The SBTi has set the rules for using value-chain projects toward targets

The SBTi has set the rules for using value-chain projects toward targets, and those rules read like a specification for good records.

What V2.0 changes

The Science Based Targets initiative released its Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 in June 2026. Validations under it open on 1 February 2027, and it becomes mandatory for new target submissions from 1 February 2028. Under the new standard, projects and market instruments can support target implementation across all scopes, subject to safeguards.

Those safeguards are specific. Each action must match the underlying activity, be conservatively quantified and verifiable, and fall within 12 months of the activity. It must be uniquely attributed, and it must avoid double counting through unique identification such as serialization.

The standard also draws clear lines on what does not count. Reductions estimated ex ante are excluded, and so are credits sold to a third party.

Why this is a records problem

For buyers and advisors, most of these criteria are not about the project itself but about how it is documented. Matching an action to its activity, proving it happened within the time window, and showing that nobody else claims the same reduction all depend on a reliable record that follows the reduction from the supplier to the company that reports it.

Spreadsheets and bilateral contracts struggle with that. A reduction recorded in two places, or described differently by a supplier and a customer, is exactly the kind of ambiguity the safeguards are designed to rule out.

How inset credits fit

Inset credits are serialized, single-claim records of verified reductions inside the value chain. Credits are issued to the project developer after independent verification, and Carbon3 records them in its registry, so each one carries a unique identifier and a clear chain of custody from issuance to retirement.

That structure lines up with the safeguards in V2.0. Serialization supports unique identification, verification supports conservative quantification, and a single claim per credit supports unique attribution. Because the reductions sit inside the reporting company's own value chain, inset credits are also a different instrument from offsets bought from projects outside it.

Companies preparing for validations from February 2027 have time to put these records in place, but the window between now and then is short for anyone who wants value-chain projects to count.

Claim treatment depends on the applicable reporting framework.

Source: SBTi, Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 Criteria (June 2026).