How to become a net zero business

Announcing your business commitment to net zero sets the expectation that you will share your targets and the actions you will take to achieve them. There will be an expectation that you monitor your emissions reduction across the lifetime of your commitment and publish annual reports on your progress.

Customers, business partners, staff and other interested parties will expect your transparency. This openness can also improve your business brand and help to demonstrate the importance of net zero actions to your industry and society.

Ongoing monitoring and reporting can allow your business to regularly evaluate your results, plus help you take any corrective actions and make updates to your plan as circumstances change.

What to include in your net zero progress report

An annual report on net zero progress by your business should include:

• an overview of your headline commitment and targets, and any amendments
• a detailed disclosure of your greenhouse gas emissions in the last year
• the percentage reductions achieved along with the outlook for the near future
• the specific actions you’ve taken to cut your emissions
• details of how your business strategy is evolving to embed net zero

You should consider third-party auditing and verification of your reporting to enhance its credibility.

Net zero standards, certification and accreditation

Using published environmental standards can help your business to meet best practice in reporting and verification of your progress in cutting emissions.

100,000 free copies of BS ISO 50005 - Energy management systems are being sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) as part of their commitment to support small and medium-sized organisations to manage their energy performance and help the United Kingdom to meet net zero.

The Carbon Trust has developed certification which can guide and support your business towards net zero and climate leadership called the Route to Net Zero Standard.

The UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) has published guidance on how to gain various accreditations to support your net zero plans.

The British Standards Institute (BSI) has published a guide on how adopting standards can help your business to achieve net zero.

Other environmental standards

ISO 14001: 2015 – Environmental Management Standard specifies the requirements for an environmental management system that an organisation can use to enhance its environmental performance – find out more about ISO 14001: 2015.

ISO 50001: 2018 – Energy Management Standard specifies requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving an energy management system – find out more about ISO 50001: 2018.

PAS 2060:2014 – Publicly Available Specification for the demonstration of carbon neutrality can be used for your entire business or to any uniquely identified subject, such as specific activities, products, services, buildings, projects, or events – find out more about PAS 2060:2014.