Set the boundary and method once, then run the inventory each year to the GHG Protocol or ISO 14064-1.
Refresh conversion factors annually: DESNZ sets each year’s factors for activity data that falls mostly within that year.
Carbon management · the cycle, the owner, the data
Carbon management consultancy UK
Make carbon management a repeatable operating cycle. Connect the inventory to targets, funded actions, reporting and a handover your own team can maintain.
UK SRS is an independent reference site. We have assessed no consultancy and publish no consultancy prices or rankings.
The job
What a carbon management consultancy runs
Carbon management consultancy is about the process, not one output: the method, the data, the people and the dates that let the inventory and the plan repeat.
A carbon management consultant designs that process, runs it alongside you for a first cycle, and hands it over.
Read the detailed guidance and references
The deliverables are a method statement, a map of who supplies which data, the controls on it, a reporting calendar and readiness for an independent check.
The measure of success is that next year’s cycle runs without the consultancy.
Three purchases with similar names
A carbon footprint is one inventory for one year.
A carbon reduction plan is the projects that cut it.
Carbon management is the machine that does both every year, with an owner, a method and a calendar.
A recurring cycleExplore
Module 01 / 04
Measure
Maintain a controlled inventory.
Module 02 / 04
Decide
Prioritise actions and targets.
Module 03 / 04
Deliver
Assign owners, resources and milestones.
Module 04 / 04
Review
Track outcomes and update the working.
Which service
Not a footprint, not a reduction plan
Footprint: Establish the measured emissions boundary. Reduction: Develop and deliver practical measures.
Read the detailed guidance and references
| Service | What it delivers | Time frame | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon footprint consultancy | One Scope 1, 2 and 3 inventory with a documented boundary and method | One reporting period | Carbon footprint consultants |
| Carbon reduction consultancy | A plan and projects that cut emissions against a baseline | A plan horizon, often years | Carbon reduction consultants |
| Carbon management consultancy | The system: owner, method, data flows, controls, calendar and verification readiness | Every year, indefinitely | This page |
| Carbon offset strategy | Whether, when and how much to use credits, and what you can claim | Alongside the plan | Offset strategy |
If you need a first number, you want a footprint; if you need projects, you want reduction advice.
If you have both and the second year looks as hard as the first, the gap is management, and that is what this page is about.
Broader compliance work is covered on carbon consultancy.
Different engagementsExplore
Module 01 / 04
Footprint
Establish the measured emissions boundary.
Module 02 / 04
Reduction
Develop and deliver practical measures.
Module 03 / 04
Management
Maintain the cycle and its controls.
Module 04 / 04
Compliance
Meet a particular reporting or scheme duty.
The loop
Measure, target, reduce, report, verify: one loop
Data: Close and check the source records. Inventory: Calculate and reconcile the emissions.
Read the detailed guidance and references
- Stage 1 of 5
Measure: a gross inventory, every year
3 scopes in a gross inventory
- Stage 2 of 5
Target: set once, track every year
A target turns the inventory into a direction, and tracking it is where the yearly work lives.
Under the applicable V1.3.1 absolute-contraction method, minimum near-term ambition is 4.2% a year for Scope 1 and 2 and 2.5% for Scope 3. These are method-specific rates, not a universal pathway for every company or target route.
4.2% SBTi minimum near-term rate a year, Scope 1 and 2
- Stage 3 of 5
Reduce: owned by the people who run things
Reductions happen in sites, fleets and purchasing, so their owners sit in operations, not in the reporting team.
Carbon management connects them: each project is tied to a line of the inventory so next year’s figure shows whether it worked.
- Stage 4 of 5
Report: one inventory, several readers
The same inventory feeds SECR in the directors’ report, a Carbon Reduction Plan for public contracts and, for listed companies, UK SRS from 2027.
Reported emissions are gross under UK SRS S2, so credits never reduce the figure.
- Stage 5 of 5
Verify: an independent check, if you choose one
Verification to ISO 14064-3 or assurance to ISSA 5000 tests whether the figures can be traced to evidence.
It is optional for SECR and UK SRS, and required for a UK ETS installation.
Each stage feeds the next, and the loop closes when next year’s inventory shows whether this year’s projects worked.
- 1
Data
Close and check the source records.
- 2
Inventory
Calculate and reconcile the emissions.
- 3
Actions
Review progress and update priorities.
- 4
Report
Publish the applicable disclosures.
Ownership
Who owns it: governance and sign-off
Name one owner for the cycle, and a data owner for each source: energy bills, fuel cards, refrigerants, travel and the spend lines behind Scope 3.
SECR sits in the directors’ report under Schedule 7, so the board owns the words even where an adviser drafts them.
Read the detailed guidance and references
For listed companies in UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22, PS26/19 makes UK SRS comply or explain for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, and an explanation is itself a governance decision.
