EHS heritage
Built for health, safety and environmental management: permits, incidents, audits, obligations registers, then sustainability modules.
11 vendors in this site’s registry carry the EHS category.Software · environmental reporting, cited
Environmental reporting software: the UK duties beyond carbon
Environmental reporting software holds an organisation’s environmental data and obligations and produces the returns owed on them, and in the UK most of those are not about carbon.
This page maps each UK duty to what software must hold for it, cited to the provision, and lists 51 EHS and ESG reporting vendors in their own words; this site has tested no products and ranks none.
What environmental reporting software does
Six jobs, from obligation to return
Environmental reporting software collects environmental data, ties it to the obligation that requires it, and produces the return or disclosure owed.
In carbon software the output is one inventory viewed several ways; in environmental software the outputs are separate duties with separate regulators, units and calendars.
A UK ETS report is in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent for a calendar year, a Pollution Inventory return is in releases by substance, and a packaging EPR return is in tonnes of packaging by material.
The software’s first job is therefore a register: which of those duties apply, to which site, and when each falls due.
- 1
Register the obligations
Permits and their conditions, notices, schemes and certificates, each with its regulator and deadline.
- 2
Collect the data
Meters, fuel, monitoring results, waste transfers, water, packaging weights — in each regime’s own unit.
- 3
Calculate
Emissions under a monitoring plan, releases by substance, energy by purpose, tonnes by material.
- 4
Track compliance
Breaches, incidents, corrective actions and audit findings, with owners and dates.
- 5
Keep the evidence
Source records, verifier statements and changes, kept as the work happens.
- 6
File and disclose
Regulator returns on their calendars; annual report disclosures from the same records.
Beyond carbon
What UK environmental reporting actually covers
No single UK law requires “environmental reporting”; a set of specific duties does, each reaching its own population.
An industrial site may carry a UK ETS permit, an environmental permit and a Pollution Inventory notice at once, while an office-based group may carry only ESOS and SECR.
Packaging duties fall on producers whatever their emissions, and water and waste duties on whoever abstracts, discharges or receives.
Read the register of duties
| Duty | Who it reaches | The data | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK ETS (SI 2020/1265) | Installations with combustion over 20 MW and other listed activities; aircraft and maritime operators | Verified annual emissions; allowances to surrender | Report by 31 March; surrender by 30 April |
| Environmental permits (EPR 2016, England and Wales) | Regulated facilities, including installations and waste operations | Permit conditions, monitoring and breaches | Compliance year 1 January to 31 December |
| Pollution Inventory (EPR 2016 reg 61) | Part A(1) permit holders served a notice, and some other named sites | Releases and transfers by substance | Reporting window 1 January to 28 February |
| ESOS (SI 2014/1643) | Large undertakings and their groups | Total energy by organisational purpose | Phase 4 qualification 31 December 2026; notification by 5 December 2027 |
| SECR (SI 2008/410 Sch 7) | Quoted companies; large unquoted companies and LLPs | Energy, emissions, a ratio, methods, comparatives | In the annual report |
| Packaging EPR (SI 2024/1332) | Producers over £1m turnover and 25 tonnes | Packaging by material and type | Large: 1 October and 1 April; small: 1 April |
| Plastic Packaging Tax (FA 2021 Part 2) | Manufacturers and importers of 10 tonnes or more | Plastic components, weight and recycled content | Returns to HMRC |
| Water (WRA 1991 s.27; WIA 1991 s.118) | Abstractors over 20 m³ a day; trade effluent dischargers | Abstraction volumes; discharge under consent | Licence and consent conditions |
The rows simplify; each regime’s own page and instrument decides who is in and what is owed.
UK environmental dutiesExplore
Module 01 / 06
UK ETS
Monitor under a permit or plan; verified report by 31 March; surrender by 30 April.
Module 02 / 06
Permits
EPR 2016 conditions in England and Wales, with breaches scored into bands.
Module 03 / 06
Pollution Inventory
Releases by substance, where a regulation 61 notice has been served.
Module 04 / 06
ISO 14001
A voluntary management system, with the 2026 edition now in transition.
