Frequently asked questions

Once you sign up with NCZ you are onboarded, put together with your customer success manager and set up on the portal, so your hand is held through the entire process. You get a profile set up and a full rundown of how to use the platform and how to upload your data.

Once we have gone through the data collection process with you, we run the assessment and issue the report. Then we sit down with you: now that there is an understanding of what the footprint is and where those emissions are coming from, that conversation decides what action is most appropriate for your business going forward.

There are lots of different types of offsetting project, so the project matters as much as the purchase. One carbon credit equals one tonne of emissions: where you are left with a tonne you cannot reduce any further, having done everything you can, buying a credit balances that footprint.

It is important to use the right project. ICROA-approved carbon offset projects, verified or certified to VCS, CDM or the Gold Standard, are what ensure the credits are genuine, wholly additional and credible, and can evidence that the carbon saving actually happened. It is also important that those credits are then officially retired from existence and that the retirement is published on an environmental registry - that is what makes the whole process transparent and lets you fully evidence any claim of carbon neutrality.

A spend-based metric is very much a benchmark. It tells you the emissions associated with that level of spend to an industry standard, as opposed to the specific emissions of your own supply chain.

When you want to progress, you start to work much more in collaboration with your suppliers to get specific information from them, so you understand exactly what their carbon footprint is and exactly how it impacts you based on how much you spend with them. That is always more detailed and more accurate, but it can be difficult to achieve straight away because of the volume of suppliers you might have, or the complexity of what has to happen to collect it. So a spend-based metric is generally a good starting point, and working much more closely with those suppliers to get their actual emissions is how you improve the quality of the data and the credibility of the reporting.

When an organisation needs to report on its supply chain emissions, one company might have dozens, hundreds or even thousands of suppliers, so getting specific information from all of them is problematic. It is also difficult when some suppliers give you one kind of data and others give you a completely different type, because that makes it very hard to run an assessment on a like-for-like basis.

A spend-based metric gives you an intensity metric for every pound spent on a typical or specific type of product or service. If you are spending a known amount on a particular product line, you can apply that metric to understand what the footprint would typically look like at that level of spend. Applied across the board it gives you consistency, which is why it is often a good way for an organisation to start supply chain reporting - it at least establishes what the emissions are likely to be for the spend you have.

If you have had an independent assessment of your carbon footprint as a business, and an analysis of the specific impact of the products or services you sell, that enables whoever is buying from you to understand the impact of their spend.

When somebody commissions your service or buys your product, they are under more and more pressure to report on the impact of that spend, so that they can demonstrate they are making the most environmentally responsible choice. Having that verification of the impact means you can give them genuine, detailed insight - which makes their journey to net zero, and their understanding of the impact of their spend within their supply chain, much easier.

NCZ certification means you have an independently assessed carbon footprint report which demonstrates that you followed internationally recognised standards, and the methodology required to calculate that footprint in a best-practice way.

It is evidence that you went about this in the right way, rather than using benchmarks or jumping on an online calculator. An independent certification organisation has assessed your footprint and reported on it in compliance with ISO and PAS standards.

Getting certification means you have had a third-party verified assessment of the impact of your business - your operations, the services you provide, the products you sell. So you understand that environmental impact, and you understand where those emissions are actually coming from, which lets you take a much more targeted approach to carbon reduction.

Achieving net zero is not something that happens overnight; it requires a comprehensive and detailed way to get there. Understanding what the footprint is, is one aspect. Understanding what actually drives that footprint is another. Breaking it down into a detailed report that highlights all of the emissions drivers in the business, and what can be done about them, is what makes for a much more successful journey to net zero.

It depends on the specific question being asked. It can be as broad as “what is the footprint of your business?”, which needs clarifying first - are they looking for scope 1, scope 2, scope 3, or all of them?

It can also mean they want to know the specific impact of what they are buying from you: how your business impacts theirs when they buy from you. That is where something like a life cycle assessment comes into play, where we assess the emissions associated with delivering that particular product or service, so the client understands very specifically how your business impacts theirs.

At the moment it is not a legal requirement. There are certain forms of legislation in place for companies of a certain size - mandatory greenhouse gas reporting, SECR and ESOS all capture larger organisations.

However, the closer we get to 2050, the more likely it is that formal legislation comes in that captures all companies. The expectation is that the existing remit widens and takes in more and more businesses.

