The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has released a streamlined draft of its Automotive Sector Net-Zero Standard, aiming to guide automakers and bus corridor manufacturers in setting wisdom-grounded, net-zero-aligned climate targets. The new draft provides a refined frame to help the global automotive industry align with climate wisdom while addressing the sector’s complex emigration profile. Crucial themes shaping the standard include SBTi net-zero targets, automotive sector emigrations, wisdom-grounded climate targets, electric vehicle transition, and Compass 3 emigrations, reflecting the urgency of decarbonization across the value chain.

The streamlined Automotive Sector Net-Zero Standard is designed to replace the corridor of SBTi’s Land Transport Guidance and builds on feedback from stakeholders following the release of the original draft in June 2025. The action seeks to support automakers in navigating nonsupervisory prospects, investor scrutiny, and consumer demand while accelerating the transition toward low- and zero-emission mobility results.

Addressing a Major Source of Global Emigration

The automotive sector accounts for more than 20% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, making it a critical focus area for global climate action. According to the SBTi, the maturity of emissions generated by automakers arises not from manufacturing but from the use of vehicles vended, generally appertained to as compass 3, Category 11 emissions. These use-phase emigrations generally represent 70–80 of an automaker’s total carbon footprint, emphasizing the need for norms that extend beyond plant-position decarbonization.

Feting this reality, the streamlined draft places a stronger emphasis on addressing emigrations associated with vehicle use. By prioritizing use-phase emigrations, the SBTi aims to drive meaningful reductions that align with global net-zero pretensions and encourage systemic change across the road transport sector.

elaboration of the Automotive Standard

The new draft follows an expansive discussion process with automakers, bus corridor suppliers, investors, and other stakeholders. Feedback from this process urged the SBTi to upgrade several rudiments of the original offer, and the standard remains both ambitious and practical for companies operating across different requests and nonsupervisory surroundings.

One of the most significant changes in the streamlined draft is a clearer focus on Compass 3 emigrations, particularly Category 11, which covers emigrations generated during the use of vended products. At the same time, the SBTi introduced lesser inflexibility by allowing automakers to set targets using either use-phase emissions reductions or a zero-emission vehicle deals-share metric, enabling companies to elect the approach most suitable to their functional environment.

Shift Toward Zero-Emission Vehicles

In response to stakeholder feedback, the streamlined draft also redefines low-emission vehicles as zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). This change reflects growing agreement within the industry that achieving net-zero emigrations will bear a decisive shift toward completely electric and other zero-emigration technologies rather than incremental effectiveness advancements alone.

Under the revised frame, automakers are encouraged to increase the share of zero-emission vehicles in their deals' blend as part of their long-term decarbonization pathways. For bus corridor manufacturers, the standard introduces criteria concentrated on reducing emigrations from material sourcing and manufacturing processes, along with enhanced exposure conditions related to corridors supplied for zero-emission vehicles.

Supporting Long-Term Transition Planning

The SBTi emphasized that the Automotive Sector Net-Zero Standard is intended to support companies in making long-term, capital-ferocious transition opinions. By following the standard, companies can demonstrate climate leadership, enhance nonsupervisory readiness, and strengthen investor and consumer confidence.

The action noted that aligning with the standard can also help future-proof competitiveness in an industry characterized by complex global force chains and rapid-fire technological change. As governments worldwide introduce stricter emigration regulations and impulses for clean mobility, the frame aims to place sharing companies ahead of nonsupervisory and request shifts.

Growth of Science-Grounded Target Relinquishment

The release of the streamlined automotive standard comes amid rapid-fire growth in the relinquishment of wisdom-grounded climate targets. In January, the SBTi blazoned that more than 10,000 companies now have validated science-based targets, pressing the adding part of the action in shaping commercial climate action worldwide.

Innovated in 2015, the SBTi works to establish wisdom-grounded environmental target setting as a standard commercial practice. Its conditioning includes defining stylish practices for emigration reductions, furnishing specialized guidance to companies, and singly validating commercial climate targets to ensure alignment with climate wisdom.

Public Consultation and Next Steps

Alongside the release of the streamlined draft, the SBTi has launched a new public discussion process, which will remain open until March 22, 2026. The discussion aims to gather further input from assiduity actors and stakeholders to upgrade the standard before its final release.

Karl Downey, Head of Sector Norms at the SBTi, stressed the significance of inflexibility and inclusivity in the standard’s development, noting that accommodating different functional surroundings will help drive sector-wide decarbonization. He emphasized that a well-designed standard can enable automakers and bus corridor manufacturers to turn ambition into believable, practical climate action while unleashing openings created by the global transition to net zero.