Module 05 / 06
ESOS and SECR
Energy by purpose for large undertakings; energy and emissions in the annual report.
Module 06 / 06
Packaging
Packaging EPR returns and Plastic Packaging Tax, two duties with two datasets.
The regulator calendar
One year of returns, month by month
A platform earns its keep by holding the calendar, because the deadlines belong to different regulators and none of them reminds you about another’s.
These are the recurring dates in the Bible’s primary sources; check which apply to you.
- 1 January – 28 February01
Pollution Inventory window
Sites served a regulation 61 notice report the previous calendar year’s releases; the window is set in Environment Agency guidance, not in the regulations. - By 28 February02
UK ETS free allocation issued
Free allowances are provided on or before 28 February each year. - 31 March03
UK ETS verified emissions report
The verified report for the previous scheme year, and the activity level report with its verification where the installation receives free allocation. - 1 April04
Packaging EPR data
Large producers submit July–December data and the annual data; small producers submit their annual data. - 30 April05
UK ETS surrender
Enough allowances surrendered to cover verified emissions; a shortfall attracts the excess emissions penalty. - 1 October06
Packaging EPR half-year data
Large producers submit January–June data for that year. - 31 December07
Permit compliance year closes
The year’s breach points set the compliance band that affects the following year’s subsistence charge.
Two kinds of vendor
EHS heritage or carbon platform: where a product started
The vendors that sell environmental reporting software came to it from two directions, and the direction shows in what the data model holds.
EHS-heritage products began with health, safety and environmental compliance and added sustainability reporting; carbon platforms began with an emissions inventory and added frameworks.
In this site’s registry 11 vendors carry the EHS category — Benchmark Gensuite, Cority, Dcycle, EcoOnline, Enablon, Evotix, Ideagen, Intelex, IsoMetrix, Quentic, Sphera — and 11 of them also carry carbon accounting, as at 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026.
For the emissions half of the job, the tests are on carbon accounting software; this page tests the rest.
Read what the EHS-category vendors say about themselves
| Vendor | In its own words | Ownership, as recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Benchmark Gensuite | “Benchmark Gensuite is a unified EHS management software platform built on a single architecture—connecting safety, environmental compliance, and operational risk across every site” | No acquisition found on its own site |
| Cority | “One AI-enabled EHS software platform to drive performance across employee health, safety, quality, environmental, and sustainability” | No acquisition found on its own site |
| Dcycle | “Dcycle is an ESG software platform founded in 2020 that helps companies collect, manage, and govern sustainability and non-financial data” | No acquisition found on its own site |
| EcoOnline | EcoOnline sells software to manage EHS and compliance. | No acquisition found on its own site |
| Enablon | “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” | Part of Wolters Kluwer since July 2016 |
| Evotix | “Manage safety, compliance, ESG, sustainability and operational risk from a platform built to keep programs reliable across sites, teams and operational change” | No acquisition found on its own site |
| Ideagen | “Ideagen Carbon Accounting is an AI-powered solution designed to address complex multi-region ESG reporting challenges in carbon accounting” | Part of Hg since June 2022 |
| Intelex | “Bring safety, environment, and quality workflows into one connected platform” | Part of Fortive since July 2019 |
| IsoMetrix | IsoMetrix sells software to “manage their environmental, health, safety, sustainability, and social risks”. | No acquisition found on its own site |
| Quentic | “Digitally handle occupational safety, quality, sustainability, and environmental management” | Part of AMCS since July 2022 |
| Sphera | “Sphera unifies risk, safety and sustainability into a single enterprise-wide view — connecting intelligence across operations, products and supply chains” | Part of Blackstone since September 2021 |
Environmental
reporting
reporting
Carbon platform
Built around a greenhouse gas inventory: activity data, emission factors, Scope 1 to 3, then disclosure frameworks.
Strong on emissions; ask how it holds permits, substances and packaging.UK ETS monitoring and reporting
A verified report by 31 March, allowances by 30 April
The UK ETS is the most data-heavy environmental duty a UK site can carry, and it is not a disclosure: it is a compliance cycle with money attached.
