The Forest, Land, and Agriculture (FLAG) sector is both high-impact and highly impacted by climate change, making it central to the net-zero transformation. FLAG activities account for almost a quarter of global emissions. At the same time, the sector loses around $123 billion dollars each year due to natural disasters—equivalent to 5% of global agricultural GDP. By setting science-based targets in line with the SBTi’s FLAG Guidance and defining appropriate decarbonization strategies, companies can help stabilize the climate and preserve the land on which their business depends.
As part of its ongoing review of Standards and Guidance, the SBTi has identified two FLAG Criteria (1 and 4) that require urgent updates to make them viable while maintaining ambition and alignment with evolving frameworks. The SBTi has opened a 30-day public consultation to gather stakeholder feedback on five proposed updates:
- A requirement for companies in this sector that have already set non-FLAG targets to set a FLAG target before the end of their mandatory five-year review period, rather than within 6 months of the GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Guidance publication. (Criterion 1)
- A proposed new target date so companies setting FLAG targets for the first time would have up to two years after submitting their FLAG targets for validation to eliminate deforestation, with an absolute deadline of December 31, 2030. This proposal has been made to address the 2025 deadline passing and the ongoing urgency to halt deforestation. (Criterion 4)
- A requirement that companies use a deforestation cutoff date that precedes the submission of its first FLAG targets for validation, as opposed to a recommendation that the cutoff date be 2020 or earlier. (Criterion 4)
- An updated list of commodities covered under no-deforestation commitments to align with the European Union Deforestation Regulation. (Criterion 4)
- A clarification to the documentation companies will be required to publish to demonstrate how they will deliver their no-deforestation commitments. (Criterion 4)
Feedback and consultation are critical to ensure updates to the FLAG Criteria are practical for businesses, while scientifically robust and credible.
The public consultation is open until November 6th, 2025 (11:59PM PT), and all stakeholders are invited to provide input through the consultation survey.
The final updated Criteria is expected to be published no earlier than Q1 2026 along with the Basis for Conclusions report. Due to the iterative nature of consensus-based, multi-stakeholder standard development, this is subject to change.
Once published, the updated Guidance will be effective immediately for all companies setting new FLAG targets. Existing FLAG targets, including no-deforestation commitments, will remain valid. Companies that have validated FLAG targets will also have the option to update their no-deforestation commitments to align with revised Criteria.
Further information on the revisions to the FLAG Criteria is available in the project Terms of Reference, developed in line with the special circumstances provision for revising standards outside the regular revision cycle, as outlined in clause 100 of the SBTi’s Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Development of SBTi Standards.