SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 gives carbon credits, carbon removals and environmental attribute certificates several distinct roles. It does not allow a company to subtract ordinary carbon credits from its physical greenhouse-gas inventory or use them as a substitute for value-chain decarbonisation. Procurement teams should instead prepare four separate evidence paths: target implementation, voluntary ongoing-emissions responsibility, the post-2035 removal requirement for larger companies, and neutralisation at net zero.
That separation is the practical heart of the new standard. A tonne bought for one purpose is not automatically suitable for another, and a valid procurement claim is not the same as progress against an SBTi target.
The transition dates procurement teams should put in the calendar
SBTi published Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 on 11 June 2026. Target validation under V2.0 is due to open on 1 February 2027. Companies may continue submitting targets under Corporate Net-Zero Standard V1.3.1 until 31 January 2028, after which V2.0 becomes mandatory for new submissions. Companies with existing validated targets do not need to replace them immediately. SBTi's transition guide explains how the routes differ.
Two pieces of implementation infrastructure remain especially relevant to buyers:
- an instrument-recognition process for the Ongoing Emissions Responsibility programme is expected in Q4 2026, beginning where mature market infrastructure exists and later expanding to energy and commodity certificates; and
- an SBTi Claims Policy is expected from Q1 2027.
These dates come from SBTi's implementation roadmap. They make 2026 a preparation period, not a reason to label today's inventory or procurement as V2-compliant before the relevant validation, recognition and claims processes exist.
Four uses of market instruments that must stay separate
The same phrase, "using credits", can conceal different accounting and procurement jobs. The table below separates them.
| Use case | What the instrument does | Does it reduce the physical inventory? | Buyer implication as at 10 August 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target implementation | Supports an eligible action or market instrument used to implement a validated target. This may include low-carbon energy or commodity instruments where the applicable rules are met. | No automatic subtraction. The physical inventory remains the foundation for target ambition; eligible actions and instruments may be reported separately. | Map the instrument to the relevant scope, target method and chain-of-custody rule. Do not treat all EACs or commodity certificates as interchangeable. |
| Optional Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (OER) | Delivers climate contributions alongside, and separate from, target implementation. Contributions may include verified mitigation outcomes and other eligible climate action. | No. SBTi defines climate contributions as additional to target implementation and not used to offset or neutralise actual emissions. | Build a separate budget, ledger, retirement trail and claim. Final instrument recognition and claims guidance still matter. |
| Post-2035 responsibility | For Category A companies, supports eligible carbon removals for a rising share of ongoing Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. | No. This is responsibility for ongoing emissions, not a reduction in the inventory itself. | Treat the future obligation as a removals portfolio and contracting problem, including delivery, durability and replacement risk. |
| Net-zero neutralisation | Neutralises residual emissions once emissions have been reduced to zero or pathway-consistent residual levels. | Neutralisation is required in addition to reaching residual levels; it does not rewrite the historical physical inventory. | Contract for verified removals with durability matched to the emissions and retain retirement, ownership, timing and double-counting evidence. |
Source: Sentinel Earth synthesis of the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0, V2.0 criteria and actions and market instruments explainer. Current as at 10 August 2026.
Carbon credits are not a general shortcut to target achievement
V2.0 retains a physical greenhouse-gas inventory as the basis for defining emissions-reduction target ambition. Where an action or market instrument is not reflected in that inventory, the standard's approach is to account for and report it separately. This design anticipates the GHG Protocol's continuing work on Actions and Market Instruments without presuming the outcome of that process.
For a buyer, the important test is not simply whether an instrument represents one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent. It is whether the instrument is eligible for the stated use, issued under an accepted method, uniquely tracked, retired or cancelled as required, free from conflicting claims, and supported by evidence at the correct reporting date.
OER makes the language discipline even clearer. SBTi defines climate contributions as complementary action in addition to target implementation. They are not used to offset or neutralise actual emissions. A company may finance verified mitigation and still miss its value-chain target; the contribution does not repair the target result.
This is also why SBTi V2.0 and the VCMI Claims Code should not be blended into a single badge. They govern related but different decisions. Any public statement needs its own eligibility, assurance and legal analysis.
What changes for EAC and low-carbon electricity procurement
V2.0 provides two broad routes for Scope 2 targets: an emissions-reduction target or a low-carbon electricity alignment target. SBTi's Scope 2 explainer states that emissions-reduction target ambition is anchored in the physical, location-based inventory. Low-carbon electricity procurement remains relevant, but the accounting route and evidence must be explicit.