DESNZ’s Participating in the UK ETS sets the cycle: a verified emissions report by 31 March for the previous year, and enough allowances surrendered by 30 April.
Under article 52(2) of the UK ETS Order, the excess emissions penalty is £100 multiplied by the inflation factor for each allowance not surrendered, and GOV.UK says it applies even if the allowances are surrendered in full after 30 April.
The verifier must be accredited by UKAS to ISO 14065, under the installations guidance, so the software’s output has to be something an accredited verifier can work through.
Read who is in, and what the software must hold
Combustion is covered where units with a total rated thermal input exceeding 20 megawatts are operated on a site, under Schedule 2 of the Order.
A hospital or small emitter has a maximum of 24,999 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent and reports against targets instead of surrendering allowances; an ultra-small emitter, at a maximum of 2,499 tonnes, holds no permit but must still monitor and notify its regulator if it goes over.
Installations that receive free allocation also submit an activity level report with its verification by 31 March, and a change of more than 15% in activity triggers a recalculation of free allocation.
The regulator follows the site: the Environment Agency in England, SEPA in Scotland, Natural Resources Wales and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, with OPRED for offshore oil and gas.
The scheme covers heavy industry, power, aviation and domestic maritime, approximately 25% of UK territorial emissions, in the UK ETS Authority’s own description.
The duties in full are on the UK ETS, and the reporting obligations line by line on UK ETS reporting requirements.
Verified emissions report
31 MarchFor the previous scheme year, a calendar yearAllowances surrendered
30 AprilOne allowance per tonne of CO2Excess emissions penalty
£100 × inflationPer allowance not surrendered (art 52(2))Verifier
UKAS-accreditedTo ISO 14065, covering the regulated activityEnvironmental permits and the Pollution Inventory
Permit conditions, breach points and releases by substance
An environmental permit is a set of conditions, and the reporting that follows from it is mostly about showing those conditions were met.
The Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 extend to England and Wales only; Scotland and Northern Ireland permit the equivalent activities under their own instruments.
The Environment Agency scores every breach of a waste or installation permit, and the year’s points place the site in a band that multiplies the next year’s subsistence charge, from 95% in band A to 300% in band F.
So a single category 1 breach, 60 points, puts a site in band D for the following year with no prosecution at all, which is why a breach register belongs in the software rather than in an inbox.
Read the Pollution Inventory detail
Reporting to the Pollution Inventory is not automatic: the legal hook is a notice served under regulation 61 of EPR 2016, which treats compiling an inventory of emissions as a function of the regulator.
In practice the notice goes to Part A(1) permit holders, with separate triggers for large sewage works, certain mines and quarries and radioactive waste disposal.
Environment Agency guidance sets the reporting period as 1 January to 28 February each year; that window is the regulator’s, not a date printed in the regulations.
Scotland’s equivalent, SPRI, is triggered by a notice under regulation 37 of the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018, and Northern Ireland runs its own inventory, so a multi-site group reports to more than one register.
Permitting for air emissions, medium combustion plant and F-gas is covered on environmental permitting for air emissions.
| Band | Points | Subsistence charge |
|---|---|---|
| A | 0 | 95% |
| B | 0.1 to 10 | 100% |
| C | 10.1 to 30 | 110% |
| D | 30.1 to 60 | 125% |
| E | 60.1 to 149.9 | 150% |
| F | more than 150 | 300% |
ISO 14001 environmental management
The 2026 edition, and UKAS’s transition dates
ISO 14001 is a voluntary standard for an environmental management system, and its fourth edition, ISO 14001:2026, was published on 15 April 2026.
Environmental management software is often bought to run it, so the transition decides when the records have to change.
- 15 April 202601
ISO 14001:2026 published
The fourth edition cancels and replaces ISO 14001:2015 and its 2024 amendment. - 30 October 202602
First tranche of UKAS transition decisions
For certification bodies, with decision-making through October. - 1 November 202603
- 31 December 202604
Certification body self-declarations due
All CAB self-declarations, under UKAS’s plan. - 30 April 202705
UKAS transition decisions complete
A new-edition certificate requires a positive UKAS accreditation decision for the certification body. - 31 October 202706
No new certificates to the 2015 edition
Certification bodies stop all new certifications to the previous version. - 30 April 202907
Every certified organisation transitioned
Certification bodies transition all certified customers to the revised standard.
