Valuing the business benefit of a science-based climate target.
A $75B+ technology company already had an SBTi approved emissions target. Internally, people were asking the reasonable question: what does this actually do for the business, and is it worth what it will cost to deliver?
How much the value of certification grew in the two years after we measured it.
Customer Science™ · 500 IT purchasers and 500 consumers · revealed preference against three alternatives · growth confirmed by later outcome
The target was set. The case was not.
The company had already committed to a science-based target. What it did not have was an answer for the people inside the business who wanted to know what the commitment returned.
That is not obstruction. Delivering on a science-based target takes real capital, and the people allocating it are entitled to a number.
The specific question was sharper than "does climate matter to customers." It was whether certification mattered, as distinct from a climate claim anybody can make.
Plenty of companies say something about climate. The question was whether an approved, certified target bought anything the generic claim did not. If it did not, the certification was overhead.
Test the distinction. Not the topic.
The design compared certification against the things a buyer might otherwise see, so the result would isolate what certification specifically was worth rather than what climate in general was worth.
It was worth something, and it was worth more later.
For the first time the company had a concrete financial figure for its emissions leadership, and a slope to go with it.
The analysis produced incremental revenue attributable to certification, distinct from generic climate claims. That distinction is what made the figure usable, because it told leadership what they were buying with the certification specifically.
It also showed the value was rising as awareness grew. That turned a one-time number into a roadmap for future climate investment, which is a far more useful object.
The prediction held. Over the next two years the value more than doubled, which is the rarest and most persuasive thing a model can do: be checkable, and then check out.
The value would continue to increase as certification awareness grew. It doubled over the next two years.
The forecast, and the outcome
The number was good. The slope was better.
Certification delivers measurable, incremental revenue, and it grows as more buyers learn to read it. A company that can put a figure on that stops arguing about whether to invest and starts deciding how much.
From submerged value to banked value.
Let us talk about the value you create, and how you can demonstrate it. Credibly and concretely.
- Research covered 500 IT purchasers and 500 consumers, using revealed preference rather than stated intent.
- The doubling over two years is an observed outcome after the engagement, not a projection. It is reported here because the original analysis predicted the direction.