Measure
Activity data × emission factors, by scope, with the factor year kept.
Is the number right?Software · decarbonisation planning, cited
Decarbonisation software: the machinery of a reduction plan
Decarbonisation software turns a measured inventory into a reduction plan: a register of measures, an abatement curve, scenarios, a target trajectory, and progress that separates what a company did from what the conversion factor did.
This page sets out what UK rules and voluntary schemes ask of each plan, cited to the provision, and lists 60 vendors in their own words; this site has tested no products and ranks none.
What decarbonisation software does
Six steps from a number to a plan that moves it
Decarbonisation software is the planning engine that sits on a greenhouse gas inventory and decides what to do about it.
It holds the measures meant to cut emissions, orders them, tests them against scenarios and a target, and then tracks what each one delivered.
The inventory underneath is built by carbon accounting software, and a plan built on an inventory that cannot be reproduced cannot be defended.
Targets, internal carbon prices and supplier engagement as a management layer are covered on carbon management software; this page takes the planning machinery apart.
Every step traces to a rule, a scheme or a published method, cited beside it, and the vendor list and demonstration tests follow.
- 1
Fix the baseline
The base-year inventory, by scope, site and source, with its factor year.
- 2
Draw the trajectory
The line from the base year to each target year, from a stated method.
- 3
Register the measures
Each measure with the sources it changes, a cost, expected tonnes, an owner and a date.
- 4
Order and test them
A marginal abatement view and scenarios: which measures, in what order, under which assumptions.
- 5
Track plan against actual
Delivered tonnes per measure, split from the change in conversion factors.
- 6
Produce the plans
An ESOS action plan, a PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan, the transition-plan statement.
Where planning sits
Measure, plan, disclose: three jobs, one record
Most products sell all three jobs, so the useful question is which one you are buying for.
A planning tool that cannot read last year’s inventory with its factor year intact plans against the wrong baseline.
A disclosure tool that cannot read the plan retypes it, and the ESOS plan, the PPN 006 plan and the transition-plan statement drift apart.
Read the detailed guidance and references
The division is this site’s own, and buyers use several names for the middle job: decarbonisation software, carbon reduction software, net zero planning software.
The disclosure layer, regime by regime, is on carbon reporting software.
UK SRS S2 asks how an entity plans to achieve its climate-related targets under ¶14(a)(v), and for progress on plans disclosed in earlier periods under ¶14(c) of the standard, which is a planning record by another name.
UK SRS S1 and S2 are voluntary for anyone outside the FCA’s listing rules, as the Department for Business and Trade published them on 25 February 2026.
One
inventory
inventory
Plan
Measures, abatement curve, scenarios, trajectory, progress.
What will move the number, at what cost?Disclose
ESOS action plan, PPN 006 plan, UK SRS S2 ¶14, the UKLR statement.
Is the plan in the form each rule asks for?Marginal abatement cost curves
Cheapest tonnes first: a technique, not a requirement
A marginal abatement cost curve orders reduction measures by their cost per tonne and shows how much each can abate.
Forest Research, in a review commissioned by the Forestry Commission, describes a MACC as ranking measures “by their cost-effectiveness with the least expensive first”, while also showing “the level of abatement each can provide”.
None of the UK instruments on this page requires a company to draw one: UK SRS S2, the ESOS Regulations and PPN 006 ask for measures, targets and progress, not a curve.
The government uses the same idea for its own decisions: its carbon values for policy appraisal are, in its words, “calculated as the marginal abatement cost of meeting targets”.
Read the detailed guidance and references
Those carbon values are for appraising government policy; the same document says they differ from carbon prices observed in a market such as the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, and they are not a price a company is asked to use.
A company’s own price per tonne, if it uses one, is an internal carbon price, which UK SRS S2 ¶29(f) asks about; that disclosure is covered on the carbon management guide.
Software turns a curve from a picture into a tool only when four things hold.
First, each bar traces to its inputs — capital cost, running cost or saving, lifetime, expected tonnes — so a reviewer can change one and watch the order change.
Second, measures that act on the same source are sized in sequence, because a boiler that is insulated and then replaced cannot save its full tonnes twice.
Third, the tonnes depend on the factor year: a measure that saves electricity abates fewer tonnes when the grid factor falls, so an electricity measure’s place on the curve can move without anyone touching it.
Fourth, the curve says what it leaves out — co-benefits, risk, lead times — because cost per tonne is one criterion, not the plan.
| Field a MACC needs | Why software must hold it | Where a UK plan uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Measure and the sources it changes | So tonnes come from the inventory, not a guess | ESOS reg 34A(3)(a)(i); PPN 006 §7.5 |
| Cost: capital, running, saving | The height of the bar | Not required by any UK plan; a planning input |
| Expected tonnes, and kWh where energy | The width of the bar; ESOS counts kWh | ESOS reg 34A(3)(a)(iv)–(v) |
| Factor year behind the tonnes | Tonnes move when the factor moves | DESNZ ¶1.10 |
| Owner and date | Turns a ranking into a plan | ESOS reg 34A(3)(a)(iii) |
| Method of the estimate | So the saving can be checked later | ESOS reg 34A(3)(a)(vi) |
Reading a MACCExplore
Module 01 / 04
Bar width
The tonnes of CO2e a measure is expected to abate over the plan period.