That means an EAC strategy should start with the target design, not the certificate catalogue. Buyers need to establish:
- which legal entities, facilities and loads sit inside the target boundary;
- whether the target uses an emissions-reduction or alignment method;
- which geographical, temporal, technology and deliverability rules apply;
- how generation, ownership, cancellation and reporting-period evidence will be linked;
- which facts appear in the physical inventory and which are reported as separate procurement actions; and
- which claim the organisation expects to make after assurance.
Sentinel Earth's guide to Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions provides the accounting foundation. V2.0 adds a more demanding bridge between that inventory and the evidence behind procurement.
The post-2035 removal signal affects contracting before it affects compliance
Criterion CNZS-C45 signals that, from 2035, Category A companies will support eligible carbon removals equal to at least 1% of ongoing Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Coverage is intended to rise linearly to 100% by the company's net-zero target year and no later than 2050. At least 10% of the covered long-lived greenhouse-gas emissions would initially need long-lived removals, with that share also rising to 100% by the net-zero year.
SBTi labels this as an intended future requirement that will be reviewed in the next major revision before it takes effect. Buyers should therefore avoid presenting it as a fixed 2035 purchasing mandate immune to revision. It is nevertheless a material planning signal.
Category A includes large companies in any country and certain medium-sized companies in high-income countries. The detailed thresholds include turnover, employee, balance-sheet and emissions tests in the official standard. Classification is determined at registration, reconfirmed at validation and applies for the five-year target cycle.
The sensible response is not to estimate a 2035 volume and buy the cheapest forward tonnes. Removal procurement can fail through non-delivery, reversal, invalidation, weak additionality, methodology change, storage underperformance or unclear replacement liability. Long-dated contracts should specify monitoring, verification, issuance, delivery, title, registry retirement, durability, reversal response, substitution rights and the treatment of regulatory or standard changes.
A six-step readiness plan for 2026
1. Confirm the target route and company category
Document whether the organisation expects to validate under V1.3.1 or V2.0, when its current target cycle ends, and whether it falls into Category A or B. Keep the decision aligned with the latest SBTi Services transition guidance.
2. Separate the four instrument purposes in governance and budgets
Create distinct approval codes for target implementation, OER climate contributions, post-2035 removals and net-zero neutralisation. This prevents the finance system from turning unlike instruments into one undifferentiated "offset" line.
3. Build the evidence stack before issuing an RFP
For each proposed instrument, specify the required programme, methodology, activity, geography, vintage, issuance date, registry, serial numbers, chain of custody, retirement or cancellation, monitoring period, assurance, corresponding-adjustment status where relevant, safeguards, durability and replacement terms. Not every field applies to every instrument, but "not applicable" should be a reasoned conclusion.
For carbon credits, the project document is a starting point rather than a quality guarantee. Sentinel Earth's guide to a carbon project PDD explains the baseline, monitoring and risk information that should feed buyer due diligence.
4. Link contract acceptance to the intended claim
The contract should state what evidence is required before payment, delivery and acceptance, and who bears the risk if a standard or claim rule changes. Claims reviewers should be involved before the instrument is marketed internally as "SBTi-aligned". The forthcoming SBTi Claims Policy may require changes.
5. Maintain three ledgers, not one
Keep the physical greenhouse-gas inventory, target-implementation instruments and climate contributions reconcilable but separate. Record cancellations and retirements at serial-number level where available. This supports end-of-cycle assessment and reduces the risk of the same unit appearing in more than one narrative.
6. Set update triggers
Reassess the procurement specification when SBTi issues the OER instrument-recognition process, Claims Policy, Renewal Policy or material updates to its methods. Add GHG Protocol revisions, registry rule changes and changes to the buyer's own target boundary as triggers.
The decision for buyers
SBTi V2.0 gives market instruments more structure, not a universal permission slip. The buyer's task is to connect each purchase to one defined use, one accounting treatment, one evidence trail and one defensible claim.
Organisations preparing their 2027 target cycle can ask Sentinel Earth for a focused assessment of instrument eligibility, evidence requirements and procurement sequencing through its work with corporate buyers. Any assessment should be coordinated with the organisation's SBTi validator, assurance provider and legal advisers. This article is informational and is not legal, accounting, investment or trading advice.
Sources
- SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0, June 2026, accessed 10 August 2026.
- SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 Criteria, June 2026, accessed 10 August 2026.
- SBTi Guide for Companies in the Transition to Corporate Net-Zero Standard Version 2.0, June 2026, accessed 10 August 2026.
- SBTi, The Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 is here: what comes next, 11 June 2026, accessed 10 August 2026.
- SBTi, From Ambition to Action: Actions and Market Instruments in Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0, June 2026, accessed 10 August 2026.
- SBTi, Understanding Scope 2 in the Updated Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0, June 2026, accessed 10 August 2026.
