Carbon Manager focuses on helping businesses to measure their footprint quickly and efficiently, and help them to prioritise action on carbon reduction. We believe that our product meets the needs of most small businesses out there.
Reporting using Carbon Manager does not meet all of the requirements for formal 3rd-party carbon certification, but the footprint that you calculate can be used as a basis for getting certified later on.
What is carbon footprint certification?
Carbon footprint certification is the independent verification of the completeness and accuracy of a business’ carbon footprint. Certification is based on the business’ approach to meeting the minimum requirements of a recognised standard e.g. ISO 14064. Historically, only a small percentage of businesses have voluntarily achieved carbon certification due to the time and money required to complete the audit. There are numerous carbon certifications available, but some of the most credible are Toitū (NZ), Climate Active (Australia), and Carbon Trust (UK).
How will Carbon Manager help?
The data reported via Carbon Manager fulfils some of the requirements for carbon footprint certification, particularly if you have entered all of the available ‘activity data’ types such as electricity, gas, and fuel use. Certifications will always involve an audit of your carbon accounts, and a product like Carbon Manager helps you to get used to managing your data.
What more would I need to do?
There are some areas of business activity where a certifier will require you to provide data that is not currently included, or at greater levels of detail than what is required by Carbon Manager. In all cases you will also need to provide an audit trail back to the source invoices and records. Fugitive emissions and employee commuting are two areas not currently covered by Cogo’s product, and business travel and freight usage (supply chain, and customer-side) are two examples where more detail will need to be provided.
If you are considering carbon footprint certification, we recommend that you first review the certifiers requirements so you are clear on what data and information will be needed.
Should I get certified?
That is ultimately up to you! Certification can be useful for marketing and reputational purposes, but it does require significant work, on an annual basis and at a cost. The pros and cons will differ per business, and should be weighed up carefully. If you would like to know more, we suggest that you get in touch with a certifier directly.