Module 02 / 04
Bar height
The cost per tonne abated: capital and running cost, net of any saving.
Module 03 / 04
Order
Least expensive first, so the curve rises from left to right.
Module 04 / 04
Below the axis
Measures whose savings exceed their cost, shown as a negative cost per tonne.
Target trajectories
From a target to a line you can be measured against
A target becomes something software can track only when it is drawn as a line from a base year to a target year.
No UK law sets the slope of that line; where a company uses the Science Based Targets initiative, the SBTi’s own method does.
The SBTi’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard V1.3.1 says that, using the cross-sector pathway, the near-term minimum ambition is “a linear reduction rate of 4.2% per year for scope 1 and scope 2, and 2.5% per year for scope 3”.
The same passage says the rate “is adjusted dynamically according to the time remaining between the company’s base year and the pathway net-zero year”, so 4.2% is a floor for one method, not the answer for every company.
Read the detailed guidance and references
The SBTi’s April 2026 update to the absolute contraction approach phases rates by base year and net-zero year and keeps “the minimum annual reduction rate floor of 4.2% between the base year and target year”; it published no new rates, and no criteria changed.
Sector-specific pathways can be steeper or more gradual than the cross-sector pathway, the Standard says, so a tool that hard-codes 4.2% will be wrong for some companies.
The SBTi’s own Corporate Near-Term Tool calculates the minimum, and the SBTi target setting tool guide explains it; software should take the tool’s output as an input and record which version produced it.
Under the Near-Term Criteria V5.3.1, a near-term target covers five to ten years from submission with a base year no earlier than 2015 (C13), and a Scope 3 target is needed where relevant Scope 3 is 40% or more of total emissions (C4).
The window, the floor and the 2026 update are set out in full on SBTi near-term targets.
The SBTi is voluntary, and UK SRS S2 ¶34(a) asks only whether a third party validated a target and its method.
Scope 1 and 2 minimum
4.2% a yearSBTi cross-sector pathway, adjusted by base yearScope 3 minimum
2.5% a yearNet-Zero Standard V1.3.1; well-below 2 °CNear-term window
5–10 yearsBase year no earlier than 2015 (C13)Scope 3 target trigger
40%Of total Scope 1, 2 and 3 (C4)Measuring a reduction
Your reduction or the grid’s? The factor year problem
A reduction plan is only as honest as the way progress is measured, and the UK electricity factor makes that hard in 2026.
DESNZ publishes one set of conversion factors a year, and ¶1.10 of its 2026 methodology paper says the 2026 set is “for use with activity data that falls entirely or mostly within 2026”.
The UK electricity generated factor fell from 0.17700 kgCO2e per kWh in the 2025 set to 0.13096 in the 2026 set, about 26%.
DESNZ attributes most of that fall to grid decarbonisation, with 6 to 7 percentage points from a change in how the factor is calculated (¶1.13), and the method change also leaves no 2024 data year.
So a company that changed nothing sees its location-based Scope 2 fall, and a tool must show which part of a fall the company caused.
Read the detailed guidance and references
The GHG Protocol’s technical assistance says that emission factors for Scope 2 electricity “should use emission factors corresponding to the relevant year”, so the factor fall belongs in the location-based figure; the point is to show it, not to hide it.
The calculator beside this applies both factor sets to the same kWh, and the worked example below splits a real reduction from the factor’s.
How the sets work year by year is on GHG conversion factors.
Same kWh, two factor sets
2025 factor set · 0.17700 kgCO2e/kWh17.7 tCO2e
2026 factor set · 0.13096 kgCO2e/kWh13.1 tCO2e
A company that changed nothing sees 26.0% less on this line because the factor moved.
DESNZ attributes most of the fall to grid decarbonisation and 6 to 7 percentage points to methodology.
Factors: DESNZ 2026 methodology paper, Table 9 · 2026 major changes report.
Generated electricity is Scope 2; transmission and distribution losses are Scope 3. With losses selected, the illustration uses the printed consumed total in DESNZ Table 9, spanning both scopes. It is not your SECR figure; nothing is stored or sent.
A worked example
A 10% cut in use, a third off the figure
Take a company that used 100,000 kWh of UK grid electricity in its base year and cut that to 90,000 kWh, a 10% reduction in use.
On the 2025 factor its base-year Scope 2 location-based figure is 17,700 kgCO2e; on the 2026 factor this year’s is 11,786.4 kgCO2e, a fall of about a third.
