTi, The Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 is here: what comes next (June 2026)

• SBTi, A beginner’s guide to target validation