There are two reasons. First, if you wait until it is a mandatory requirement you are putting yourself behind the curve - starting now demonstrates that you are choosing to do this rather than being forced into it by legislation.

Second, you are able to offer more value to your clients. Every single business is part of somebody else’s supply chain, so capturing your carbon footprint and understanding where those emissions come from does not only assist your own journey to net zero. It also helps anyone who buys from you, because you can demonstrate the impact of their spend with you - which is something your customers are going to be required to provide more and more. Doing it now means you get ahead of the curve, you differentiate your business from your competitors, and your clients achieve something that helps their own journey simply by buying from you.

Longer than a bid window, which is the honest answer and the useful one. A measured carbon footprint depends on data you have to collect - energy, fuel, fleet, travel, and for scope 3 the suppliers who have to answer you in turn. None of that compresses well, and a figure produced in a hurry is the kind that gets challenged.

The practical route is to start before you need it. The Blue Award is free and gives you a modelled estimate from a company questionnaire, which is something to say while the measured work runs. The Silver Award produces a questionnaire-based scope 1, 2 and 3 report. Gold measures all company emissions through the NCZ data collection portal, with weekly assistance from the customer success team - that weekly cadence exists because data quality is where the time goes.

Platinum extends into the supply chain, which is the longest of the four because it depends on other organisations' reporting rather than your own, and the standard it is held to is engagement increasing year on year.

Because the levels stack, starting at Blue is not wasted work when the requirement arrives: it is the first stage of the same programme. NCZ's customer success team scopes the work with you, so the realistic date is something to ask about rather than to estimate from a page.

Last reviewed: September 2026

It depends on what the buyer asked, and the four levels stack, so the work done for one is the starting point for the next rather than an exercise repeated from scratch.

The Blue Award is free: platform sign-up and a modelled emissions estimate from the NCZ company questionnaire and benchmark framework. It answers that you have started and tells you roughly where you stand. The Silver Award, £1,500 a year, produces a questionnaire-based scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon footprint report with independent verification, and it answers most private-sector tender questions in full.

Gold Certification, £4,500 a year, measures all company emissions through the NCZ data collection portal with weekly support from the customer success team and produces an ISO 14064 compliant carbon footprint report with a full emissions breakdown. Reach for it when the buyer names a standard, because that is the level that produces a document in the form they named.

Platinum Certification, £7,500 a year, adds the supplier carbon collection assessment tool, a supplier emissions breakdown report, at least 10% of supplier emissions measured with engagement increasing year on year, and demonstrated reductions against intensity metrics. It is the level that answers a scope 3 question about your own supply chain, and the only one assessed on intensity rather than on a total.

Last reviewed: September 2026

Almost every carbon question in a tender is one of three things: what your emissions are, what you are doing to reduce them, and who other than you has checked.

A measured footprint means scope 1 and scope 2 at minimum, and increasingly the scope 3 categories that matter to your business. That last part is where answers fall down: for most suppliers the majority of the footprint sits in purchased goods and services, and a buyer who knows that reads a scope 1 and 2 only response as an incomplete one.

A reduction plan means targets, interventions, owners and dates. For UK central government contracts above the published threshold it takes the formal shape of a Carbon Reduction Plan under PPN 006; for everyone else it is the same document without the policy note behind it.

Independent verification is the part that separates a submission from a claim. A self-declared figure asks the evaluator to take your word for it. It is also the cheapest thing to get wrong, because an unverified number can be challenged and a challenged number damages the whole submission. Every NCZ level above the free Blue Award includes independent verification that internationally recognised calculation and reporting standards have been met.

Last reviewed: September 2026

A high-quality Carbon Reduction Plan is concise, transparent and auditable. Eight components are what a public-sector evaluator expects to find.

First, an organisational profile and declaration: legal name, trading names, a named contact, a declaration of alignment with the procurement requirement, and board-level sign-off. Second, baseline emissions and methodology: a stated reporting period and baseline year, scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, and the scope 3 categories relevant to you, using GHG Protocol categories. Third, targets and timelines: short-term reduction targets over five to ten years and a long-term net zero ambition, stating whether targets are science-based and whether they are validated or in development. Fourth, reduction measures and an action plan: specific interventions with owners, timelines and estimated emissions impact.