Of that fall, 4,604 kg would have happened with no action at all, because the factor moved, and 1,309.6 kg is the company’s own cut.
A report that says “emissions down a third” is accurate about the figure and misleading about the effort, so the plan has to carry both numbers.
Read the detailed guidance and references
The split depends on the order of calculation: valuing the cut at the 2025 factor gives a larger activity effect and a smaller factor effect, with the same total.
Neither order is prescribed by DESNZ or the GHG Protocol, so the test is that a tool states which it uses and applies it every year.
The same logic runs through the abatement register: a measure sized on last year’s factor will appear to under-deliver when the factor falls, through no fault of the measure.
For a target, the separate question is whether the change triggers a base-year recalculation, which the next section covers.
| Line | Calculation | kgCO2e |
|---|---|---|
| Base year (2025 set) | 100,000 kWh × 0.17700 | 17,700 |
| This year (2026 set) | 90,000 kWh × 0.13096 | 11,786.4 |
| Total fall | Base − this year | 5,913.6 |
| Factor effect | 100,000 kWh × (0.17700 − 0.13096) | 4,604 |
| Activity effect (the company’s) | 10,000 kWh × 0.13096 | 1,309.6 |
Tracking against the target
Plan against actual, and when the baseline must move
Tracking means comparing each year’s inventory with the trajectory, measure by measure and in total.
UK SRS S2 ¶35 asks for performance against each climate-related target and an analysis of trends, so the tool must hold the history, not only this year’s gap.
When the company changes shape, the base year has to move: the GHG Protocol’s 2019 Inventory Guidance names significant changes in structure, in calculation method, and significant errors.
The GHG Protocol sets no figure for “significant”, while the SBTi’s criterion C27 requires a threshold of 5% or less for SBTi targets.
Read the detailed guidance and references
A recalculation tool should keep the original base year and target beside the restated ones, with the reason, so the trajectory a company published stays readable.
The SBTi’s rule in full is on SBTi recalculation.
Criterion C11 says carbon credits “must not be counted as emission reductions toward the progress of companies’ near-term science-based targets”, and the Net-Zero Standard Criteria allow credits only to neutralise residual emissions or to finance mitigation beyond the targets (C12).
UK SRS S2 ¶36(c) and (e) ask for a gross target beside any net target and the planned use of credits, so a progress chart that nets credits off cannot produce the disclosure.
The SBTi’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 opens for validation on 1 February 2027, and V1.3.1 submissions close on 31 January 2028, according to the SBTi Services transition guide.
Keeping a trajectory honestExplore
Module 01 / 04
Annual progress
SBTi companies report emissions and progress publicly every year (C25).
Module 02 / 04
Recalculation
A significance threshold of 5% or less for SBTi targets (C27).
Module 04 / 04
Credits apart
Carbon credits never count as reductions toward the target (C11).
Scenario modelling
Two kinds of scenario that share a name
Decarbonisation software usually models planning scenarios: what the trajectory looks like with a different set of measures, a different growth rate or a different grid factor path.
UK SRS S2 asks for something else, a climate resilience assessment informed by climate-related scenario analysis.
Under ¶B18 of UK SRS S2, that analysis may follow the strategic planning cycle, every three to five years for example, while the resilience assessment is annual.
Read the detailed guidance and references
A planning tool can feed the S2 work only if each scenario keeps its own dated set of assumptions and dependencies.
Those assumptions are exactly what UK SRS S2 ¶14(a)(iv) asks about for any transition plan an entity has: its key assumptions and the dependencies the plan relies on.
The software test is to run two scenarios on your own register and see both assumption sets saved, dated and exportable.
No rule asks a company to model planning scenarios in software; a spreadsheet with a written method can carry a first plan.
“Scenario”
Planning scenario
Which measures, at what cost, under which factor and growth path, reach the target?
An internal planning question; no rule sets the method.Climate scenario analysis
How resilient is the strategy across plausible climate futures?
UK SRS S2 ¶22 and ¶¶B1–B18, where the entity applies S2.The abatement register
One list of measures, three UK plans drawn from it
The abatement register is the core record of decarbonisation software: every measure, with what it changes, what it costs, what it should save, who owns it and when.
Three UK instruments ask for a plan drawn from such a list, each in its own form and at its own status.
An ESOS action plan, under regulation 34A(3) of the ESOS Regulations, sets out each measure, whether an energy audit recommended it, the implementation date, the expected saving in kWh, that saving by organisational purpose, and the method — or a statement that none is proposed.
A Carbon Reduction Plan under the PPN 006 Technical Standard carries emissions reduction targets and carbon reduction projects, and is reviewed within six months of the financial year end.
Read the detailed guidance and references
For Phase 4 the ESOS action plan is due by 5 December 2028 and covers 6 December 2027 to 5 December 2031, and the Environment Agency’s guidance says savings are stated in kWh and “expected to be indicative”.
