Your buyer set a date.
A target needs a baseline first.
Rolls-Royce, HS2 and Network Rail have asked suppliers to set science-based targets. The SBTi checks each target against its criteria. The first job is a base-year footprint you can defend.
Team service. Science-based target work is a service from our team. The platform builds the Scope 1 and 2 baseline it starts from.
Science-based targets at a glance
Team service- What it is
- An emissions cut target checked against climate science
- Who validates
- The Science Based Targets initiative. ESGen does not.
- 1.5°C pace
- At least 4.2% of base-year Scope 1 and 2 emissions a year, in a straight line
- Near-term
- A target five to ten years ahead
- Long-term
- Net zero, no later than 2050
Source: SBTi Corporate Near-Term Criteria V5.3.1, April 2026; SBTi, Absolute Contraction Approach update, 29 April 2026; Rolls-Royce Global Supplier Code of Conduct, 2023.
Who is being asked, and what a target needs
Large buyers in aerospace, rail and infrastructure have written targets into their supplier rules.
Who is being asked
- Rolls-Royce suppliers under its code: near-term targets by 31 December 2027.
- HS2 strategic suppliers: targets in place from 2025, a date HS2 keeps under review.
- Network Rail suppliers making up 75% or more of its capital goods and products and services emissions.
- GKN Aerospace: an SBTi-validated target for 70% of its suppliers by spend, for purchased goods and services, to have science-based targets by 2028.
Source: Rolls-Royce Supplier Code 2023; HS2 Net Zero Carbon Plan 2022; Network Rail strategy 2020 to 2050; Melrose Industries (owner of GKN Aerospace), Sustainability Report 2025.
What a target needs
- A complete, checkable base-year footprint for Scope 1 and 2.
- A Scope 3 target where Scope 3 is 40% or more of total Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
- A near-term target five to ten years ahead, at 1.5°C pace or faster.
- A policy for recalculating the base year if the business changes shape.
Source: SBTi Corporate Near-Term Criteria V5.3.1, April 2026.
Dates your buyers have set
HS2 strategic suppliers
Under review
Science-based targets in place. HS2 said it keeps this target under review.
Source: HS2 Net Zero Carbon Plan, Jan 2022
Rolls-Royce suppliers
Coming
Near-term science-based targets set, with copies shared with Rolls-Royce.
Source: Rolls-Royce Global Supplier Code of Conduct, 2023
GKN Aerospace
Coming
70% of suppliers by spend, for purchased goods and services, to have science-based targets.
Source: Melrose Industries (owner of GKN Aerospace), Sustainability Report 2025
Net zero at the latest
Coming
Rolls-Royce asks for long-term targets that reach net zero no later than 2050.
Source: Rolls-Royce Global Supplier Code of Conduct, 2023
What 1.5°C pace means for your figures
Pick a target year to see the cut a straight-line 4.2% a year asks for.
A 1.5°C near-term pathway
Scope 1 and 2, straight-line cut of at least 4.2% of base-year emissions a year
-42%
by year 10 after the base year
For orientation only. The SBTi sets and validates the criteria, including sector pathways, Scope 3 coverage and time frames. Check the version of the criteria in force when you submit.
Dates large buyers have set
From the buyers’ own published documents
2025HS2
Strategic suppliers to have science-based targets in place (target kept under review)
HS2 Net Zero Carbon Plan, Jan 2022
31 Dec 2027Rolls-Royce
Suppliers to set near-term science-based targets by this date, and long-term targets to reach net zero no later than 2050
Rolls-Royce Global Supplier Code of Conduct, 2023
2028GKN Aerospace
70% of suppliers by spend, for purchased goods and services, to have science-based targets
Melrose Industries (owner of GKN Aerospace), Sustainability Report 2025
CP7Network Rail
In Control Period 7, suppliers making up 75% or more of its capital goods and products and services emissions to have science-based targets
Network Rail Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2020 to 2050
Most local manufacturers have not started
The dates above are close, and a target cannot be set until the base year is measured.
Research
None of 50 publishes a target
ESGen studied 50 Birmingham manufacturers with 10 to 249 staff. None publishes a science-based target.
Source: ESGen research, 27 Sep 2026
Buyers
Supplier codes now name dates
Rolls-Royce's code asks suppliers for near-term targets by 31 December 2027.
Source: Rolls-Royce Global Supplier Code of Conduct, 2023
Readiness
Few small firms have a target
15% of UK firms with 10 to 49 staff, and 29% with 50 to 249 staff, have a net zero target.
Source: British Business Bank, SMEs and Net Zero 2025, October 2025
Baseline
The target is only as good as the base year
A base year needs a complete footprint with the evidence behind each figure. That is the work to start first.
How our team helps you get to a submission
Measure the base year
Build Scope 1 and 2 from your bills in the platform, with the upstream energy share of Scope 3.
Plan the Scope 3 work
Where your buyer or the criteria need Scope 3, we scope that work with you.
Model the pathway
We set out what 1.5°C pace means for your figures and the actions that could get you there.
Prepare the submission
We organise the evidence and the forms. The SBTi validates the target.
Track each year
Each signed-off year shows progress against the base year.
What ESGen does for science-based targets
Target work is a team service. The platform builds the baseline it rests on.
In the platform
The base-year footprint
Live in the platform today.
- Scope 1 and 2 from UK electricity, gas, diesel, petrol and staff-car miles
- UK government (DESNZ) conversion factors and a calculation log
- Evidence library, so each figure keeps its bill
- A sign-off lock, so the base year cannot drift
Base year 2025/26
Signed off
- Scope 1412 tCO₂eLocked
- Scope 2615 tCO₂eLocked
- Evidence coverage96%
With our team
Target support
Scoped with you as a service.
- Check what your buyer's code asks for, and by when
- Model the reduction pathway
- Prepare the submission pack
- Draft a Carbon Reduction Plan from the same figures
Outside what we do
What we do not do
These sit with the SBTi or with you.
- Validate or approve targets (the SBTi does this)
- Pay SBTi fees on your behalf
- Guarantee a target is approved
- Sell or arrange carbon offsets
Learn more about targets and baselines
Science-based target questions, answered
Could not find your answer? Talk to our team or email contactus@esgen.co.uk.
Sources
Rules change. We checked these sources in September 2026. Confirm your own position with your advisers before you rely on them.
- 1.SBTi, Corporate Near-Term Criteria V5.3.1 (April 2026)
- 2.SBTi, update to the Absolute Contraction Approach (29 April 2026)
- 3.SBTi Services, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises FAQs V6.2 (July 2026)
- 4.Rolls-Royce, Global Supplier Code of Conduct (2023)
- 5.HS2, Net Zero Carbon Plan (January 2022)
- 6.Network Rail, Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2020 to 2050
- 7.Melrose Industries (owner of GKN Aerospace), Sustainability Report 2025
- 8.British Business Bank, SMEs and Net Zero 2025 (October 2025)
- 9.ESGen research, Birmingham manufacturing market analysis (27 Sep 2026)
Start with a base year you can defend
Book a 30-minute walkthrough and we will show you how the platform builds it from your bills.