Read what the standard does and does not require
The dates are UKAS’s, from its technical bulletin Revision 2 of 7 October 2026, for UK-accredited certification; UKAS has said it will update the plan if the international mandatory transition document conflicts with it.
Clause 1 of ISO 14001:2026 says the standard “does not state specific environmental performance criteria”, so certification attests a management system, not a level of performance.
ISO’s own summary of the changes names three areas — environmental context, leadership accountability and a clearer focus on outcomes — with a new clause 6.1.4 on risks and opportunities and a formal approach to planning changes at clause 6.3.
For software, that means the context register, the risk and opportunity record and the change log are the places to check a product has been updated for 2026.
The standard and its certification route are on ISO 14001.
ESOS and SECR
Energy data, reused but not double counted
ESOS and SECR are the energy duties, and both draw on the same meters and fuel records a site already keeps for its other returns.
An undertaking is large for ESOS if it employs at least 250 people, or has turnover over £44m and a balance sheet over £38m, under Schedule 1 of the ESOS Regulations; Phase 4’s qualification date is 31 December 2026 and notification is due by 5 December 2027.
The SECR size test is framed as “not more than” qualifying conditions on the exempt side, so a large unquoted company is in scope when it exceeds two of £36m turnover, £18m balance sheet and 250 employees, judged over two consecutive years after the first, under paragraph 20B.
Read the reuse rule and the detail
The Environment Agency’s Phase 4 guidance lists UK ETS, climate change agreements and SECR, then says participation in those schemes “does not automatically count as ESOS compliance” for the energy they cover.
Their data can be used to calculate total energy for ESOS, but sites and activities outside the other scheme still have to be added, so software must know which scheme each meter already serves.
SECR asks for energy, emissions from gas, electricity and transport fuel, an intensity ratio, the methodology and comparatives, under Schedule 7, and carries no statutory assurance requirement.
The ESOS scheme is set out on ESOS, and who is in scope for SECR on SECR reporting requirements.
The disclosure side, where an energy figure becomes an emissions line in the annual report, is the territory of carbon reporting software.
One energy dataset, several dutiesExplore
Module 01 / 04
ESOS
Large undertakings: at least 250 employees, or turnover over £44m and balance sheet over £38m.
Module 02 / 04
SECR
Quoted companies, and large unquoted companies and LLPs exceeding two of £36m, £18m and 250.
Module 03 / 04
UK ETS
Emissions under a monitoring plan for the covered activity only.
Module 04 / 04
Reuse
Other schemes’ data can feed ESOS, but participation is not ESOS compliance.
Packaging EPR and Plastic Packaging Tax
Two packaging duties, two datasets
Packaging extended producer responsibility and Plastic Packaging Tax are separate data duties, and a platform that holds one does not hold the other by default.
Packaging EPR, under SI 2024/1332, reaches producers that pass both a turnover and a tonnage limb, with large producers reporting half-year data by 1 October and 1 April and small producers once, by 1 April.
Plastic Packaging Tax charges £228.82 per tonne on components produced or imported on or after 1 April 2026, under section 45 of the Finance Act 2021, where recycled plastic is less than 30% of the plastic by weight.
Read the traps in each
The pEPR limbs are measured in different years: turnover from the last audited accounts before 7 April in the year before, tonnage from two years before, and both limbs must be passed within a tier.
Disposal fees fall on large producers that supplied household packaging, and never on sellers, so the software has to tag household and non-household packaging and the producer class.
For Plastic Packaging Tax, a component is taken to have less than 30% recycled plastic unless it is shown that it does not, under section 47(2) of Part 2 of the Finance Act 2021, so the evidence is the asset.
From 1 April 2027, under section 107 of the Finance Act 2026, a mass-balance route for chemically recycled plastic commences and pre-consumer plastic stops counting as recycled plastic; neither is in force today.