Progress updates follow by 5 December 2029, 2030 and 2031, and the scheme administrator publishes action plans and progress updates.
There is no penalty for a missing action plan or progress update, but the failure is published; the ESOS action plan guide covers the detail.
The action plan has no statutory cost or investment limb, so the costs a MACC needs are a planning input the register holds for the company’s own use.
PPN 006 is procurement policy for in-scope central government contracts above £5 million a year, averaged over the contract, not a legal duty on companies, and the plan commits to net zero by 2050; the position is on carbon reduction plans under PPN 006.
| Plan and status | Who | What it takes from the register |
|---|---|---|
| ESOS action plan · in force, SI 2014/1643 Part 6A | ESOS participants | Measures, audit link, dates, kWh savings by purpose, method; then three progress updates |
| PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan · procurement policy | Bidders for in-scope contracts above £5m a year | Reduction targets and carbon reduction projects, board sign-off |
| UK SRS S2 ¶14 · voluntary; comply or explain for listed companies under PS26/19 | Entities applying S2 | How targets will be achieved; progress on plans disclosed before |
| SECR · in force, SI 2008/410 Sch 7 | Quoted companies; large unquoted companies and LLPs exceeding two of £36m turnover, £18m balance sheet, 250 employees | Principal energy-efficiency measures already taken; no targets |
For SECR the size test is framed as “not more than” on the exempt side, judged over two consecutive years after the first, and DESNZ’s 2026 review describes SECR as backward-looking, with no forward targets or transition plans.
ESOS action plan
reg 34A(3)Measures, dates, kWh savings, by purpose, and the methodESOS progress updates
2029–2031Three, owed even where no measure was proposedPPN 006 plan
§7.4 and §7.5Emissions reduction targets; carbon reduction projectsUK SRS S2
¶14(a)(v), ¶14(c)How targets will be achieved; progress on earlier plansThe transition-plan statement
No duty to have a plan; some must say whether they do
No UK company is under a legal duty to have a climate transition plan.
Under the FCA’s PS26/19, companies in UKLR 6, 16 and 22 state whether they have published a climate-related transition plan, where it is, or why they have not.
The FCA says in ¶2.36 that UK SRS S2 “does not require entities to have a climate-related transition plan”, though an entity that has one discloses information about it.
Read the detailed guidance and references
The wider listing-rule duty is comply or explain across UK SRS for UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22, for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, under PS26/19; the transition-plan statement reaches only UKLR 6, 16 and 22.
For software, the point is a single source: the targets, measures and assumptions behind the statement, the S2 ¶14 disclosure and the published plan should be one record.
What a plan contains, and who asks for one, is set out on climate transition plan.
What listed companies stateExplore
Module 01 / 04
UKLR 6.6.6R(8)(e)
Commercial companies: whether a transition plan is published, where, or why not.
Module 02 / 04
UKLR 16.3.23R(6)(c)
Non-equity and non-voting equity shares: the same statement.
Module 04 / 04
UKLR 14 and 15
No transition-plan statement; the assurance limb is the last.
Dates a reduction plan has to meet
The planning calendar, 2026 to 2031
Each date belongs to a different instrument at a different status; only the ESOS dates bind a company by law.
A register that feeds all of them needs to know which plan each measure appears in, and when.
- 31 December 202601
ESOS Phase 4 qualification date
Status on this date decides whether a group is in Phase 4. - Periods from 1 January 202702
UK SRS comply or explain for listed companies
UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22; the transition-plan statement for UKLR 6, 16 and 22 only. - 1 February 202703
SBTi V2.0 validations open
The general corporate route; V1.3.1 remains open alongside it. - 5 December 202704
ESOS Phase 4 notification of compliance
The compliance date, separate from the action plan. - 31 January 202805
SBTi V1.3.1 submissions close
The last date for general corporate submissions under V1.3.1. - 5 December 202806
ESOS Phase 4 action plan due
Covering 6 December 2027 to 5 December 2031, with savings in kWh. - 5 December 2029–203107
Three ESOS progress updates
Owed even where the action plan proposed no measures.
The tests before you sign
Eleven demonstrations, each tied to its source
The list beside this turns each part of the planning machinery into a demonstration a vendor can pass or fail on your data.
Tick the ones your duties and commitments need, copy them, and send the same list to every vendor.
Run the inventory tests on the accounting guide first, because a trajectory drawn from a baseline that cannot be reproduced cannot be defended.
A blank answer in writing is not a yes.
Demo questions · tick the ones that apply
The pass tests are our reading of the cited provisions.
Nothing you tick is stored or sent.
The vendors
60 vendors, in their own words
Every vendor this site files under carbon accounting, the category whose products build the inventory a plan needs, listed alphabetically, which ranks nothing.
