What is Carbon Visibility’s assessment platform?
Our online platform enables organisations to calculate their carbon footprint quickly and simply to official UK government requirements, without the need to engage expensive consultants.
Our platform takes you through a series of questions about your organisation, fleet, employee commuting, supply chain and more. On completion, it instantly gives you your overall carbon output figure for the year in question. Two clicks later you can download a Carbon Reduction Plan document which meets the UK government requirements for and which can immediately be used by your business to demonstrate your commitment to reaching carbon zero.
What are the benefits?
Working with Carbon Visibility has a wide range of benefits for businesses beyond simply calculating their carbon output.
These include:
- Winning and retaining contracts and clients because environmental considerations are now a factor with heavy weighting in most tender documents
- Compliance with the Government Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06/21 which details what tier one suppliers should include in their Carbon Reduction Plan
- Identifying opportunities to reduce and offset carbon by finding out where the quick wins are in your organisation and areas which will need a longer term plan to reduce your emissions
- Outsourcing a highly complex process by engaging Carbon Visibility to profile your supply chain and how much it contributes to your own emissions as part of your Scope 3 emissions (for Partner level clients)
- Contributing to projects through our registered charity fundZero, which takes contributions from clients and distributes them to worthwhile causes in the community
- Delivering results quickly by immediately calculating your carbon output so you can share with other stakeholders throughout your business
How will this help reduce our carbon?
Calculating your carbon output is the first step to genuinely reducing it. Many companies have been accused of “greenwashing” by taking steps to reduce their emissions which might look good but in reality have little or no impact.
Carbon Visibility enables you to identify your emissions by Scopes 1 and 2, and the subset of five areas of Scope 3 outlined by Government Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06/21. Each of these is calculated separately, so you can see which areas are contributing most to your overall output, which is also calculated and included in your Carbon Reduction Plan.
By signing up to our five-year plan, you can quickly generate your first Carbon Reduction Plan and then track your annual improvements, and record how the environmental management measures you are introducing are helping to reduce your emissions year on year.
How will this benefit our business?
Demonstrating your commitment to reducing carbon emissions will have a direct impact on your ability to win contracts as questions of this nature are now commonplace in tender documents, frequently with a weighting that is heavily in favour of businesses who are genuinely working to improve their environmental credentials.
Engaging with Carbon Visibility means you will be able to show how you have reduced your emissions year on year and how much the measures you have introduced have contributed to this fall. Not only that, by committing to partnering with us for five years, you are demonstrating a commitment into the future rather than simply ticking a box for short-term gain.
Whose standards am I complying with by working with Carbon Visibility?
Our carbon assessment complies with the criteria laid out in the UK Government Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06/21, meaning you are calculating your carbon according to the requirements the government places on its tier one suppliers. This means that you are working to standards set by a public authority, not simply to standards we have drawn up ourselves.
Our assessment platform and the Carbon Reduction Plan it generates are in full compliance with PPN 06/21. We ask the questions that enable you to calculate your Scope 1, 2 and 3 (part) emissions and present the outcomes and your related commentary about how you are working to reduce your outputs in precisely the format required by PPN 06/21.
What makes Carbon Visibility different to other providers?
We are a team of highly experienced professionals who have worked in director-level positions for multi-billion-pound businesses with global reach. We have particular expertise in procurement, supply chain, brand and tech, and we know how powerful a genuine commitment to reducing your emissions can be in helping to secure business but also in terms of making a huge contribution to you Corporate Social Responsibility efforts.
We have developed an assessment platform that delivers exactly what it needs to without the kinds of unnecessary additions which do little else but allow us to charge more. This is the platform we would want to see in the businesses we have worked in, offering a credible carbon emissions calculation in a simple, digital way.
Do you provide carbon offsetting?
Yes. We work with a range of partners to offer offsetting at levels from individual to organisation. The basic offering can be scaled up according to your needs and priorities. Find out more on our carbon offsetting page.
What is fundZero?
fundZero is a registered, not-for-profit charity which provides grants to organisations and charities with the main objective of making a positive change, improving and protecting the environment, benefiting communities worldwide.
The charity will be working in connection with Carbon Visibility, which will be giving all Partners and supply chain Members the opportunity to contribute to fundZero.
Can I terminate the contract at any time?
If a Partner/Member decides to terminate their membership, within a fixed term contract, they will be entitled to pay the outstanding membership balance in full upon termination.
What are the three scopes in relation to carbon emissions?
We often mention Scopes 1, 2 and 3 but what are they? The official definitions can be found below.
Scope 1 (Direct emissions) covers activities owned or controlled by your organisation that release emissions straight into the atmosphere. Examples of Scope 1 emissions include emissions from combustion in owned or controlled boilers and owned or controlled vehicles.
Scope 2 (Energy indirect) relates to emissions being released into the atmosphere associated with the consumption of purchased electricity, heat, steam and cooling. These are indirect emissions that are a consequence of your organisation’s activities but which occur at sources you do not own or control. The most common type of Scope 2 emission is electricity purchased for own consumption from the National Grid or a third party.
Scope 3 (other indirect) is emissions are discretionary to include that are a consequence of your actions, which occur at sources which you do not own or control and which are not classified as scope 2 emissions. Examples of scope 3 emissions include business travel not owned or controlled by your organisation (e.g., use of public transport), commuting, use of ‘grey fleet’ (i.e. use of employees’ own cars for which fuel costs are claimed back via expenses), emissions from contractors, and supply chain procurement.
What questions will I be asked?
You will be asked a range of questions relating to your organisation, buildings, fleet, business travel, employee commuting, waste and transport and distribution. You will have access to the full question set upon completing your subscription to Carbon Visibility.
Examples of questions include:
- How much natural gas was used in running your buildings?
- How much diesel was used by your fleet in the assessment year?
- How many passenger miles did your employees travel by air for business purposes?
- How many miles did your employees commute by land in the assessment year?
What if I don’t know the answers?
We understand that many organisations are just beginning their journey to carbon zero and may not have had the processes in place in previous years to accurately record the data needed to complete their assessment.
If this is the case, don’t worry. Answer as accurately as you can for the year(s) in question. There is a notes section in stage one where you can explain your position and your intention to record data accurately going forward, which is then displayed on your final Carbon Reduction Plan.
Do I have to answer every question?
Some of your answers to these questions will be “zero” or “not applicable”. You do not need to enter any response in these instances
Do I need to complete my assessment all in one go?
No. You can save your progress at any time and come back later to complete the questions.
How often do I have to complete Carbon Click?
Carbon Click is to be completed annually
How can I change my password?
If you have any issues logging in, contact info@carbonvisibility.com or click ‘forgotten password’ on the login page.