Question 1

What is SBTi FLAG?

Accepted Answer

SBTi FLAG is the Forest, Land and Agriculture guidance from the Science Based Targets initiative, the first standard method for land-intensive companies to set science-based targets that include land-based emissions and removals. It requires eligible companies to set a FLAG target alongside their standard fossil-based science-based target, and both are submitted together in one validation package.

Question 2

What are FLAG emissions?

Accepted Answer

FLAG emissions are greenhouse gas emissions from land and agricultural activity: land-use change such as deforestation, and land management emissions from practices like fertiliser use, livestock and soil management. For food and beverage companies they typically come from growing crops, raising animals and sourcing ingredients, and they are often the largest share of the total footprint.

Question 3

Which companies need to set a FLAG target?

Accepted Answer

A FLAG target is mandatory for companies in food production, food and beverage processing, food and staples retailing, and tobacco, regardless of their emission profile. Any company in another sector must also set one if FLAG-related emissions exceed 20% of total emissions across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, which can bring in businesses such as hospitality and large food retailers that may not consider themselves agricultural.

Question 4

How do you calculate FLAG emissions?

Accepted Answer

Calculating FLAG emissions means building an inventory that separates land-based emissions from the rest of your footprint, covering land use and land-use change, land management CO2, and land management non-CO2. It relies on product, recipe and supplier data mapped to recognised emission factors, rather than spend-based or sector-average estimates that cannot capture what happens on specific land.

Question 5

What is the difference between the FLAG sector approach and the commodity approach?

Accepted Answer

The sector approach sets one target across your whole land-based footprint and suits companies with varied portfolios, such as retailers and diversified manufacturers. The commodity approach sets targets tied to specific high-impact commodities such as beef, dairy, soy, palm oil or wheat, and suits producers concentrated in one or two inputs. Many food companies combine the two.

Question 6

Why does separating FLAG from non-FLAG emissions matter?

Accepted Answer

FLAG and non-FLAG emissions must be reported and targeted separately under SBTi guidance because they are reduced in different ways. Land-based emissions are cut through sourcing, farming practices and land management, while non-FLAG emissions are cut through energy, transport and processing. A clean split is also what keeps the inventory defensible under assurance.

Question 7

Why can't a generic carbon platform compute food and beverage FLAG emissions?

Accepted Answer

Generic carbon tools rely on spend-based or sector-average factors, which cannot isolate emissions tied to specific land or its change of use. FLAG accounting needs computation from recipes, bills of materials and supplier data at product and ingredient level, which is the capability most general-purpose platforms lack.

Question 8

How does Carbon Maps measure FLAG emissions?

Accepted Answer

Carbon Maps breaks each product's agricultural impact into FLAG and non-FLAG, then splits FLAG into land use and land-use change, land management CO2, and land management non-CO2. Products are modelled from their full composition, including packaging, and mapped to recognised emission factors from databases such as Agribalyse and Ecoinvent, giving a FLAG intensity per product that rolls up into your corporate inventory and SBTi target.

Question 9

What changed in the SBTi FLAG guidance in 2026?

Accepted Answer

In March 2026 the SBTi updated its land and agriculture rules, including the deforestation timeline: rather than a fixed 2025 cut-off, companies now set a zero-deforestation target date no later than two years after submission, and no later than 31 December 2030. FLAG targets must also align with the GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard, which applies from 1 January 2027. See our blog on the latest SBTi FLAG guidance for a full breakdown.

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Land-based emissions, measured where they happen.

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Common questions on SBTi FLAG

Go deeper on SBTi and FLAG

SBTi Net-Zero Standard V2.0 is Final: What Changed Since the November 2025 Draft

EUDR & SBTi: How Carbon Maps Helps Food & Beverage Brands Comply With Both

What’s New in the SBTi Net-Zero Standard V2: November 2025 Update Explained

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