The registry covers 73 vendors across all categories, read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026; the filter narrows this list.
60 vendors · carbon accounting
“Altruistiq helps companies with complex value chains go faster and further on sustainability”
“Intelligent AI that measures, reduces, and reports Scope 1–3 and LCA emissions in line with CDP, SBTi, CSRD, and CBAM requirements”
“Benchmark Gensuite is a unified EHS management software platform built on a single architecture—connecting safety, environmental compliance, and operational risk across every site”
“Our software provides companies and financial institutions with precise accounting of the emissions caused by making, shipping and using critical commodities and products around the globe”
“Measure, reduce, and report your Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions”
“The professional benchmarking and reporting platform built for sustainability consultants, SMEs, and the platforms that serve them”
“Coolset gives supply chain and ESG teams the structure, automation and guidance to meet complex compliance requirements like EUDR, PPWR and CSRD, and manage Scope 1-3 emissions”
“One AI-enabled EHS software platform to drive performance across employee health, safety, quality, environmental, and sustainability”
“Cozero helps enterprises steer decarbonization with the same rigor as financial performance, from data collection to investment decisions and regulatory disclosure”
“Dcycle is an ESG software platform founded in 2020 that helps companies collect, manage, and govern sustainability and non-financial data”
Diginex describes carbon accounting, sustainability reporting, supply chain, human rights monitoring and ESG investor intelligence for asset managers, banks and companies.
Diligent’s carbon accounting page describes a solution that “automatically collates your data and produces up to 80 different pre-configured audit-ready reports”.
Ecologi describes itself as a B Corp-certified climate action platform.
EcoOnline sells software to manage EHS and compliance.
“The Emitwise platform is now part of Green Project, where the team continues to build and deliver end-to-end decarbonization solutions”
“Enablon is Wolters Kluwer’s integrated software platform for environment, health and safety, PSM, and enterprise oversight, with ESG capabilities embedded as part of a broader risk approach”
“Collect, analyze, and report sustainability, financial, and risk KPIs with 10+ software modules – individually or in line with official standards”
“Manage safety, compliance, ESG, sustainability and operational risk from a platform built to keep programs reliable across sites, teams and operational change”
“The climate management platform built on AI, backed by dedicated sustainability experts”
“Measure, report, and reduce your company's emissions on one audit-ready sustainability management platform”
IBM describes Envizi as a “compliance ready solution for ESG data”.
“Ideagen Carbon Accounting is an AI-powered solution designed to address complex multi-region ESG reporting challenges in carbon accounting”
“Bring safety, environment, and quality workflows into one connected platform”
IsoMetrix sells software to “manage their environmental, health, safety, sustainability, and social risks”.
“Makersite’s Product Lifecycle Intelligence software brings together your cost, environment, compliance, and risk data in one place”
“Manglai is a platform to manage all of your environmental impact”
“Measurabl makes subjective sustainability data objective”
Microsoft Sustainability Manager
“Track and reduce your environmental impact using data and AI”
A carbon management platform that, in Novisto’s words, “simplifies the collection, calculation, and reporting of corporate carbon footprints”.
“Net Zero Now exists to provide a simple, credible and affordable route to Net Zero for SMEs and to celebrate and promote those that achieve this vitally important goal”
“Normative is a carbon accounting platform that helps companies calculate, report, and reduce Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions using 349,000 verified emission factors”
“Novata is a sustainability data management platform built for private market investors, deal teams, banks, and companies that need a scalable way to collect, manage, and act on sustainability data”
“One digital solution for sustainability planning, data management, reporting, analysis and action - built for enterprise”
“Our platform empowers organizations to accurately measure and manage scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions with direct and actionable information”
Oracle Fusion Cloud Sustainability
“Oracle Fusion Cloud Sustainability is a new offering to capture environmental, social, and governance data for any kind of activity that has a sustainability impact”
“osapiens is the AI platform for compliance and supplier intelligence to help companies manage risk and become more resilient”
Persefoni describes software and AI tools to manage an organisation’s “sustainability data, disclosures, and performance”.
“Your certified software for reliable emissions intelligence to measure, report and reduce your carbon footprint”
“We guide businesses in understanding their emissions, empower them to develop carbon reduction plans, and supporting them on their journey to net zero”
Position Green describes “a sustainability reporting and management platform that combines powerful software with expert advisory services”.
