SBTi recently published the final Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0. Around 11,000 companies globally use SBTi to set and validate their climate targets, making this standard the effective rulebook for corporate net zero.

Until now, two questions have been poorly answered for carbon removal buyers and suppliers: does permanence actually matter, and when do companies have to buy? The Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 gives clearer answers to both questions than any previous version.

Permanence now has a hard requirement

Not all carbon removal works the same way. Planting a tree stores carbon for decades; injecting CO₂ into basalt stores it for millennia. Until now, most corporate frameworks treated these as broadly interchangeable at net zero. V2.0 changes that.

When a company reaches its net-zero year, its long-lived greenhouse gas emissions - primarily CO₂ - must be neutralized with equally permanent removals. A fossil CO₂ tonne cannot be balanced with a forest credit. This is the like-for-like principle, and it is now a hard requirement.

A structured timeline for carbon removal procurement

SBTi's Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 introduces a voluntary program called Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (OER) that lets companies formally account for removal purchases before they reach net zero. There are three tiers:

• Engaged: Mitigate at least 1% of ongoing Scope 1–3 emissions ‍
• Advanced: Cover 10% of the full Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions footprint, with a mandatory minimum spend of $20 per tonne ‍
• Leadership: Cover 100% of the full footprint at $80 per tonne

From 2035, the largest companies stop choosing whether to participate: Category A companies (broadly, large companies and mid-sized companies in high-income countries) face mandatory compliance and must cover at least 1% of long-lived GHG emissions in scope 1-3 with permanent removals, rising linearly to 100% by their net-zero year.

The corresponding adjustments question is resolved

One contested issue was settled in the final version. The November 2025 draft included language that would have barred companies from using credits also counted in host-country climate plans, effectively making most European CDR projects ineligible for corporate net-zero claims. That language is gone.

Companies must now disclose whether corresponding adjustments have been applied. Where they have - as in the Norway-Switzerland Article 6 framework - the claim carries the highest integrity. But credits are eligible regardless. Good news for European buyers and suppliers working within the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Regulation (CRCF).

What the standard does not yet resolve

• OER stays voluntary until 2035: no company faces a hard purchase obligation today
• The $80 Leadership budget can go toward non-CDR climate contributions, not exclusively permanent removals
• SBTi has flagged a planned review of whether shorter-lived removals could qualify as permanence-equivalent under certain conditions, which could soften the like-for-like requirement in the next version
• Detailed carbon market guidance governing how OER credit claims work in practice isn't due until late 2026

What this means for carbon removal buyers and suppliers

‍For buyers: Scope 1 CO₂ will eventually require durable CDR with no substitutes, and Scope 3 coverage at Leadership multiplies that volume considerably. The 2035 checkpoint is nine years away. Projects delivering credits in 2030 need financing decisions in the next couple of years. ‍

For suppliers: The permanence premium is now codified in the standard most large companies use to structure their climate commitments.

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Want to go deeper? Sebastian Manhart and Eve Tamme discussed the implications of SBTi V2.0 on a CDR Policy Scoop episode with Robert Höglund. Watch it here.

Ready to explore durable carbon removal for your organization? Our team can help you understand what V2.0 means for your procurement strategy and identify the right carbon removal solutions. Get in touch.