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“What is the business response to the new SBTi rulings regarding the wider spread of obligations?”
— Celia Francis, CEO, Ponterra
Celia knows what the rulings say. What she’s asking — and what we’ve been exploring since she raised it — is how businesses are actually responding to them. Are they getting ahead of it? Waiting to see what sticks? Quietly uncertain about where to start?
The answer, it turns out, is all three. And understanding which camp your business falls into may be the most useful thing you read this month.
(If you haven’t read Part One yet, start there for a plain-English breakdown of what V2.0 actually changes. This post builds on that foundation.)
→ Read Part One: What SBTi V2 Actually Changes — and Why It Matters Beyond the Headlines →
Response 1: The Early Movers — Building Ahead of the Requirement
A meaningful cohort of businesses — typically those with sustainability leads who have been watching this space closely, or those already fielding questions from large enterprise clients — are treating V2.0 as an accelerant rather than a disruption.
These businesses share a few things in common. They are auditing their Scope 3 exposure now, before it becomes a mandatory reporting requirement. They are proactively communicating their climate actions to procurement partners, positioning their environmental credentials as a supplier differentiator. And they are beginning to build what the new standard calls an Ongoing Emissions Responsibility record — a documented history of verified climate action that will carry weight when requirements become mandatory.
The competitive logic is straightforward: when Scope 3 scrutiny becomes standard practice in procurement decisions, having two years of verified impact data is worth considerably more than having none. Early movers are banking that record now, while it’s still voluntary.
What this looks like in practice: transaction-linked tree planting with GPS verification and impact reporting, sustainability messaging embedded into customer touchpoints, and proactive conversations with supply chain partners about shared climate credentials.
Response 2: The Watchers — Aware, but Waiting
The largest group, in our observation, is businesses that are aware something significant is changing but are waiting for more certainty before committing to action. This is not necessarily irresponsible — V2.0 is still being finalised, and businesses have learned from experience that standards sometimes shift between draft and implementation.
The risk for this group is timing. The consultation closes, the standard is published, and then the scramble begins. Procurement partners start asking questions that require answers businesses have not yet prepared. The 2028 deadline, which felt distant in 2026, arrives with less runway than expected.
What we hear most often from this group: “We know we need to do something — we’re just not sure what the right first step is.” That question has a more straightforward answer than most people realise. And it does not require a full sustainability strategy, a new hire, or a significant budget to begin.
Response 3: The Unaware — Outside the Conversation Entirely
There is still a significant portion of small and medium businesses for whom SBTi V2.0 is simply not on the radar. This is not a criticism — the sustainability standards landscape is genuinely complex, and for businesses focused on day-to-day operations, it can feel like a problem for later, or for larger companies.
The catch is that “later” is moving faster than expected, and “larger companies” now includes their customers and partners. The Scope 3 dynamic means businesses in this group may find themselves being asked to demonstrate environmental credentials by partners who are themselves under compliance pressure — without having had time to build anything credible to show.
The businesses most exposed here are those in supply chains to retail, hospitality, financial services, and e-commerce — sectors where SBTi adoption has been fastest and where supplier sustainability questionnaires are already becoming routine.
What Separates the Camps
The honest observation across all three groups is that the businesses responding most confidently are not necessarily the ones with the most sophisticated sustainability strategies. They are the ones who started something early — even something modest — and built from there.
A documented record of verified climate action, however small, is a foundation. Nothing is not.
For businesses in the Watching or Unaware camps, the practical question is not “How do we build a full net-zero strategy?” It is “What is the most credible first step we can take today that will compound in value as requirements evolve?”
Nature-based action — verified tree planting tied directly to business transactions, with transparent project-level data and customer-facing impact reporting — is consistently the most accessible entry point. V2.0’s own framework validates this: nature-based solutions are explicitly recognised as a credible component of Ongoing Emissions Responsibility, complementary to direct decarbonisation rather than a substitute for it.
Beginning that record now, while it is voluntary, means having something real and documented to point to when it is not.
The Bottom Line
Celia Francis asked exactly the right question. The businesses that will navigate SBTi V2.0 most confidently are not the ones who waited for the final standard — they are the ones who recognised that the direction of travel was clear enough to start moving.
The window to get ahead of it, rather than scramble to catch up, is open right now. If you are trying to figure out where your business sits — or what the right first step looks like — we are happy to talk it through.
→ Book a conversation with the OneSeed team →
→ Book a conversation with the Ponterra team →
Recommended Reading
• SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 — second consultation draft, November 2025
• What’s Next for Net Zero — Science Based Targets Initiative blog