“Pulsora is an AI-powered sustainability and carbon management platform that automates data collection, measurement, and reporting workflows for sustainability teams”
“Digitally handle occupational safety, quality, sustainability, and environmental management”
“It leverages the full power of the Salesforce ecosystem by pulling an organization’s sustainability data into one place and creating actionable insights to guide strategic decisions”
“Measure your full carbon footprint, build your net zero strategy and develop in-house expertise with a single partner”
SAP Sustainability Footprint Management
“Decarbonize your value chain and calculate your corporate and product carbon footprint at scale with ERP-centric, AI-enabled carbon management”
“Seedling is an all-in-one carbon accounting and Net Zero planning platform for businesses of up to 2000 FTEs”
ServiceNow Operational Sustainability Management
“ServiceNow Operational Sustainability Management helps organizations manage, visualize, and report on sustainability efforts and risks across environmental, social, and governance (ESG) programs”
“SimaPro is life cycle assessment software that helps organizations measure, analyze, and reduce environmental impacts using robust datasets, scientific methods, and transparent modeling”
SINAI describes “audit-grade Scope 1–3 accounting, automated compliance reporting, complete supply chain visibility” and decarbonisation planning for global enterprises.
“Small99 Hero creates a pathway to net zero for you based on your industry, outlining how long your Net Zero journey will take and how much it will cost”
“Sphera unifies risk, safety and sustainability into a single enterprise-wide view — connecting intelligence across operations, products and supply chains”
“Sweep's AI turns sustainability data into measurable business performance”
“Manage sustainability metrics intelligently in medium-sized businesses - through automated processes, AI-powered carbon accounting, and audit-proof ESG reports”
“Terrascope is an enterprise carbon management and decarbonisation platform for companies with complex supply chains”
“Trace combines AI-powered software with expert advisory support to help organisations meet their mandatory climate and sustainability reporting obligations, efficiently and with confidence”
“Unravel Carbon is the climate platform helping companies with global supply chains make data-driven decisions”
“Carbon accounting is often the first step companies take toward climate disclosure, compliance, and action—and with Watershed, it’s part of your complete enterprise sustainability platform”
Workday (supplier sustainability)
“Turn sustainable sourcing into a competitive advantage with Workday supplier sustainability solutions”
“Workiva Carbon is an end-to-end carbon accounting software solution that enables organizations to measure, manage, collaborate on, and report emissions data”
“Carbon management software with experts built in, so you can move from measurement to action without spreadsheets or one-off consulting projects”
Alphabetical, which ranks nothing. Each description is the vendor’s own words from its own site, read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026; prices appear only where the vendor publishes one. No product here has been tested by this site.
Of these, 17 use the words reduction, decarbonisation, abatement, targets, transition or net zero in their own one-line description.
On the pages this site read, 3 make a claim about ESOS (Climatise, Planet Mark, Watershed) and 6 about PPN 006 (Compare Your Footprint, Ecologi, Net Zero Now, Normative, Planet Mark, Seedling); each claim is the vendor’s own, on its profile.
Those counts read vendors’ words, not their products: a vendor that does not use the words may still sell an abatement register or a curve, so ask.
Of the 60, 6 publish a price on their own pages and 3 a free tier or plan; the rest are recorded as Enterprise level · TBD, and planning modules can be priced apart.
The words buyers use
Decarbonisation, carbon reduction, net zero — and one name from the past
“Decarbonisation software” and “decarbonization software” are the same category in two spellings, and “net zero software” usually means the same planning layer.
Under the SBTi’s Net-Zero Standard Criteria (C14), net zero means reducing to a residual level and then neutralising the residual, so net zero planning software has to keep the two apart.
Read the detailed guidance and references
“Carbon reduction software” is a different thing from software for the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, which was revoked from 1 October 2018 by SI 2018/841 and closed after the 2018–19 compliance year.
What replaced the CRC, and what that software did, is on carbon reduction commitment software.
Analysts use their own category names, and their placings are the analyst’s statement, dated, not a finding of this site.
Where the need is advice rather than software, a decarbonisation consultancy is the other route, and many companies use both.
Similar words, one jobExplore
Module 01 / 04
Decarbonisation software
British spelling; the same category as “decarbonization software”.
Module 02 / 04
Carbon reduction software
Planning and tracking reductions today; not the revoked CRC scheme.
Module 03 / 04
Net zero planning software
A trajectory to net zero, with reductions, residual emissions and credits kept apart.
Module 04 / 04
MACC software
The abatement-curve view inside a planning tool, rarely sold alone.
Choosing without a ranking
“Best” is a question about your plan, not a product
There is no best decarbonisation software in general, and a list that names one has chosen the criteria that produce its answer.
Several of the lists that rank for these searches in the UK are published by vendors, so read who wrote a list before you read its order.
The useful question is which product passes the tests your own plans impose, shown on your own data.
- 1
Name the plans you owe or choose
ESOS, PPN 006, UK SRS S2 ¶14, the UKLR statement, an SBTi target, customer requests.
- 2
Check the baseline first
Factor years, restatement and export, on the accounting guide.
- 3
Turn plans into tests
Register fields, curve inputs, scenarios, trajectory source, factor split.
- 4
Demonstrate on your data
Five measures, one factor change, one restatement, one ESOS plan.
- 5
Check the owner and the exit
Who you contract with, and whether the register and history leave with you.
