Energy consultancies team up on science-based targets

Since the Paris Climate Agreement was signed at COP21 last year, an increasing number of companies have been relying on scientific data to improve their climate strategy. Now, Australian consultancy Edge Environment has partnered with global energy and climate consultancy Ecofys to support Australian companies in developing and implementing science-based targets.

“This is an opportunity for Australian companies to shape, influence and inform future climate policies by taking pragmatic, scientific and proportionate action,” said Giel Linthorst, an expert on science-based targets at Ecofys. “We are excited by the opportunity to complement experiences with Edge Environment to support Australian businesses that want to build credibility among stakeholders, become more risk-resilient and save money.”

Ecofys previously developed the Sectoral Decarbonization Approach (SDA) for the Science Based Targets initiative — a partnership between CDP, UN Global Compact, WRI and WWF that helps companies determine how much they must cut emissions to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. The SDA methodology looks at sector-specific decarbonisation pathways that are compatible with the 2°C threshold, rather than applying a generic approach for all companies regardless of the nature of their operations. The SDA has been used by the majority of the 200 companies who have joined the initiative.

Ecofys and Edge Environment say that setting a target is the first step.

“We also provide a method for assessing what a company needs to do to achieve the science-based targets level and the most cost-effective way to achieve the targets,” said Jonas Bengtsson, CEO and co-founder of Edge Environment. “We assess the company’s current abatement strategy and the emissions reduction level that is to be expected. If there is a gap, we advise on how it can be bridged to achieve science-based emission levels.”