Carbon Credit opportunities in the Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2

Published June 2026, effective February 2027

The Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2 (CNZS V2), published on 11 June 2026, is the most significant update to SBTi’s framework since the original Net-Zero Standard in 2021. It becomes effective on 1 February 2027, with target validation under the new rules opening in Q1 2027. Companies may continue using Version 1.3.1 until 31 January 2028.

Category A and Category B companies

CNZS V2 introduces two company categories. Category A applies to any company with net turnover ≥€450M or FTE ≥1,000 (in any country), or, for high-income countries only, Scope 1 and 2 emissions ≥10,000 tCO₂e, or at least two of: balance sheet ≥€25M, turnover ≥€50M, FTE ≥250. Category B covers all companies that do not meet Category A thresholds. Category A faces the full weight of CNZS V2, including mandatory assurance, Climate Transition Plans, separate Scope 1, 2, and 3 targets, and the post-2035 mandatory removal requirement. Category B has lighter obligations.

Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (OER) replaces BVCM

The most important structural change for carbon markets is the Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (OER) framework, which replaces the loosely defined Beyond Value Chain Mitigation (BVCM) concept from V1 with a tiered, accountable mechanism. Carbon credits still cannot count toward Scope 1, 2, or 3 reduction targets and decarbonisation within a company’s value chain remains the primary obligation. But OER creates a formal, recognised channel for corporate climate finance directed beyond those boundaries.

The three OER recognition tiers: Engaged, Advanced, Leadership

OER operates across three voluntary recognition tiers calculated against total ongoing Scope 1-2-3 emissions:

Verified mitigation outcomes at all tiers must be ex-post, independently assured, and derived from activities that reduce emissions outside the value chain, restore or protect natural carbon sinks, or remove carbon from the atmosphere (C41.1).

Where REDD sits, and the 2035 removals obligation

REDD sits within C41.1(c), activities that restore, protect, or enhance natural carbon sinks, and is eligible throughout OER. From 2035, however, Category A companies face an additional mandatory obligation layered on top: supporting eligible carbon removals equal to at least 1% of ongoing Scope 1-2-3 emissions, including an increasing share of long-lived removals. This is additive, not a displacement of OER eligibility.

At the net-zero year, companies with net-zero targets must neutralise 100% of residual emissions using eligible carbon removals only. It is at this final neutralisation stage that avoidance credits, including REDD, do not qualify. As the mandatory removal obligation grows from 2035, corporate procurement budgets will increasingly orient toward removals, creating indirect pressure on REDD credit demand even where those credits remain formally eligible (under OER). This would likely have the effect that global deforestation continues and nature-based carbon market funding is only directed towards tree planting projects.

The participation declaration, and the scale of the gap

Participation in the voluntary recognition phase is optional, but at target validation, every company must state whether it participates, and a “no” requires a written explanation published on the SBTi Dashboard. This inverts the prior dynamic; rather than defending a credit purchase, companies must publicly explain why they are not making one. Sylvera’s analysis found that SBTi-aligned companies currently retire roughly 20 million tonnes of credits against an estimated 34 billion tonnes of total Scope 1-3 emissions, around 0.06 percent. Even the Engaged threshold (1%) represents roughly a sixteenfold increase from current practice. While companies have needed an on-ramp, delaying mandatory action to 2035 is a risk given the urgency of avoiding planetary tipping points.