Core Concept
SBTi-Aligned Emissions Procurement: How QETs Substantiate Scope 1 and Scope 3 Claims
The SBTi — the Science Based Targets initiative — is the framework most corporates rely on to validate their near-term and long-term emissions reduction targets. This page explains how Greentruth's Quantified Emissions Tokens (QETs) feed framework-aligned reporting, where each token type fits in the abatement-first / neutralization-at-residuals structure, and what QETs explicitly do not do under the framework's rules.
SBTi-aligned emissions procurement, in one paragraph. Greentruth's QETs are fuel- or electricity-attribute certificates, verified to ISO 14064-3 reasonable assurance, retired on the EarnDLT registry to anchor a specific claim. They are designed to feed Science Based Targets-aligned Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 reporting under the Corporate Net-Zero Standard (CNZS) V1.3. They are not offsets, not carbon credits, and do not transfer Scope 1 emissions between parties — distinctions the framework cares about.
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What Is the SBTi?
The Science Based Targets initiative is a partnership between CDP, the UN Global Compact, the World Resources Institute, and WWF. It defines the methodology corporates use to set, validate, and disclose emissions reduction targets that are consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Two structures matter for procurement teams:
- Near-term targets. 5–10 year reduction commitments, typically expressed against a base year, designed to keep a company on a credible decarbonization trajectory.
- Long-term net-zero targets (under the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard — CNZS). Targets that require deep value-chain decarbonization (≥90% reductions across Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3) plus neutralization of the small residual through durable removals.
Both structures evaluate emissions through the lens of the GHG Protocol. For the gas and electricity attributes corporates buy, that means QETs feed Science Based Targets-aligned reporting in the same way they feed any other GHG-Protocol-anchored disclosure.
The Two Motions: Abatement First, Neutralization at Residuals
The framework is most useful to read as a sequence rather than a menu:
- Abatement first. Reduce Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions by the validated trajectory — at least 90% by the target year for a CNZS-aligned long-term net-zero claim.
- Neutralization at residuals. The small remaining share (≤10%) is neutralized with durable carbon dioxide removals.
Three of Greentruth's four QET types feed the abatement layer; one feeds the neutralization layer.
| Token | Relevant motion | Where it lives in the stack |
|---|---|---|
| QET-NG | Sharper Scope 1 CI for combusted natural gas; Scope 3 Category 3 CI improvement | Abatement layer |
| QET-RNG | Fossil fuel substitution; biogenic CO₂ accounted separately under C11 | Abatement layer |
| QET-ELEC | Market-based Scope 2 with hourly granularity | Abatement layer |
| QET-CCS | Durable carbon dioxide removal | Neutralization layer (residuals only) |
The structure matters because the framework explicitly does not treat removals as a substitute for abatement, and does not treat fuel-attribute or electricity-attribute certificates as offsets. QETs are positioned on the abatement side of the stack — except for QET-CCS, which is positioned in the neutralization layer for the residual share that cannot be abated.
How QET-NG Supports SBTi-Aligned Scope 1 and Scope 3 Category 3
A QET-NG is the natural-gas fuel-attribute certificate at the core of Greentruth's product family. For framework-aligned reporting, it sharpens two layers:
- Scope 1 (direct combustion). Where a company combusts natural gas on-site, QET-NG replaces a national or basin-average emission factor with a verified producer- and pathway-specific carbon intensity — multi-pollutant (CH₄, CO₂, N₂O) in kgCO₂e/MMBtu via IPCC AR5 GWP100.
- Scope 3 Category 3 (Fuel- and Energy-Related Activities). Upstream emissions from production, gathering and boosting, processing, transmission, storage, and distribution of the gas the company consumes. This is the category where corporate Scope 3 numbers most often fall back on industry averages — and where QET-NG (and the downstream GasTrace product) makes the biggest defensibility difference.
The buyer's retirement of the token anchors a single, specific reporting claim. Crucially, the producer's Scope 1 inventory stays the producer's. A QET-NG retirement is not a Scope 1 transfer mechanism — a point the framework cares about and that auditors will probe.
How QET-RNG Supports SBTi-Aligned Fuel Substitution
A QET-RNG is a renewable natural gas thermal certificate. In framework-aligned reporting, it supports fuel substitution — replacing fossil natural gas in the buyer's combustion footprint with verified renewable natural gas physically delivered into the customer's pipeline supply system.
- Biogenic carve-out under C11. The CNZS distinguishes biogenic CO₂ from fossil CO₂. QET-RNG accounts biogenic CO₂ separately from fossil emissions, consistent with the CNZS V1.3 C11 criterion and with the GHG Protocol biogenic guidance — so reporters can present a clean fossil-only fuel-attribute number where the framework requires it.
- Well-to-pipeline-injection scope. The token's methodology scope ends at the injection point; end-use combustion is handled in the buyer's downstream accounting alongside the biogenic carve-out the methodology preserves.
The CNZS V1.3 → V2.0 Transition (and What to Track)
The SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard is in flux. V1.3 is currently in force. V2.0 was put out for second consultation in November 2025. The transition matters for any procurement team building a multi-year framework-aligned strategy.
Three threads are worth tracking:
- Treatment of fuel-attribute certificates and electricity attribute certificates — including QETs and traditional RECs/EACs — under V2.0. Guidance is evolving and the initiative has signaled that the conditions under which contractual instruments substantiate Scope 1/2/3 claims will be refined.
- Treatment of biogenic emissions and the C11 criterion — including how RNG and other biogenic fuels are accounted under the next version.
- Treatment of removals at the residuals layer — including durability and quality criteria the framework will require of CDR instruments.
Greentruth's methodology architecture is versioned so that QETs can move with the framework rather than against it. Each token records the methodology and reference dataset versions used, so framework exports are mapped to the CNZS version in force at the time of retirement.
What QETs Are NOT Under the SBTi Framework
A QET is not an offset, not a carbon credit, and does not transfer Scope 1 emissions between parties. It is a fuel- or electricity-attribute certificate. It substantiates a specific verified physical unit of fuel or electricity (or — for QET-CCS — geologically stored CO₂) and the buyer's retirement anchors a specific claim against the buyer's own inventory. Framework-aligned reporting treats QETs as inputs to the abatement and (for QET-CCS) neutralization layers — not as instruments that net Scope 1 emissions across the value chain.
Three corollaries for reporters:
- Voluntary carbon market integrity initiatives that govern offsets and credits do not govern QETs. The framework's framing of removals and offsets, where it applies, runs alongside — not through — the QET retirement record.
- A QET retirement is not a target. The target is the trajectory the company has had validated; the QET retirement is one of the inputs that substantiates progress against that trajectory.
- QETs do not replace abatement. Particularly for QET-CCS, the framework treats removals as a residuals instrument — not a substitute for the deep value-chain reductions the framework requires.
Frequently Asked Questions
QETs are fuel- or electricity-attribute certificates, ISO 14064-3 verified and retired on the EarnDLT registry, that feed Science Based Targets-aligned Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 abatement reporting — with QET-CCS reserved for the neutralization-at-residuals layer of a long-term net-zero claim.
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Walk Through a Sample SBTi-Aligned Plan
Request a demo and we'll walk through QET-NG, QET-RNG, QET-ELEC, and QET-CCS — abatement first, neutralization at residuals, with the framework-aligned exports your team will file.