A practical buying sequence
A demonstration that proves the plan moves
A suggested sequence for comparing proposals; it is not a claim that any listed product passes these tests.
- 01 / Brief01
Name the plans and their dates
ESOS, PPN 006, S2 ¶14, the UKLR statement, an SBTi target. - 02 / Baseline02
Reproduce last year
The inventory and its factor year, before anything is planned on it. - 03 / Register03
Load five real measures
Costs, tonnes, kWh, owners, dates and the method of each estimate. - 04 / Change04
Move the factor and the boundary
Watch the curve re-order and the trajectory restate, with the originals kept. - 05 / Export05
Take it all out
Register, scenarios, trajectories and their history, with the inventory.
Every vendor profile follows one method: the vendor’s own words, dated, with what its pages claim on SECR, UK SRS, ISSB, CSRD, ESOS, PPN 006, CBAM, LCA and Scope 3.
The claims are set side by side on carbon reporting software.
This site has tested no products
Nothing on this page is a rating, ranking or recommendation of any product.
Vendors appear because the registry files them under carbon accounting, in alphabetical order.
Frequently asked
Decarbonisation software, answered
What is decarbonisation software?
Software that turns a measured greenhouse gas inventory into a reduction plan and then tracks it: an abatement register of measures with costs and tonnes, a marginal abatement view, scenarios, a target trajectory, and progress that separates the company’s own reductions from changes in conversion factors.
It sits on top of the inventory, which is a separate job.
Is decarbonization software different from decarbonisation software?
No. The spellings differ, British and American, and the product category is the same.
Vendors use either, and so do analysts.
What is the difference between decarbonisation software and carbon management software?
The words overlap and most products sell both.
This site uses carbon management for the wider layer — targets, reduction plans, internal carbon prices and supplier engagement — and decarbonisation software for the planning machinery inside it: abatement curves, scenarios, the project register and the trajectory.
The division is this site’s own, not a regulator’s.
What is marginal abatement cost curve software, and is a MACC required in the UK?
A marginal abatement cost curve ranks reduction measures by cost per tonne, cheapest first, and shows how much each can abate; software builds it from a register of measures.
None of the UK rules this site covers — UK SRS S2, ESOS, PPN 006, SECR — requires a company to produce one.
It is a planning technique, which the government itself uses in valuing carbon for policy appraisal.
What is net zero planning software?
Usually the same product: it holds a baseline, a net zero or interim target, the measures meant to meet it and the trajectory between them.
Under the SBTi’s Net-Zero Standard, net zero means reducing to a residual level and neutralising only the residual, so software should keep reductions, residual emissions and any credits apart.
Is carbon reduction software the same as CRC software?
No. Carbon reduction software now means planning and tracking reductions.
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme was a separate government scheme, revoked from 1 October 2018 and closed after the 2018–19 compliance year; software built for it served a scheme that no longer exists.
Which is the best decarbonisation software?
This site does not rank products and has tested none, so it names no best.
Test each product on your own data: a curve that traces to its inputs, measures re-sized when the factor year changes, no double counting between measures, a trajectory taken from the SBTi’s own tool where you use the SBTi, a reduction split from the factor change, and ESOS, PPN 006 and transition-plan outputs from one register.
How should decarbonisation software measure a reduction when the conversion factor changes?
By showing the activity effect and the factor effect separately.
DESNZ publishes one factor set per activity year (¶1.10 of the 2026 methodology paper), and the 2026 UK electricity factor fell by about 26%, mostly from grid decarbonisation and partly from a change of method.
A company that changed nothing still sees its location-based Scope 2 fall, so a tool must show which part of the fall the company caused.
What reduction rate does the software need to plan for?
None is set by UK law.
If a company uses the SBTi, its Net-Zero Standard V1.3.1 gives a minimum near-term ambition of 4.2% a year for Scope 1 and 2 and 2.5% for Scope 3 under the cross-sector pathway, adjusted by the time from base year to net zero; the April 2026 update kept the 4.2% floor.
The SBTi says to use its own tool for the figure, and the SBTi is voluntary.
Can decarbonisation software produce an ESOS action plan?
It can, if its register holds what regulation 34A(3) asks for: each measure, whether an energy audit recommended it, the implementation date, the expected energy saving in kWh, that saving by organisational purpose, and the method — or a statement that no measure is proposed.
For Phase 4 the plan is due by 5 December 2028, with progress updates in 2029, 2030 and 2031.
Can it produce a PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan?
The plan’s targets and carbon reduction projects sections can come from the same register.
A Carbon Reduction Plan is a condition of participation for in-scope central government contracts above £5 million a year, under procurement policy rather than a legal duty on companies, and it is reviewed within six months of the financial year end.
Must a listed company publish a transition plan?
