Measure
Endorsing organisations that have taken action to manage their carbon emissions.
Measure is Carbon Action’s entry level certification programme, requiring all of the significant carbon emissions sources of an organisation to be measured and reported annually. Measuring carbon emissions can be a significant task the first time round, requiring time and resources. It's a crucial part of an organisation's carbon emissions reduction journey, promoting transparency and identifying key areas to prioritise future carbon reduction initiatives.
Find out more about measuring your carbon footprint
Reduce
Endorsing the organisations that are taking action to reduce their carbon emissions.
Reduce is Carbon Action's gold standard certification. Building on the requirements of Measure, organisations must also set robust and ambitious carbon reduction targets. These targets must be publicly disclosed, along with annual updates tracking their performance.
Organisations that have gained Carbon Action - Reduce are taking practical steps to minimise their carbon footprint to meet their carbon reduction targets.
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Find out more about reducing your carbon footprint
The Certification Process
*Assurance is required for 'large' organisations only
What's involved
1. Register
This is the introduction to Carbon Action. You start by deciding whether you want to gain Measure or Reduce as your organisation’s first certification.
Once you've registered, you gain access to all the resources you need to begin. This includes our programme rules, guidance, tools and templates, which are designed to make the process simple for you. ​​
2. Plan
We begin the planning phase with a kick off meeting to discuss your certification strategy and answer any questions you may have about the process.
You will decide on and identify your reporting / base year, your organisation boundary and relevant emissions sources. This helps identify the relevant emissions sources of your organisation. You will also decide on the best data management system to use.
Organisations that have gained Carbon Action - Reduce are taking practical steps to minimise their carbon footprint to meet their carbon reduction targets.​​
3. Build
During the build phase you begin collecting the relevant data for your carbon footprint.
This phase includes an internal data review and quality controls. For the Reduce certification, you will also develop your emissions reduction targets. Next, you prepare your draft inventory (or footprint) and report. We provide you with a range of resources and tools to guide you through the process.
4. Submit
Once you have your draft inventory and report ready to go, you submit it to us for review.
For Reduce you will also submit the carbon reduction targets you have prepared.
5. Review
We will review your inventory and report (and targets for Reduce certifications) and provide feedback.
Next, you can close out the findings and make any relevant changes before we finalise the inventory and report (and targets for Reduce).
6.* Assure
Assure is an optional step in the Carbon Action programme, however it is required for large organisations.
The assure process involves engaging a third party assurance provider and submitting your inventory and report (and targets for Reduce) for audit. Then you will close out the findings, and the assurance provider will give their statement.
7. Certify
We will award you with our Carbon Action Measure or Reduce certification.
We will list your organisation and certification on the Carbon Action website along with a summary about your organisation and its core activities. Your logo, and a link to your website will be presented alongside this information.
8. Market
We will provide you with our Carbon Action mark to endorse your emissions reduction progress.
We also issue a marketing guide to help you effectively market your Carbon Action certification.
9. Act
The act phase is where you implement your carbon reduction actions to work towards your emissions reduction targets.
This is important because you need to track your performance against your targets annually to maintain the Reduce certification.
10. Repeat
To use and maintain your Carbon Action certification, you must repeat the process annually.
This ensures that you continue to act and make progress towards your targets, and helps to communicate your long term commitments to your audience.
Frequently asked questions:
How long can we expect the certification process take?
What is the benefit of seeking assurance?
What is the definition of a 'large' organisation?
Do we have to aim for the 'Reduce' certification after gaining the 'Measure' certification?
What happens if we don't meet our 'Reduce' targets?
Is offsetting included in Carbon Action?
How does climate risk fit into this?