The duties themselves are on packaging EPR and Plastic Packaging Tax.
Packaging
data
data
Packaging EPR
Packaging supplied, by material and type, by producer class; household packaging drives disposal fees for large producers.
Large: over £2m turnover and over 50 tonnes. Small: over £1m and over 25 tonnes.Plastic Packaging Tax
Finished plastic components, by weight, with evidence of recycled content; under 30% recycled plastic is chargeable.
£228.82 a tonne from 1 April 2026; register at 10 tonnes.Water and waste records
The quieter duties a register should still hold
Water and waste duties rarely produce a headline figure, but they produce conditions, volumes and records that an environmental register has to hold.
In England and Wales, abstracting more than 20 cubic metres in 24 hours needs a licence, and the exemption is lost where the take is part of a larger operation, under section 27 of the Water Resources Act 1991.
Discharging trade effluent to a public sewer needs the sewerage undertaker’s consent, under section 118 of the Water Industry Act 1991.
Defra’s digital waste tracking service says it becomes mandatory for permitted and licensed waste receivers from October 2026 in England and Wales and from January 2027 in Scotland and Northern Ireland, so receivers’ records move to a government service.
Water abstraction
20 m³ a dayAbove it, or as part of a larger operation, a licence is needed (England and Wales)Trade effluent
ConsentFrom the sewerage undertaker, to discharge to a public sewerDigital waste tracking
October 2026Defra’s stated start for permitted waste receivers, England and WalesScotland and NI
January 2027Digital waste tracking for waste receiversWhat the government means by environmental reporting
Six categories of KPI, in the government’s guidelines
The government’s own name for this subject is the Environmental Reporting Guidelines, and they reach further than the SECR chapter most people read.
Chapter 1 of the guidelines says an organisation’s main environmental impacts are likely to fall into six categories — greenhouse gases, water, waste, materials and resource efficiency, biodiversity and ecosystem services, and emissions to air, land and water — and recommends reporting at least three KPIs.
It names ISO 14001, EMAS and BS 8555 as the three formal environmental management systems recognised in the UK, and asks reporters to be clear whether they have been subject to any environmental fines.
Read how far the guidelines bind
Outside SECR the guidelines are voluntary, and the GOV.UK page was last updated on 29 March 2019, so read them as a structure for KPIs rather than as current law.
They also record that there is no statutory requirement to have environmental information audited.
A statutory hook does exist for some companies: traded, banking and insurance companies must cover environmental matters, including the impact of the business on the environment, in the non-financial and sustainability information statement under section 414CB of the Companies Act 2006.
Software that holds the six categories, with the source of each figure, can serve both that statement and the voluntary KPIs; the data discipline behind it is on ESG data management.
Environmental KPIsExplore
Module 01 / 06
Greenhouse gases
Scope 1, 2 and 3, and the SECR lines where they apply.
Module 04 / 06
Materials and resource efficiency
Materials used, and how efficiently.
Module 06 / 06
Emissions to air, land and water
Releases beyond greenhouse gases.
The tests before you sign
Demonstration questions, each tied to its provision
The questions beside this turn each duty into something a vendor can show on a screen; tick the ones that apply to you and copy the list.
Run every demonstration on your own data, with a real permit, a real site and a real packaging line, because a demonstration dataset is built to look finished.
A blank answer is not a yes: if a vendor cannot show a permit register or a surrender position, its product may still be right for carbon and wrong for this job.
Ask also who the regulator is for each output, because a platform that files to one regulator may not know the calendar of another.
Demo questions · tick the ones you need
The pass tests are our reading of the cited provisions.
Nothing you tick is stored or sent.
The vendors
51 EHS and ESG reporting vendors, in their own words
Every vendor this site files under EHS or ESG reporting, alphabetically, which ranks nothing, each linked to its own site and to its profile here.
The directory covers 73 vendors across all categories; the filter narrows it to EHS.