A Carbon Reduction Plan for a public contract above £5 million a year covers Scope 1, Scope 2 and five Scope 3 categories, so its owner needs those lines every year.
Write the calendar down: when data is collected, when factors are refreshed, who reviews, who signs and when the report is filed.
The in-house roles that usually own this are described on ESG manager and head of sustainability.
Accountability for the cycleExplore
Module 01 / 04
Sponsor
Approve direction and resources.
Module 02 / 04
Data owners
Maintain records and explain changes.
Module 03 / 04
Delivery owners
Implement and track agreed actions.
Module 04 / 04
Reviewer
Challenge methods, evidence and results.
Systems
Software, spreadsheet or adviser?
Boundary: Keep entities and activities consistent. Records: Name each source and owner.
Read the detailed guidance and references
| Option | Who calculates | Audit trail | Fits when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spreadsheet | Your team | As good as your version control and notes | One entity, a handful of sources, a named owner |
| Carbon accounting software | Your team, in the tool | Built in, if evidence is attached at entry | Many sites or entities, or verification planned |
| Consultant-run model | The adviser | Theirs unless the contract hands it over | A first cycle, or a one-off rebuild of the method |
Whichever you choose, the test is the same: could someone outside the team trace a reported figure back to its source document?
Factors change every year: the 2026 conversion factors were published on 11 June 2026, and the next set is due in June 2027.
Ask any adviser who owns the model and the files at the end, because a consultant-run model you cannot open is a recurring fee.
Tools are compared on carbon accounting software and carbon reporting software, and data controls on ESG data management.
Control the inputsExplore
Module 01 / 04
Boundary
Keep entities and activities consistent.
Module 02 / 04
Records
Name each source and owner.
Module 03 / 04
Factors
Record the version and calculation units.
Module 04 / 04
Changes
Explain revisions and comparability.
What reporting changes
Reporting is not managing
The government’s own evaluation of SECR shows the gap between reporting carbon and managing it.
79% of compliers published data they otherwise would not have, but only 25% said SECR led them to use less energy.
Read the detailed guidance and references
The same evaluation measured 19,900 organisations in scope and a mean ongoing compliance cost of £7,100 a year, including 94 hours of internal staff time.
Closing the gap between those bars is the work a carbon management consultancy is hired to do: turning a disclosure into decisions that change next year’s number.
What SECR asks for is on the SECR reporting guide.
An audit trail you retainExplore
Module 01 / 04
Inputs
Original records and supplier evidence.
Module 02 / 04
Working
Calculations and assumptions.
Module 03 / 04
Controls
Checks, changes and approvals.
Module 04 / 04
Output
Reconciliation to the reported information.
Independent check
Verification: ISO 14064-3 and ISSA 5000
ISO 14064-1:2018 covers how an organisation quantifies and reports its emissions, is programme neutral, and is marked by ISO as both confirmed in 2024 and to be revised.
ISO 14064-3:2019 covers verification and validation of a GHG statement, and ISO 14065:2020 sets requirements for the bodies that do it.
Read the detailed guidance and references
The IAASB’s ISSA 5000 applies to periods beginning on or after 15 December 2026, and the withdrawal of ISAE 3410 takes effect from the same date.
The FRC issued ISSA (UK) 5000 on 12 November 2025 for voluntary use.
Under ISSA (UK) 5000, a limited assurance conclusion says only that nothing came to the practitioner’s attention, which is not a statement that the figures are right.
For SECR there is no statutory requirement to have the information audited, according to the Environmental Reporting Guidelines, and PS26/19 ¶2.45 does not require UK SRS assurance either.
A UK ETS installation is the exception: its verifier must be accredited by UKAS to ISO 14065, and UKAS accredits bodies, never consultants.
The standards side by side are on GHG verification standards, the method on the GHG Protocol and assurance on sustainability assurance.
A distinct engagementExplore
Module 01 / 04
Purpose
Define what is being checked.
Module 02 / 04
Criteria
Choose the applicable accounting standard.
Module 03 / 04
Independence
Separate preparation and the evaluation.
Module 04 / 04
Conclusion
Read scope, level and limitations.
Buy or build
Buy or build: plan your operating model
Tell the planner which duties apply, who owns carbon today, where the data lives and whether you will seek assurance.
For each stage of the cycle it suggests whether to build the capability, buy a first cycle and hand over, or keep the work independent, with the provision behind it.
Read the detailed guidance and references
The rule underneath is simple: buy what ends and build what repeats.
The one stage you should never buy from the same firm that built your inventory is the independent check, because the IESBA standards restrict self-review.
Plan your operating model
Measure
Build in-house
Run it in-house, and refresh the conversion factors each year: DESNZ sets them for activity data that falls entirely or mostly within that year.
