SBTi urges automakers to stop making gas and diesel cars by 2035
It’s the first time the organization has addressed the biggest source of emissions associated with cars — the customers who drive them. Read More

Image by GreenBiz/Sophia Davirro
The Science Based Targets initiative is calling on automakers to stop producing new gas- or diesel-powered cars and vans for major economies by 2035.
The push is part of an update to the organization’s “Land Transport Guidance,” disclosed the same day the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized tougher national pollution standards for new passenger cars, scheduled to take effect for new models starting in 2027.
SBTi was created a decade ago to help corporations set emissions reduction targets aligned with the Paris Agreement’s goal to keep global temperature increases under 1.5 degrees Celsius. It includes an arm that validates those targets.
SBTi publishes frameworks for specific industries. More than 5,100 companies have targets approved by SBTi. About 800 businesses are validated for SBTi’s long-term Corporate Net Zero standard, which is undergoing an overhaul.
Gas-powered vehicles a major source of emissions
The update represents the first time SBTi has explicitly addressed the biggest source of emissions associated with the automotive industry — the customers who drive the cars. Emissions from private cars and vans were responsible for more than 25 percent of global oil consumption and 10 percent of energy-related emissions in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency.
SBTi is urging automakers to sign up for the Zero Emissions Vehicles declaration, which calls for all new vehicles to be “emission free” globally by 2040 or 2035 in established markets. General Motors and Ford Motor are two of the 14 auto manufacturers listed as signatories. Both companies have near-term targets validated by SBTi, and are listed as “committed” to the Corporate Net Zero Standard. Most car companies have pledged to go all-electric by 2030, although there are some holdouts looking at 2040.
SBTi now expects more automakers to submit emissions reduction targets for validation. It temporarily paused validations for automakers in March 2022 until this guidance could be drafted. That pause is now lifted.
“To address the climate crisis, it is critical that automakers adopt zero-emission vehicles at a pace consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5C,” said Alberto Carrillo Pineda, chief technical officer and co-founder of SBTi, in a statement. “The updated SBTi Land Transport Guidance reflects the imperative for this critical transformation.”
More guidance pending
The update will become the foundation for a new “Automotive Standard” that should be out in draft form in late 2024, according to SBTi.
The guidance provides more clarity to automakers and to companies mulling overhauls of their land-based transportation fleets, said Anne Munaretto, partner for climate change and sustainability services with Ernst & Young. “A standard that focuses on a faster path is important,” Munaretto said.
“We haven’t seen as many trucking companies set these targets,” she said. “It is harder for them to achieve the same 1.5 degree pathway.” The market for short-haul trucks, those with routes of about 150 miles, could prove an exception over the next several years as prices drop, Munaretto said.
There were roughly 14 million EVs sold in 2023, about 14 percent of all vehicles globally, according to estimates by the IEA. In the U.S., electric vehicles were 8 percent of total sales last year.
