Software · buyer guide · GHG
GHG software: how to choose a greenhouse gas tool
GHG software is any tool that calculates a company’s greenhouse gas emissions from its activity data and reports them, almost always to the GHG Protocol’s method.
This page is the buyer’s guide: which kind of tool suits which company, which platforms say they follow the GHG Protocol in their own words, and how to choose. What the standard asks of a tool is on GHG reporting software.
What you are buying
What is GHG software, and which kind do you need?
Almost every GHG tool says it follows the GHG Protocol, whose Corporate Standard (revised edition, 2004) and Scope 3 Standard (2011) remain the standards in force while the Protocol is revised.
So the method rarely separates products; what separates them is how data gets in, which factors are applied, and what comes out at the end.
Size and reporting duty decide the kind of tool more than any feature list.
| Kind of product | What it does | Fits when |
|---|---|---|
| SME carbon calculator | Guided Scope 1 and 2, some Scope 3, simple report | A small company answering a customer |
| Carbon accounting platform | Full inventory, Scope 1 to 3, several frameworks | A mid-size or large company |
| Enterprise EHS or sustainability suite | GHG beside safety, energy and ESG data | GHG is one module of many |
| Emission factor API | Factors and calculations inside your own systems | You build the reporting yourself |
| Spreadsheet and the DESNZ factors | kWh, litres and miles times the year’s factors | Few sites, one fleet, SECR only |
The platforms, in their own words
Which platforms say they follow the GHG Protocol?
24 of the 73 vendors in this site’s registry use these words about themselves on the pages read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026, listed alphabetically, which ranks nothing.
The GHG Protocol does not newly certify software; each quote is the vendor’s own description.
Vendors whose own words mention the GHG Protocol or greenhouse gases · 24 of 73 vendors · read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026
Each cell is the vendor’s own description of itself, linked to the page it is on. Alphabetical order ranks nothing.
A vendor not listed may still do the job: put the question to it in writing.
Read the quotes for which GHG Protocol standard each names: the Corporate Standard, the Scope 3 Standard or the Product Standard are different claims.
Many of these platforms pair the GHG Protocol with UK reports such as SECR and UK SRS, which suits a UK company with more than one duty.
Which GHG Protocol claim
Alphabetical
Order of work
How do you build a GHG software shortlist?
Start from the reports you owe, because they decide the scopes, the period and the factors.
Then test data ingestion on your own records.
| Step | What to do | What it settles |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | List every report that needs emissions: SECR, UK SRS S2, CDP, customers | Scopes, periods and audiences |
| 2 | Choose the consolidation approach | Equity share, or operational or financial control |
| 3 | List data sources: meters, bills, fuel cards, expenses, spend | What the tool must ingest |
| 4 | Ask three vendors to load one year of your data | Time to a checked inventory |
| 5 | Check the factor set and year on one figure | DESNZ set for the activity year |
| 6 | Price three years and the exit | The cost tool beside the next section |
Price
What does GHG software cost?
Prices range from free tiers to enterprise contracts, and most platforms publish none.
Where a vendor publishes a price, the vendor table shows it with a link to the page it is on.
The DESNZ factors are free on GOV.UK, so a factor database alone is not a reason to pay.
The calculator beside this compares a three-year quote with the staff time the current process takes.
Your three-year cost · your numbers only
Three-year total £0
Arithmetic on the figures you type, from the vendor’s written quote.
Added entities are counted for an average of one and a half years each. This page states no vendor price and estimates none.
Nothing is stored or sent.
In the demo
What should you ask in a GHG software demo?
These are buying questions; the method-level tests against the standard are on GHG reporting software.
Ask for every answer on your own data, not a demonstration company.
GHG software demo questions · tick the ones you need
The pass tests are our reading of the cited provisions.
Nothing you tick is stored or sent.
What changes a tool
When is GHG software worth buying?
The usual trigger is a second report or a first Scope 3 figure: one SECR line sits happily in a spreadsheet, three audiences do not.
Listed companies in five UKLR categories report against UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, which brings Scope 3 into view.
The GHG Protocol is revising its standards, but the existing ones stay in effect until revised versions are published, so there is no reason to wait.
Read the detail and references
The GHG Protocol’s update programme says the existing standards and guidance stay in effect; one consultation, on Scope 2, ran from 20 October 2025 to 31 January 2026.
DESNZ says at ¶1.10 of its 2026 methodology that the 2026 factors are for activity falling entirely or mostly within 2026, with the next set in June 2027.
The Corporate Standard sets out five principles, relevance, completeness, consistency, transparency and accuracy, and two consolidation approaches.
For base-year recalculation the GHG Protocol sets no significance threshold; the company sets its own, per its technical assistance.