DESNZ 2026 conversion factors methodology ¶1.10
Target
Buy specialist input
Target-setting happens once and is revisited rarely, so it is a good use of an adviser; but if the target is to be science-based, only SBTi Services validates it.
SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V1.3.1
Reduce
Build in-house
Reductions are made by the people who run sites, fleets and purchasing, so ownership sits inside the business; buy technical appraisal of specific projects.
Your own operations
Report
Build in-house
SECR goes in the directors’ report, so the words are the directors’, and the format repeats from year to year.
SI 2008/410 Sch 7
Verify
Optional
There is no statutory requirement to have SECR information audited or assured, and no UK SRS assurance duty either; it is a choice.
Environmental Reporting Guidelines Ch. 1; FCA PS26/19 ¶2.45
Rules of thumb built from the provisions named, not advice on your case.
Nothing you choose is stored or sent.
Move from ideas to deliveryExplore
Module 01 / 04
Hotspot
Identify a material emissions source.
Module 02 / 04
Option
Assess reduction, cost and dependencies.
Module 03 / 04
Owner
Assign responsibility and a milestone.
Module 04 / 04
Review
Compare actual results with the plan.
Calendar
The yearly calendar and what changes in it
Close: Collect the period's final records. Calculate: Complete and reconcile the inventory.
Read the detailed guidance and references
- 30 September 2026FCA PS26/19 publishedComply or explain across UK SRS for listed companies in scope.FCA
- 15 December 2026ISSA 5000 effective; ISAE 3410 withdrawnFor periods beginning on or after this date.IAASB
- Q2 2027 (estimated)GHG Protocol and ISO consultationA single co-branded corporate standard, absorbing ISO 14064-1.GHG Protocol SDP §9
- Q4 2028 (estimated)Revised corporate standardAn estimate in the plan, subject to change.GHG Protocol SDP §9
A managed cycle has fixed dates, and several of the standards it rests on change over the next two years.
Make the cycle repeatableExplore
Module 01 / 04
Close
Collect the period's final records.
Module 02 / 04
Calculate
Complete and reconcile the inventory.
Module 03 / 04
Approve
Review disclosures and action progress.
Module 04 / 04
Restart
Hand over changes for the next period.
Before you call anyone
Briefing a carbon management consultant
Brief a carbon management consultancy for a system, not a report: name the duties, the entities and the year you want to run unaided.
Ask for the deliverables by name: method statement, data owner map, controls, calendar and a handover plan.
Read the detailed guidance and references
Ask for days by grade and for year two priced in the same proposal, so you can see the handover in the numbers.
Ask who owns the model and files at the end, and whether the firm will also offer to assure the figures it builds.
The government’s £7,100 is the only independent cost benchmark here, and it is for SECR alone; this site quotes no price of its own and ranks no firm.
The wider buying process is in how to choose a sustainability consultant, or you can book a free 15-minute call.
Buy a maintained processExplore
Module 01 / 04
Outputs
Inventory, action register and reporting support.
Module 02 / 04
Frequency
Agree the update and review cycle.
Module 03 / 04
Ownership
Keep editable records and access rights.
Module 04 / 04
Exit
Specify training and the final handover.
Illustrative brief · no consultancy assessed
A worked brief: a group wants to change provider next year
Make repeatability part of this year’s engagement. A new preparer should be able to understand the boundary, source records, calculation changes and action register.
For the detailed requirements, see carbon footprint consultancy.
View the workflow diagram
- 1
Records
Named source owners and a complete evidence index.
- 2
Working
Editable calculations and versioned assumptions.
- 3
Cycle
The next close, review and reporting responsibilities.
Each date has a different meaning
The relevant dates, in order
Check who the date applies to and whether it is publication, application, submission or a planned milestone.
- 11 June 202601
- 31 July 202602
Flat-file correction
Unavailable values were restored to blanks; do not read them as zero. - Q2 2027 / planned03
GHG Protocol consultation drafts
The development plan is an estimated work programme, not an operative standard. - Q4 2028 / planned04
Final revised standards
Timing may change; do not adopt draft methods as current requirements.
A suggested delivery sequence
From the brief to the handover
This is an editorial buying and preparation sequence, not a statutory timetable or a promise about how long the engagement takes.
- 01 / Boundary01
Boundary
Agree the subject, period, units and exclusions. - 02 / Inputs02
Inputs
Collect activity records and identify missing information. - 03 / Calculation03
Calculation
Document factors, methods and assumptions. - 04 / Review04
Review
Check the working and explain uncertainty. - 05 / Handover05
Handover
Retain the inventory and editable calculation evidence.
Frequently asked
Carbon management consulting, answered
What is carbon management?
