Even with ambitious net-zero commitments, most organisations will keep generating significant emissions for decades. Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (OER) is a structured way to account for those emissions while a company decarbonises. Many companies already practise it, whether through the climate action they fund, the R&D they invest in, or other contributions beyond their value chain.
SBTi has now embedded OER in its Corporate Net-Zero Standard 2.0, including a voluntary recognition programme for participating companies. However, there is not yet an established practical route for companies to determine what qualifies, build an OER approach or demonstrate it in a credible and consistent way. The Working Group aims to address this in 2027.
The proposition
Gold Standard is inviting companies with credible climate targets to join a new OER Working Group. The Working Group will explore questions such as:
- How OER can fit within a company's transition plan
- How companies can develop credible portfolios of climate action
- Which instruments and activities may qualify?
- How can companies work together under the sharing of emissions opportunity in SBTi's Corporate Net-Zero Standard 2.0 to deliver impact together?
- How can companies communicate their progress accurately and defensibly and be recognised for doing so?
The group will examine how those challenges arise in real company portfolios, and co-develop practical solutions, guidance and case studies that will help define corporate best practice for OER.
Register your interest
Companies with credible climate targets are invited to register their interest in joining Gold Standard’s OER Working Group and contributing to the development of practical solutions for OER.