No. Under the FCA’s PS26/19, companies in UKLR 6, 16 and 22 state whether they have published a climate-related transition plan, where, or why not; UKLR 14 and 15 carry no such statement.
The FCA says UK SRS S2 does not require a transition plan, though S2 asks for information about any plan an entity has.
Is scenario modelling in decarbonisation software the same as UK SRS climate scenario analysis?
Not necessarily.
Planning scenarios test which measures, costs and factor paths reach a target.
UK SRS S2 scenario analysis tests the entity’s climate resilience, may follow the strategic planning cycle, every three to five years for example, while the resilience assessment is annual (¶B18).
A tool can serve both only if it keeps each scenario’s assumptions apart.
Has this site tested any decarbonisation software?
No. This site has tested no products.
The page is built from the SBTi’s own criteria, DESNZ’s factor methodology, the GHG Protocol, UK SRS S2, the FCA’s rules, the ESOS Regulations and PPN 006, each cited to its provision, and the vendor directory quotes only what each vendor publishes about itself.
Sources
Primary sources
Every requirement on this page traces to the provision listed here.
Vendor descriptions, prices and ownership events are cited on each vendor’s profile to the vendor’s or acquirer’s own page.
Checked against 23 sources fromScience Based Targets initiativeSBTi ServicesDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroGHG Protocol (WRI, WBCSD)GHG ProtocolGHG Protocol technical assistance
- Science Based Targets initiativeCorporate Net-Zero Standard V1.3.1 — near-term minimum ambition
4.2% a year for Scope 1 and 2 and 2.5% for Scope 3 under the cross-sector pathway, adjusted by base year.
- Science Based Targets initiativeCorporate Net-Zero Standard Criteria V1.3.1, C7, C12, C14, C15
Long-term coverage, credits never counted as reductions, neutralising residual emissions.
- Science Based Targets initiativeCorporate Near-Term Criteria V5.3.1, C4, C11, C13, C25–C28
Scope 3 trigger, the 5–10 year window, annual reporting, review, the 5% recalculation threshold.
- Science Based Targets initiativeThe SBTi updates the Absolute Contraction Approach (29 April 2026)
Rates phased by base year; the 4.2% floor unchanged; no criteria changed.
- Science Based Targets initiativeCorporate Near-Term Tool v2.5
The SBTi’s own workbook for the minimum ambition of a target.
- SBTi ServicesGuide for companies in the transition to the Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0, Table 1
V2.0 validations open 1 February 2027; V1.3.1 closes 31 January 2028.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero2026 GHG conversion factors methodology paper, ¶1.10, ¶1.13 and Table 9
One factor set per activity year; the electricity method change; the 2025 and 2026 electricity factors.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGovernment conversion factors for company reporting
The annual UK factor sets.
- GHG Protocol (WRI, WBCSD)A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard
The inventory every plan is measured against.
- GHG ProtocolScope 1 & 2 GHG Inventory Guidance (2019)
Base-year recalculation triggers; the company sets its own significance threshold.
- GHG Protocol technical assistanceIn what scenarios would I need to recalculate base year emissions?
The SBTi’s 5% threshold; Scope 2 factors for the relevant year.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures (PDF), ¶¶14, 33–36 and B18
How targets will be achieved, progress on earlier plans, targets, and scenario analysis on the planning cycle.
- Department for Business and TradeUK Sustainability Reporting Standards S1 and S2
Published 25 February 2026 for voluntary use.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19 — final rules on UK SRS reporting by listed companies
Comply or explain across UK SRS for UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22, periods from 1 January 2027.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19 (PDF): ¶2.36; UKLR 6.6.6R(8)(e), 16.3.23R(6)(c), 22.2.24R(6)(c)
The transition-plan statement, for UKLR 6, 16 and 22 only.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2014/1643, Part 6A — ESOS action plans and progress updates (reg 34A(3))
Measures, dates, estimated savings in kWh and the method, or a nil statement.
- Environment AgencyHow to comply with ESOS Phase 4, §§13–14
Action plan by 5 December 2028; progress updates 2029 to 2031.
- Cabinet OfficePPN 006: taking account of Carbon Reduction Plans in the procurement of major government contracts
A condition of participation for in-scope contracts above £5 million a year.
- Cabinet OfficePPN 006 Technical Standard for completion of Carbon Reduction Plans
Targets, carbon reduction projects, review within six months of the year end.
- Department for Business, Energy and Industrial StrategyValuation of greenhouse gas emissions: for policy appraisal and evaluation (2021)
Government carbon values set by a marginal abatement cost, “target-consistent” approach.
- Forest ResearchMarginal abatement cost curves (MACCs) for UK forestry
A government research agency’s definition of a MACC.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero2026 post-implementation review of the SECR regulations
SECR is backward-looking, with no forward targets or transition plans.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2018/841 — CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (Revocation and Savings) Order 2018
The CRC scheme was revoked from 1 October 2018.
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