Fifth, data quality, verification and tools: data sources, assumptions, emissions factors, the accounting standard applied, and any third-party verification. Sixth, governance, resources and supplier engagement. Seventh, residual emissions and removals, showing reduction first and removals only for what is genuinely unavoidable. Eighth, monitoring and continuous improvement: an annual review cycle, clear KPIs, and the plan kept publicly accessible.

Compliance is now the baseline. Plans are increasingly judged on quality, transparency and credibility rather than on their existence, and the fifth component is where most of them are weakest.

Last reviewed: September 2026

The figure the requirement is usually quoted around is £5 million: a compliant Carbon Reduction Plan is a prerequisite for bidding on UK government contracts over that value. That is the number to plan against if you are deciding whether this will reach you.

But the threshold for any particular procurement is the buyer's to set, and it is stated in the contract notice. Contracts above defined thresholds reference the policy note's requirements and expect a publicly accessible plan; what those thresholds are, and which policy note version applies, varies between departments and across the wider public sector. Checking the notice takes a minute and is the only way to be certain.

Two things make the threshold less decisive than it looks. Buyers below it increasingly ask for the same document voluntarily, because it is a useful way to compare suppliers. And private-sector buyers ask for it with no policy note at all, as part of their own scope 3 reporting. In practice the question is less often whether you are above a threshold than when someone will ask.

Failing to provide a compliant plan when one is required can materially damage bid competitiveness, and a plan cannot be produced credibly at short notice: it needs a measured baseline behind it.

Last reviewed: September 2026

The Procurement Policy Note usually referred to as PPN 006 applies to suppliers bidding for major UK central government contracts. It replaced the earlier PPN 06/21 terminology. As a rule of thumb, a compliant Carbon Reduction Plan is a prerequisite for bidding on government contracts over £5 million.

Treat that as the shape of the requirement rather than the requirement itself. The threshold that applies to a given procurement, and the version of the policy note in force for it, are set by the buyer and stated in the contract notice. Central government departments, arm's-length bodies and the wider public sector apply it differently, and a growing number of private-sector buyers now ask for the same document with no policy note behind it at all. Read the notice rather than assuming.

It also applies further down than the organisation that signs the contract. If you supply a company that bids for public contracts, the emissions question reaches you through them: their scope 3 is your scope 1 and 2, and they cannot answer it without you. That is the most common route by which a business that never bids for a government contract ends up needing a Carbon Reduction Plan anyway.

NCZ measures the emissions the plan rests on, at four levels from a free Blue Award to Platinum Certification, and verifies the result independently.

Last reviewed: September 2026

Yes. Every level of the NCZ award and certification programme includes independent verification that internationally recognised calculation and reporting standards have been met, and that industry best-practice processes have been followed. That verification is what separates a recognised certification from a self-declared claim, and it is the part a client, an auditor or a tender evaluator is actually asking about.

What verification produces differs by level. The Silver Award is built on a questionnaire-based scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon footprint report. Gold Certification measures all company emissions through the NCZ data collection portal, with weekly assistance from the customer success team to hold data quality, and produces a detailed ISO 14064 compliant carbon footprint report showing the full emissions breakdown. Platinum Certification carries that forward into the supply chain, adding a supplier emissions breakdown report and measurement of at least 10% of supplier emissions.

Verification is included in the annual fee for each level - the free Blue Award, the Silver Award at £1,500 per year, Gold Certification at £4,500 per year and Platinum Certification at £7,500 per year. There is no separate audit charge.

Last reviewed: September 2026

The difference is the level reached. Blue and Silver are awards; Gold and Platinum are certifications. Both sit inside the same programme and rest on the same measured carbon data - the word changes because the depth of measurement behind it changes.

An award is based on a questionnaire. The free Blue Award models your emissions from the NCZ company questionnaire using the NCZ benchmark framework, and the Silver Award, £1,500 per year, produces a questionnaire-based scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon footprint report. A certification is based on measured data. Gold Certification, £4,500 per year, measures all company emissions through the NCZ data collection portal with weekly support from the customer success team, and produces an ISO 14064 compliant report with a full emissions breakdown. Platinum Certification, £7,500 per year, extends that into the supply chain.

