Science Based Targets and the factors contributing to the sustainable development of an organisation from a Literature review to a conceptual model

Abstract Sustainable development is a subject of intense discussion, mainly due to climate change, pollution, and increased waste, among other factors. The governments of various countries worldwide have been setting environmental targets for emissions and consumption to combat climate change and improve the state of our planet. Therefore, it is necessary to have an environmental policy with stakeholder engagement. The literature review method, bibliometric analysis, and visual mappings were applied to understand how these sustainable targets are formulated and used by companies to comply with the limits proposed by governments. The Web of Science platform allowed data collection about Lean and Green, Key Performance Indicators (KPI), and Science-Based Targets (SBT). The carried analyses identified the most relevant papers using the PRISMA method, including their authors, their temporal distribution, and a correlation map using the VOSviewer tool. Hence, mapping the current state of the art concerning the SBT topic. Furthermore, a novel conceptual model is proposed to integrate lean and green and create new KPI applied to the definition of SBT to give companies a path and tools to achieve the climate targets efficiently. Future research should focus on the implementation of the conceptual model in several companies to understand its impact to correct and improve the conceptual model proposed.