51 vendors · ehs, esg reporting
“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”
“AI workflows that extract answers from your documents with full source references”
“We support financial institutions, companies, governments, and consumers in making the right decisions - efficiently, confidently, and at scale”
“Measure, reduce, and report your Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions”
“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”
“Datamaran’s AI platform empowers business leaders to confidently navigate the complex ESG landscape by transforming vast amounts of information into actionable insights”
“Dcycle is an ESG software platform founded in 2020 that helps companies collect, manage, and govern sustainability and non-financial data”
“Deepki centralizes your sustainability data, strategy and operations in one place so you can act on carbon, climate risk, and finance”
Diginex describes carbon accounting, sustainability reporting, supply chain, human rights monitoring and ESG investor intelligence for asset managers, banks and companies.
EcoOnline sells software to manage EHS and compliance.
“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”
Greenomy offered ESG reporting software for “compliance with key frameworks, including CSRD, EU Taxonomy, and VSME”, in Position Green’s words.
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”
IntegrityNext describes itself as a “supply chain sustainability intelligence & orchestration platform”.
“Bring safety, environment, and quality workflows into one connected platform”
IsoMetrix sells software to “manage their environmental, health, safety, sustainability, and social risks”.
“Manglai is a platform to manage all of your environmental impact”
“Measurabl makes subjective sustainability data objective”
“One home for your ESG data, mapped to every framework and rating”
“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”
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”
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”
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”
SINAI describes “audit-grade Scope 1–3 accounting, automated compliance reporting, complete supply chain visibility” and decarbonisation planning for global enterprises.
“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”
“Workiva Carbon is an end-to-end carbon accounting software solution that enables organizations to measure, manage, collaborate on, and report emissions data”
“Worldfavor is a supply chain due diligence platform founded in Stockholm in 2016”
“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.
A vendor’s own claim that it covers a regime is recorded as its claim, dated; it is not evidence that the product passes the tests above.
The wider ESG reporting market, scored against UK duties, is compared on the ESG software comparison.
Choosing without a ranking
“Best” is a question about your duties, not a product
There is no best environmental reporting software in general, and any list that names one has chosen the criteria that produce its answer.
The ranked lists that appear for this search are mostly written by vendors, about ESG or sustainability software, and rarely name a UK permit, the Pollution Inventory or the UK ETS calendar.
The useful question is which product passes the tests your own duties impose, and an EHS-heritage product and a carbon platform will usually fail different ones.
Analyst placings, where a vendor cites one, are the analyst’s statement, dated, and not a finding of this site.
- 1
List your duties
UK ETS, permits, Pollution Inventory, ISO 14001, ESOS, SECR, packaging, water and waste — only the ones you carry.
- 2
Name the regulators
Environment Agency, SEPA, NRW, NIEA, HMRC, the packaging regulators — each with its own calendar.
- 3
Turn them into tests
The demonstration questions above, on your own sites and data.
- 4
Check the evidence
Can a verifier, an auditor or a regulator follow a figure back to its source?
- 5
Check the owner and the exit
Who you contract with, and whether data and files leave with you.
What this page is not
No product has been tested here
This site has tested no products
Nothing on this page is a rating, ranking or recommendation of any product.
Vendor descriptions and ownership come from each vendor’s own pages and the owners’ announcements, as recorded in this site’s registry, read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026.
Every duty, date and threshold traces to the instrument or regulator named beside it.
Frequently asked
Environmental reporting software, answered
What is environmental reporting software?
Software that collects environmental data, holds the obligations it relates to, and produces the returns and disclosures owed on it.
In the UK that reaches well past carbon: UK ETS emissions reports, permit conditions and Pollution Inventory returns, ESOS and SECR energy figures, packaging EPR and Plastic Packaging Tax data, water and waste records, and the records an ISO 14001 management system keeps.
What is the difference between environmental management software and environmental reporting software?
Management software runs the system: aspects and impacts, compliance obligations, permits, incidents, audits and corrective actions, the territory of ISO 14001.
Reporting software turns the data into an output someone else reads, such as a regulator return or an annual report disclosure.
Most EHS platforms sell both, which is why the terms blur.
What does environmental compliance software need to cover in the UK?
Whatever your own duties are, listed before you look at a product.
