how to get the
Climate Neutral Brand certification
A 3-step processes aimed at verifying compliance with Climate Neutrality Standards
Who can be certified
Any company or nonprofit organization that has been in operation for at least 1-year can apply for verification of the requirements.
The verification is done by Climate Standard which assesses climate performance, transparency and accountability.
After the approval, the certification lasts for 1 year.
In order to achieve certification, a company must submit:
Corporate annual carbon footprint (recent)
The methodologies to be followed will be GHGP and ISO 14064 and must include some of the categories defined in Scope 3.
Complete offsetting strategy
100% of the last year’s emissions must be offset by purchasing high-quality carbon credits.
Reduction strategy based on SMART pledges
The brand must plan and implement a reduction strategy to reduce future emissions based on formal and SMART pledges.
Statement of accuracy and completeness of the data
A statement by a legal representative of the company regarding the truthfulness, accuracy and completeness of the information submitted during the verification.
About the verification process
You can choose to start the application by contacting Climate Standard via the dedicated page or one of our consulting partners.
The verification process takes an average of 1 to 2 weeks but depends on the completeness of the information and response time to queries and documentation requests.
Read our requirements
You can download and read the specification of the Climate Neutral Certification for free
Do you still have doubts?
Read a brief introduction to the requirements
STEP 1
Corporate annual carbon footprint
The methodologies to be followed will be GHGP and ISO 14064. Your carbon footprint must be recent and include some of the categories defined in Scope 3.
Your carbon footprint must represent 1-year of your operation and can start at anytime.
Indirect emissions (Scope 3) always seem the hardest obstacle, but do not let perfection be the enemy of good.
We know you have to take various assumptions, but focusing first on the most important operations in your value chain will help you unpack upstream and downstream processes.
Free tools, specialized consultants, and our team can certainly help in the process.
It is not necessary to have your corporate carbon footprint certified. If you have a certified carbon footprint it is definitely better but it is not mandatory.
Certifying a carbon footprint costs a lot of money and you should spend that budget on doing emission management (offsetting and reducing).
No need, we will provide you with all the preset files to fill out. It will be easier for you to fill everything in and for us to analyze the data through our automated process and identify any missed data.
STEP 2
Complete offsetting strategy
You must offset 100% of your carbon footprint through the purchase of eligible and high-quality Carbon Credits.
The carbon credits purchased must meet specific requirements such as independent auditing bodies, vintage, reversal, leakage and mix strategy.
It is good to seek support from our team or specialized consultants to ensure that you do not fall into greenwashing.
Each carbon credit represents 1 metric ton of CO2e removed from the planet.
Simply put, carbon credits allow you to invest money in climate change solutions. With carbon credits, we support tree planting, combat deforestation, restore ecosystems, help generate more green energy in developing countries, and develop technologies that absorb CO2 from the air.
The requirements are divided into 4 demands:
1) Credits must be certified by international body such as Verified Carbon Standard, Gold Standard, PlanVivo or PuroEarth or be anaylized directly by our team.
2) Credits must be from projects located in developing countries (as defined by the IMF), with the exception of long-term carbon removal projects.
3) Credits from “avoided or reduced emissions without storage” projects must have been issued for up to 4 years, while up to 7 years in other cases.
4) Credits from “emissions avoided or reduced without storage” can offset up to 50 percent of total emissions.
No, as a certification body, Climate Standard does not sell or trade carbon credits but we can help you identify green projects that best suit your brand.
STEP 3
Reduction strategy based on Pledges
You must submit formal pledges to reduce future emissions.
Each Pledge targets a category of emissions and must indicate how many emissions will be reduced, through which strategy and must be achieved in less than 12, 24 or 36 months.
These Pledges must be concrete and reflect the steps your team is prepared to take.
Pledges (or commitments) are specific, measurable, assignable, realistic goals with a date by which they must be implemented.
An example of a SMART Pledge is: “We will switch to 100% renewable energy use within 24 months through the purchase and internal production of green energy, thereby cutting nearly 100% of the emissions associated with energy use and 30% of total emissions.”
For brands with annual revenues below 50 million, identification of at least 2 emission reduction targets in 2 separate reported emission categories is required.
For brands with annual revenues greater than 50 million euros, identification of at least 1 emission reduction target is required for each Scope, including at least 1 target for a Scope 3 category.
As an alternative to this file, the brand can upload in the upload area of the platform a Science-Based Target initiative certification.
Transparency means reliability
We are very serious about transparency.
After analyzing and confirming the presence of climate neutrality requirements, we aggregate the data to make it easy to understand and publish them here.
So you can trust your favourite company!
Get certified!
Apply for certification
SME: 1-2 days
Large Brands: 1-2 days
If you do not yet have the requirements, we can help you figure out how to get them and, if needed, point you to the best consultants in your area to support you in carrying out the application.
If you already have all the requirements, ask us your unique credentials and proceed with the submission of the documentation by following the steps indicated just inside the private area.
If everything is in order, our validation system will give us the “green light,” at which point our team will review the application and give you a response within a few hours.
After the team’s validation, by signing a license to use the certification and Climate Standard label, you can declare that your brand has been certified. The team will help you understand how to create maximum value through corporate communications.
In addition, you won’t have to worry about tedious and costly unscheduled on-site audits. From the second year, however, we will ask you to participate in periodic interviews to understand how your emission reduction commitments are progressing.
Your status lasts for 1 year after approval.
At the end of the year, the process must be repeated. It will be up to the brand to reapply and adjust to any changes in certification requirements.
Max reliability for customers
We are very serious about transparency.
After validation, we create a web page dedicated to the brand to publicise how the brand has achieved climate neutrality. You can see examples on our website.
This means maximizing transparency, reducing risks and engaging your stakeholders.
We are very serious about transparency.
After validation, Climate Standard creates a web page dedicated to the product’s brand to publicise how the brand has achieved climate neutrality. You can see examples on our website.
