Sustainability briefing: SBTi updates, battery storage growth, EU climate finance and a health-impacts report
The SBTi is keeping its financial-institutions criteria open and setting out a separate SME category under Net-Zero Standard V2.0, while Ember reports global battery storage additions of 108 GW in 2025. Ahead of COP31, the EU published its 2025 international climate finance figures and a Lancet Countdown report called for health to be central to emissions talks.
SBTi keeps Financial Institutions Near-Term Criteria open with no end date
On 8 October the SBTi said its Financial Institutions Net-Zero Standard and the Near-Term Criteria will both stay available to financial institutions without a specific end date. It gave two reasons: company feedback, and keeping them aligned with the broader SBTi framework.
SBTi Net-Zero Standard V2.0 sets a separate category for companies under €50 million turnover, with validation from February 2027
Under V2.0, 'Category B' covers SMEs in all markets with turnover below €50 million. The standard can be used for target validation from 1 February 2027. The SBTi says companies with commitments or renewals due in 2026 or 2027 should keep using V1.3.1, and that companies with existing validated targets need not set new ones.
Ember: global battery storage additions reached 108 GW in 2025, up from 9.5 GW in 2021
Ember's graphic of the week says annual battery additions passed 100 GW in four years, a milestone solar took nine years to reach. Batteries made up over 90% of the record 118 GW of energy storage added worldwide in 2025. Ember's Europe page separately notes that Denmark generates 58% of its power from wind, the highest share in the world.
Council publishes EU's 2025 international climate finance: €32.3 billion public, €9.3 billion private mobilised
The figures were released ahead of COP31, which runs 9–20 November in Antalya. Commission data show 48% of public climate funding for developing countries went to adaptation or cross-cutting action. Grant-based finance accounted for 41% of the EU and member-state public contribution.
Lancet Countdown report: health harms from warming have outpaced progress since Paris
Inside Climate News reports that the authors want the WHO and member states to declare climate change a global health emergency, and to put health at the centre of emissions talks. It names COP31 in November as the next major opportunity.