For an industrial site that may be a UK ETS permit, an EPR 2016 environmental permit and a Pollution Inventory notice; for a producer, packaging EPR and Plastic Packaging Tax; for a large company, ESOS and SECR.
Each has its own regulator, deadline and unit, so the software has to hold them separately rather than as one carbon figure.
Is there UK ETS compliance software, and what must it do?
Several EHS and carbon platforms say they handle emissions trading, but the duty is specific.
An operator monitors under its permit or monitoring plan, submits a report verified by a UKAS-accredited verifier by 31 March, and surrenders allowances by 30 April.
If it does not surrender enough by 30 April, the excess emissions penalty is £100 multiplied by the inflation factor for each allowance short, and GOV.UK says it applies even if the allowances are surrendered later.
What environmental reporting goes to the Environment Agency?
In England the Environment Agency is the UK ETS regulator for installations, administers ESOS, scores environmental permit compliance and collects Pollution Inventory returns from sites served a regulation 61 notice.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own regulators, and the Pollution Inventory has separate Scottish and Northern Irish equivalents.
Environment Agency reporting software therefore has to know which regulator each site answers to.
Do we need software for ISO 14001?
No. ISO 14001 sets requirements for an environmental management system and, in its own words, does not state specific environmental performance criteria.
A system can be run on documents and spreadsheets.
Software helps when the number of sites, obligations and audit findings makes the records hard to keep current.
UKAS’s transition dates for the 2026 edition are 31 October 2027 for the last new certificates to the old edition and 30 April 2029 for every certified organisation.
What is environmental data management software?
The layer that gathers and controls the data before it is reported: meter readings, fuel, waste transfer records, water abstraction and discharge figures, packaging weights and permit monitoring.
The government’s Environmental Reporting Guidelines name six areas such data falls into — greenhouse gases, water, waste, materials and resource efficiency, biodiversity, and emissions to air, land and water — and recommend reporting at least three KPIs.
Which is the best environmental reporting software?
This site does not rank products and has tested none.
The useful question is which product passes the tests your own duties impose: a register of permits and obligations, a regulator calendar, each regime’s own units, evidence a verifier or auditor can sample, and an export you could rebuild elsewhere, shown on your own data.
The demonstration questions on this page are built from those provisions.
Can carbon accounting software do environmental reporting?
Partly.
A carbon platform builds a greenhouse gas inventory, which covers SECR emissions and some UK SRS figures.
It may not hold a UK ETS monitoring plan, permit conditions, Pollution Inventory substances, packaging tonnages or plastic component records, which are different data with different units and regulators.
Check each duty you carry against what the vendor says on its own pages.
Do packaging EPR and Plastic Packaging Tax need separate data?
Yes.
Packaging EPR asks producers for packaging supplied by material and type, on a half-year or annual cycle, with thresholds on turnover and tonnage.
Plastic Packaging Tax charges £228.82 a tonne, from 1 April 2026, on finished plastic components with less than 30% recycled plastic, with a 10-tonne registration threshold.
One counts packaging placed on the market; the other weighs plastic components and their recycled content.
Is environmental reporting mandatory in the UK?
There is no single environmental reporting duty.
Specific duties apply to specific populations: UK ETS operators, permit holders served a Pollution Inventory notice, large undertakings under ESOS, companies within SECR, packaging producers and Plastic Packaging Tax registrants.
Traded, banking and insurance companies must also cover environmental matters in their non-financial and sustainability information statement, under section 414CB of the Companies Act 2006.
Beyond those, the government’s Environmental Reporting Guidelines are voluntary.
Are there free environmental reporting tools?
In this site’s registry of EHS and ESG reporting vendors, 3 publish a free tier or plan on their own pages (Measurabl, Persefoni, Worldfavor).
Government services such as the digital waste tracking service and the regulators’ own portals are where several returns are filed.
A spreadsheet with a written method can carry a small organisation’s first environmental KPIs, and the Environmental Reporting Guidelines describe spreadsheet templates as one way to collect data.
Has this site tested any environmental reporting software?
No. This site has tested no products.
