The Carbon Trust Standard was developed by the Carbon Trust in 2007/08 to encourage good practice in carbon measurement, management and reduction by businesses and public sector organisations.
It is designed to provide a robust, objective and consistent methodology for assessing corporate carbon performance. The Standard specifies requirements in 3 key areas:
- Carbon footprint measurement
- Carbon management
- Carbon reduction performance
Assessment against the Standard is undertaken by independent third-party assessors. The assessment process is managed by the Carbon Trust Standard Company - a subsidiary of the Carbon Trust.
The Carbon Trust Standard was launched in June 2008. It builds on other existing international Standards for the measurement of corporate carbon emissions:
- Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
- ISO14064-1 :2006, which provides a specification (at the organization level) for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals.
The Standard was developed in consultation with leading businesses and public sector organisations. It is informed by the Carbon Trust's experience of working with thousands of UK businesses to implement effective carbon management strategies. The Standard also incorporates qualitative criteria developed by a predecessor scheme - the Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme.
Current Version
The Carbon Trust Standard is currently using version 1.2 of the methodology, dated September 2009 and available from the document library.
New Version
Following our independent review process a revised version of the methodology, version 1.2 dated September 2009, has been published.
Version 1.2 of the methodology will be in force for all assessments starting from January 2010. Changes between version 1.0 and 1.2 are minor and include addition of a materiality rule, clarification of the relative reduction requirements as well as minor text clarifications.
Review process
The Carbon Trust Standard is subject to regular review by an independent Advisory Board.
Confidentiality & Impartiality
The Carbon Trust Standard Company is strongly committed to confidentiality and impartiality and has built this into its strategy, policies, procedures and operations. To view our full Confidentiality & Impartiality Policy please click here.