At a glance
By Adam Tuner
As the world chases net zero carbon emissions by 2050, many organisations are working to decarbonise as part of their sustainability efforts.
At the same time, regulators are starting to demand that organisations disclose their environmental impacts, such as the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
Meanwhile, the Australian Government has begun to phase in mandated climate-related financial disclosures for large entities, including their greenhouse gas emissions. Other Asia-Pacific markets, such as Singapore, have plans to mandate.
Carbon accounting software is designed to help organisations measure, track and manage their emissions of carbon and other greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide.
The tracking of emissions is divided into several main sections for reporting purposes:
- Scope 1 direct emissions are generated by an organisation operating assets it owns or controls, such as industrial machinery and vehicle fleets.
- Scope 2 indirect emissions are generated by the production of the energy an organisation consumes. Although these emissions physically occur at the facility where the energy is generated, such as a coal-fired power station, they are counted as indirect emissions because they are a result of the organisation’s energy usage.
- Scope 3 emissions are composed of all other indirect emissions that occur in an organisation's value chain, including upstream emissions generated by suppliers making products the company uses and downstream emissions generated by customers using the organisation's products.
- Scope 4 avoided emissions is where organisations voluntarily track avoided emissions, thanks to more energy efficient or environmentally friendly products and business practices.
Carbon accounting software gathers data from various business systems and external sources, then uses the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG) standardised framework to measure and report emissions.
Activity-based data generally allows for more accurate emissions estimates than spend-based data, but activity-based data is typically more difficult to gather.
The hybrid model methodology, recommended by the GHG, is a pragmatic approach that draws on as much activity-based data as possible, then uses spend-based methods to estimate the rest.
Some carbon accounting software also connects to carbon offset marketplaces. This allows organisations to find and purchase carbon offsets to assist with reaching their net zero goals.
Here are five of the top options for carbon accounting software.
Normative
Normative specialises in carbon accounting software within the sustainability and environmental management sector.
It is best suited for large enterprises with complex supply chains but provides a free carbon calculator for smaller suppliers.
It also underpins the SME Climate Hub Business Carbon Calculator, aiding in emission reduction planning and progress tracking.
Sinai
Sinai is designed to measure, analyse, price and reduce carbon emissions in the most cost-effective way.
Like many carbon accounting tools, it also enables organisations to implement cost effective carbon reduction strategies. Sinai focuses on resourceintensive industries like transportation, mining and construction.
Watershed
Watershed is focused primarily on customers in tech and direct-to-consumer businesses. Along with carbon accounting, it lets organisations set targets, model and reduce emissions, switch to clean power and fund carbon removal.
Users also have exclusive access to a marketplace of pre-vetted, high quality carbon projects and virtual power purchase agreements.
Sweep
Sweep supports managing carbon data as well as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data to help customers meet disclosure regulations and reduce carbon emissions through reduction strategies.
By using data to map carbon emissions, Sweep makes it easier for organisations to visualise their climate impact.
Persefoni
Persefoni serves enterprise, financial institution and SMB markets and is primarily aimed at asset managers. It allows investors to make broad-based portfolio carbon calculations.
Persefoni's Footprint Ledger is a financial-like ledger that analyses an organisation's emission data and GHG calculations to output specific and traceable carbon measurements.
