The Carbon Trust Standard

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 three 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 Certification Limited - 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 1.3 of the methodology, dated June 2010.

Review process

The Carbon Trust Standard is subject to regular review by an independent Advisory Board.

Confidentiality & impartiality

The Carbon Trust Certification Limited is strongly committed to confidentiality and impartiality and has built this into its strategy, policies, procedures and operations. Read our full Confidentiality & Impartiality Policy which is now avaialble.