Every level, award or certification, is independently verified against internationally recognised calculation and reporting standards, and every level produces certificates and media packs you can use to evidence it. The distinction matters most in a tender: a questionnaire-based award states what you believe your emissions to be, while a certification states what was measured through the platform and checked.

Last reviewed: September 2026

The process runs in four stages on the NCZ carbon management platform. Scope: the NCZ customer success team works with you to measure your scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Capture: the platform records your data and calculates a baseline carbon footprint at organisational, operational and supply-chain level. Report: you receive a report detailing your emissions together with targeted reduction measures you can implement immediately and assess year on year. Certification: as you progress you receive certificates and media packs to demonstrate the achievement and share the commitment.

Each step includes independent verification that internationally recognised calculation and reporting standards have been met and that industry best-practice processes have been followed. Moving up through the four levels - Blue, Silver, Gold, Platinum - is what turns a one-off measurement into an ongoing programme, and at Gold the output is an ISO 14064 compliant carbon footprint report with a full emissions breakdown, produced with weekly assistance from the customer success team to hold data quality.

What you pay depends on the level rather than the stage: the Blue Award is free, the Silver Award is £1,500 per year, Gold Certification is £4,500 per year and Platinum Certification is £7,500 per year. Each annual fee covers the platform, the reporting and the verification behind that level.

Last reviewed: September 2026

NCZ certification is priced in four annual tiers. The Blue Award is free and covers sign-up to the NCZ platform and a modelled estimate of your emissions, produced from a company questionnaire using the NCZ benchmark framework. The Silver Award is £1,500 per year and produces a questionnaire-based scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon footprint report. Gold Certification is £4,500 per year: emissions are measured through the NCZ data collection portal with weekly assistance from the customer success team, and the result is a detailed ISO 14064 compliant carbon footprint report showing a full emissions breakdown. Platinum Certification is £7,500 per year and adds the supplier carbon collection assessment tool, a supplier emissions breakdown report, and a commitment to measure at least 10% of supplier emissions with year-on-year reductions against intensity metrics.

Each fee is annual and per organisation. It covers the measurement platform, the reporting and the independent verification behind that level - there is no separate audit fee. Every level above Blue includes independent verification that internationally recognised calculation and reporting standards have been met.

Last reviewed: September 2026

There are four progressive levels. Blue and Silver are awards; Gold and Platinum are certifications. Each builds on the one below, so the programme is a step-by-step journey rather than a single pass or fail.

The Blue Award is free and covers platform sign-up and a modelled emissions estimate built from the NCZ carbon questionnaire and benchmark framework. The Silver Award, £1,500 per year, produces a questionnaire-based scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon footprint report. Gold Certification, £4,500 per year, measures all company emissions through the NCZ data collection portal with weekly support from the customer success team, produces an ISO 14064 compliant report with a full emissions breakdown, and opens access to the NCZ preferred supplier directory. Platinum Certification, £7,500 per year, carries every Gold benefit and adds the supplier carbon collection assessment tool, a supplier emissions breakdown report, measurement of at least 10% of supplier emissions with engagement increasing year on year, and demonstrated reductions against intensity metrics.

Each level is independently verified against internationally recognised calculation and reporting standards, and each one produces certificates and media packs you can use to evidence the achievement to clients, in tenders and on your own site. Because the levels stack, the work done for one is the starting point for the next rather than an exercise repeated from scratch.

Last reviewed: September 2026

The NCZ award and certification programme is a structured, four-level route that takes a business from measuring its carbon footprint to demonstrating a verified result. You measure, you reduce, and each stage is independently verified rather than self-declared.

It runs on the NCZ carbon management platform. The customer success team scopes your scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, the platform captures the data and calculates a baseline footprint across your organisation, your operations and your supply chain, and you receive a report setting out those emissions with targeted reduction measures you can act on and track year on year. As you progress you receive certificates and media packs, so the achievement is something you can evidence in a tender, on a website or to a client.

The four levels are the free Blue Award, the Silver Award at £1,500 per year, Gold Certification at £4,500 per year and Platinum Certification at £7,500 per year. Gold produces an ISO 14064 compliant carbon footprint report and access to the NCZ preferred supplier directory; Platinum extends the same work into supply chain emissions, with at least 10% of supplier emissions measured and reductions demonstrated year on year against intensity metrics.

Last reviewed: September 2026