Spreadsheet or software
Is a spreadsheet enough for GHG reporting?
For a company with a few sites, one fleet and only SECR to produce, often yes: activity data times the year’s DESNZ factors.
A spreadsheet strains when a new factor set must not overwrite last year’s figures, when Scope 3 arrives, or when several reports need different periods.
The worksheet beside this compares a quote with the hours the current process takes.
Platform against the way you work now
Current process £0 a year · quote £0 a year
Fill in all three to see the break-even hours.
Arithmetic on your own inputs.
The quote’s implementation, uplift and exit terms are in the three-year worksheet on the carbon reporting software page.
Nothing is stored or sent.
After signature
How does a GHG software roll-out run?
Fix the boundary and base year first, because every later figure depends on them.
No GHG rule sets an implementation time; agree a dated plan to a closed inventory for last year.
Keep source records and factor choices where you can reach them without the tool.
From data to a closed inventory
Data feeds
From data to a closed inventory
Close and report
For the board
Every GHG tool claims the GHG Protocol; choose on data in, factors applied and reports out.
Buy for the reports you owe now, keep the inventory portable, and do not wait for the Protocol’s revision.
Takeaways
GHG software, in five facts
| What is true | What to do |
|---|---|
| The 2004 Corporate Standard and 2011 Scope 3 Standard remain in force | Buy now; do not wait for the revision |
| DESNZ publishes one UK factor set a year | Check the tool applies the set for the activity year |
| The GHG Protocol sets no recalculation threshold | Set your own and record it |
| Size and reporting duty decide the kind of tool | Start from the reports you owe |
| DESNZ factors are free | A factor database alone is no reason to pay |
Next: what the GHG Protocol asks of a tool is on GHG reporting software, and the Protocol itself on GHG Protocol.
Frequently asked
GHG software, answered
What is GHG software?
A tool that calculates a company’s greenhouse gas emissions from activity data such as energy, fuel and travel, and reports them, usually to the GHG Protocol’s method.
Which GHG Protocol standard is in force?
The Corporate Standard (revised edition, 2004) and the Scope 3 Standard (2011).
The GHG Protocol says existing standards stay in effect while it revises them.
Which software follows the GHG Protocol?
The table on this page lists every vendor in this site’s registry whose own words mention the GHG Protocol or greenhouse gases, alphabetically and quoted. This site has tested none.
Is GHG software certified by the GHG Protocol?
Treat any certification claim as the vendor’s own and test it on your data.
What the GHG Protocol’s mark does and does not mean is covered on the greenhouse gas protocol software page.
Which conversion factors should GHG software use in the UK?
The DESNZ set for the year in which the activity took place.
DESNZ publishes one set a year.
Does a small company need GHG software?
Often not.
A few sites and one fleet can be handled with a spreadsheet and the DESNZ factors.
What does GHG software cost?
From free tiers to enterprise contracts.
The vendor table shows prices where vendors publish them.
Should we wait for the revised GHG Protocol?
No. The existing standards stay in effect until revised versions are published.
What is base-year recalculation?
Restating the base year when something significant changes.
The GHG Protocol sets no threshold; the company sets its own.
What is the difference between GHG accounting and GHG reporting software?
Accounting produces the inventory; reporting turns it into the disclosures each regime asks for.
Many tools do both.
What is the difference between GHG software and GHG reporting software?
This page is the buyer guide.
What the GHG Protocol asks of a tool is set out on the GHG reporting software page.
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.
- GHG Protocol (WRI, WBCSD)A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (revised edition)
Principles, boundaries and scopes.
- GHG ProtocolCorporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard
The fifteen categories.
- GHG ProtocolScope 1 & 2 GHG Inventory Guidance (2019)
Practical inventory guidance.
- GHG ProtocolTechnical assistance: when to recalculate base-year emissions
No set significance threshold.
- GHG ProtocolStandard development updates
Existing standards stay in effect.
- GHG ProtocolScope 2 Guidance
Location-based and market-based methods.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGovernment conversion factors for company reporting
One factor set a year.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2026
The 2026 set.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero2026 methodology paper, ¶1.10
The activity-year rule.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410, Schedule 7 (SECR)
The emissions lines in the directors’ report.
- GOV.UK (DESNZ, Defra)Environmental Reporting Guidelines, including SECR
Government SECR guidance.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures (PDF)
Emissions disclosures for UK SRS.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19 — UK SRS for listed companies
Comply or explain for periods from 1 January 2027.
- ISOISO 14064-1
The ISO organisation-level GHG standard.
- IPCCAR6 Working Group I
The science behind global warming potentials.
- GOV.UKUK greenhouse gas emissions statistics
National context.