1. What's an objective?
These are your reduction targets, applicable either globally (across all scopes) or to specific scopes. The parameters are:
Scope: an objective can apply to all scopes, to a specific scope (e.g. scope 2) or to specific sub-scopes (e.g. categories 2.2 and 3.4).
Nb: these scopes and their categories vary depending on whether your carbon accounting methodology is Bilan Carbone or GHG Protocol.Reduction target: the percentage reduction in your emissions.
Target year: this is the year to which the percentage reduction is to be applied.
Annual growth: estimate of the company's annual growth; this makes it possible to evaluate the reduction in emissions by taking into account the growth in activity.
Nb: we assume that the emissions growth rate is similar to the company's growth rate (ex: emissions increase by 10% when the company grows by 10%)
These targets are common to all scenarios.
What's the difference between a target and a trajectory?
A trajectory represents the potential reductions made possible by the actions selected. It's a graph that shows whether or not the target has been reached.
2. How to define an objective?
There's no universal standard for setting climate targets - you're free to set your own. However, Greenly has pre-defined two targets that you can build on:
Paris Agreement 1.5°C: 50% reduction target by 2030
Paris Agreement 2°C: reduction target of 30% by 2030
These are based on the work of the IPCC:
The IPCC stated that:
“Global net anthropogenic CO2 emissions must decline by about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030 (interquartile range 40-60%), reaching net zero around 2050 (interquartile range 2045-2055) to limit global average warming to 1.5°C.
To limit global warming to below 2°C [...], CO2 emissions would need to decrease by around 25% by 2030 in most scenarios (range 10-30%), reaching net zero around 2070 (range 2065-2080)”
(IPCC, 2018).
Given that global emissions have risen since 2010, these emissions targets need to be revised upwards to meet our temperature goals. Greenly therefore proposes a reduction of 50% and 30% for these two targets.