The page is built from the requirements of the UK ETS Order, the Environmental Permitting Regulations, ISO 14001, the ESOS and SECR regulations, the packaging and Plastic Packaging Tax legislation, each cited to its provision, and the vendor directory quotes only what each vendor publishes about itself.
Sources
Primary sources
Every duty, date and threshold on this page traces to the instrument or regulator listed here.
Vendor descriptions and ownership are cited on each vendor’s profile to the vendor’s or acquirer’s own page.
Checked against 26 sources fromlegislation.gov.ukDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroGOV.UK (UK ETS regulators)Environment AgencyISOUKAS
- legislation.gov.ukGreenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020 (SI 2020/1265), article 52
The excess emissions penalty: £100 multiplied by the inflation factor for each allowance not surrendered.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2020/1265 — Schedule 2 Table C, Schedules 7 and 8
The 20 MW combustion test and the hospital or small emitter and ultra-small emitter maxima.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroParticipating in the UK ETS
The 31 March verified report and 30 April surrender; free allocation, activity level reports, permits and the four regulators.
- GOV.UK (UK ETS regulators)UK Emissions Trading Scheme for installations: how to comply
The verifier must be accredited by UKAS to ISO 14065.
- legislation.gov.ukEnvironmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, regulation 1(2)
EPR 2016 extends to England and Wales only.
- legislation.gov.ukEnvironmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, regulation 61
The notice power behind Pollution Inventory reporting.
- legislation.gov.ukEnvironmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018, regulation 37
The Scottish notice power behind SPRI returns.
- Environment AgencyAssessing and scoring environmental permit compliance
Compliance bands A to F and their effect on the subsistence charge.
- ISOISO 14001:2026 — Environmental management systems (Foreword, Clause 1, §§0.3, 0.5)
Fourth edition, published 15 April 2026; it states no specific environmental performance criteria.
- UKASEMS ISO 14001:2026 transition — technical bulletin, Revision 2 (7 October 2026)
The UK transition timeline for UK-accredited certification.
- ISOISO 14001 — what has changed
ISO’s own summary of the 2026 revision.
- legislation.gov.ukESOS Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1643), Schedule 1
The large-undertaking test: at least 250 employees, or turnover over £44m and balance sheet over £38m.
- Environment AgencyHow to comply with ESOS phase 4 (30 July 2026), §§3.1 and 4.5
The phase dates, and that other schemes do not automatically count as ESOS compliance.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410 Schedule 7, paragraph 20B
The SECR size exemption and its two-year test.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410 Schedule 7
The SECR lines for quoted and large unquoted companies.
- GOV.UK (DESNZ, Defra)Environmental Reporting Guidelines, including SECR requirements
The government’s environmental reporting guidance, last updated 29 March 2019.
- Defra, BEISEnvironmental Reporting Guidelines (March 2019, PDF), Chapter 1
Six categories of environmental KPI; the recognised management systems; no statutory audit requirement.
- legislation.gov.ukCompanies Act 2006, section 414CB
Environmental matters in the non-financial and sustainability information statement.
- legislation.gov.ukProducer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/1332)
Producer tiers (regs 23–24) and reporting deadlines (regs 35–36).
- legislation.gov.ukFinance Act 2021, section 45 (as substituted by Finance Act 2026 s.104)
The Plastic Packaging Tax rate of £228.82 per tonne from 1 April 2026.
- legislation.gov.ukFinance Act 2021, Part 2 (Plastic Packaging Tax), ss.47 and 55
The 30% recycled-content test and the 10-tonne registration threshold.
- legislation.gov.ukFinance Act 2026, section 107
The 1 April 2027 commencement of the mass-balance and pre-consumer changes.
- legislation.gov.ukWater Resources Act 1991, section 27
The 20 cubic metres a day abstraction exemption, and when it is lost.
- legislation.gov.ukWater Industry Act 1991, section 118
Consent to discharge trade effluent to a public sewer.
- DefraDigital waste tracking service (updated 18 September 2026)
Mandatory for permitted waste receivers from October 2026 in England and Wales.
- legislation.gov.ukFinance Act 2026, Part 5 (UK CBAM)
The UK carbon border adjustment mechanism, a tax on imports from 1 January 2027.
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