Carbon management is running greenhouse gas emissions as a managed system rather than a one-off report: measuring each year, setting and tracking targets, delivering reductions, reporting where required and, if you choose, having the figures verified.
It needs an owner, a method, data that can be traced and a calendar.
What does a carbon management consultant do?
A carbon management consultant helps build that system: the boundary and method, the data flows and controls, the target and its tracking, the reporting calendar and readiness for verification.
The good ones design for handover, so that next year’s cycle runs without them.
Is carbon management the same as a carbon footprint?
No. A carbon footprint is one inventory for one period.
Carbon management is the process that produces that inventory every year and acts on it, including targets, reductions, reporting and verification.
Do we need carbon management software?
Not always.
A spreadsheet can work for one entity with a handful of sources; software helps when there are many sites or entities, when you need a clear audit trail for verification, or when conversion factors must be refreshed across many lines each year.
Do UK companies have to verify their carbon emissions?
Mostly not.
There is no statutory requirement to audit or assure SECR information, and the FCA does not require assurance of UK SRS disclosures.
A UK ETS installation is different: its emissions report must be verified by a verifier accredited by UKAS to ISO 14065.
What is ISO 14064-1?
ISO 14064-1:2018 specifies how an organisation quantifies and reports its greenhouse gas emissions and removals, and it is programme neutral.
It was confirmed in 2024 and is also marked by ISO as to be revised, with a successor under development.
ISO 14064-3:2019 covers verification and validation.
How much does carbon management cost?
This site gives no price of its own.
The only independent figure is the government’s: its 2026 evaluation measured a mean ongoing SECR compliance cost of £7,100 a year, internal and external together.
Should we hire a carbon manager or use a consultant?
Buy what ends and hire what repeats.
A consultant suits the first boundary and method, a target, a system choice or an explanation under comply or explain; the annual cycle itself is repeat work that an in-house owner usually runs better.
Can the consultant who builds our inventory also assure it?
They should not.
The ethics standards for sustainability assurance bar an assurer from taking management responsibility for a client and generally prohibit self-review services for public interest entities.
Choose the assurer separately.
Sources
Primary sources
Every figure, date and status on this page traces to the instrument’s owner.
Secondary commentary is never the source for a number.
Checked against 21 sources fromGreenhouse Gas ProtocolISODepartment for Business and TradeFinancial Conduct Authoritylegislation.gov.ukDepartment for Energy Security and Net Zero
- Greenhouse Gas ProtocolCorporate Standard
The inventory method UK SRS S2 points to.
- Greenhouse Gas ProtocolConsolidated Corporate Standard — Standard Development Plan v2.0 (29 July 2026), §9
Consultation estimated Q2 2027; revised standard estimated Q4 2028.
- ISOISO 14064-1:2018, catalogue record
Organisation-level quantification; programme neutral; current and under revision.
- ISOISO 14064-3:2019, catalogue record
Verification and validation of GHG statements.
- ISOISO 14065:2020, catalogue record
Requirements for bodies that validate and verify environmental information.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S2 (PDF), ¶29(a)
Absolute gross Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19: Aligning listed issuers’ sustainability disclosures with international standards
Comply or explain across UK SRS for periods from 1 January 2027.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19 (PDF), ¶2.45
Assurance not required; if obtained, the provider is named.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410 Schedule 7 (SECR)
Energy and carbon content of the directors’ report.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroIndependent evaluation of SECR (29 January 2026)
19,900 in scope; £7,100 mean ongoing cost; what reporting changed.
- Defra / BEISEnvironmental Reporting Guidelines, including SECR guidance (March 2019), Ch. 1 and Ch. 2 §9
No statutory requirement to audit or assure environmental information.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2026
Published 11 June 2026.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero2026 conversion factors methodology paper, ¶1.10
Use the set for the year the activity data falls in.
- IAASBISSA 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements
Effective for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2026.
- IAASBWithdrawal of ISAE 3410 (8 May 2025)
Takes effect from ISSA 5000’s effective date.
- FRCISSA (UK) 5000 (PDF), ¶¶18, 190
Reasonable and limited assurance conclusions.
- FRCFRC takes steps to support quality in sustainability assurance (12 November 2025)
ISSA (UK) 5000 issued for voluntary use.
- IESBAIESSA Technical Overview (January 2025)
Management responsibility and self-review.
- GOV.UK (DESNZ)UK ETS for installations: how to comply
Verifier accredited by UKAS to ISO 14065.
- Cabinet OfficePPN 006: Carbon Reduction Plans
Scope 1, Scope 2 and five Scope 3 categories; contracts above £5 million a year.
- Science Based Targets initiativeCorporate Net-Zero Standard V1.3.1
Minimum near-term rates of 4.2% (Scope 1 and 2) and 2.5% (Scope 3) a year.
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