Estimate your business carbon footprint in minutes, free

What is a business carbon footprint?

A business carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases your company is responsible for over a year, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e). It spans the energy you use, the way you and your goods travel, and the products and services you buy. Measuring it gives you a baseline you can report, compare against your industry, and reduce over time.

Is this free calculator right for your business?

This free estimator is the right starting point if you want a fast, jargon-free first look at your emissions, rather than a verified, audit-grade figure. It's a great fit if:

• You want a simple, initial view of your footprint, not full detail or assurance.
• You don't yet have energy bills, mileage or spend data to hand.
• You need a number and a sense of your hotspots quickly, for your own planning or an early client question.
• You're not (yet) being asked for a third-party verified footprint.

If you need an accurate, full-scope footprint for SECR, a tender, or certification, you'll want a complete measurement built on your real data. That's exactly what our Carbon Impact Report delivers, and you can move straight from this estimate to it.

Why should your business measure its carbon footprint?

Beyond the environmental case, there are clear commercial reasons UK businesses measure and reduce their emissions:

• Win and keep work. Carbon data and a reduction commitment are increasingly required in RFPs and tenders, including PPN 006 for public-sector bids.
• Comply with reporting rules. Larger businesses report under SECR, and supply-chain expectations are pushing this down to SMEs.
• Cut costs. Emissions usually track wasted energy, fuel and materials, so measuring shows you where the savings are.
• Attract talent and customers. Employees, buyers and investors increasingly favour businesses that can show they're measuring and improving.

Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions explained

The GHG Protocol, the world's most widely used carbon accounting standard, splits emissions into three groups:

• Scope 1: direct emissions you create on site, such as gas heating or fuel burned in company vehicles.
• Scope 2: indirect energy emissions from the electricity you buy and use.
• Scope 3: everything else in your value chain, such as purchased goods and services, business travel, employee commuting, waste and your digital footprint. For most businesses, Scope 3 is the largest share by far.

How does measuring a carbon footprint actually work?

At its simplest, measuring emissions means multiplying your business activity (or spend) by an emissions factor, sometimes called a conversion factor, that turns that activity into greenhouse gas output. For example, your electricity use in kWh multiplied by the published factor for UK electricity gives your Scope 2 emissions in tCO₂e.

In the UK, DEFRA publishes these emissions factors every year, and they're the basis most businesses use for reporting. Our free estimator uses the same DEFRA factors, applied to the sector, size and operational choices you tell us. It's a spend-based and average-data approach that produces a credible screening estimate in minutes, without you needing a single bill.

What is tCO₂e?

Your footprint is expressed in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e). There are several greenhouse gases, each with a different warming impact. CO₂e expresses them all in terms of the equivalent impact of carbon dioxide, so you can talk about and compare a single number rather than each gas separately.

What this estimate includes, and what it doesn't

This is a simplified, screening-level estimate. It covers Scope 1, Scope 2 and the most common Scope 3 categories (purchased goods and services, business travel, commuting, waste and your digital footprint), modelled from your answers. Because it relies on estimates rather than your actual data, we don't provide assurance on the figure, and some Scope 3 categories (such as capital goods, leased assets, and the use of sold products) aren't included. The methodology note on your result spells out exactly what's covered.

From a free estimate to an audit-grade footprint

The estimate shows your scale and your hotspots in minutes. When you need verified numbers for SECR, a tender, or ISO-aligned reporting, a full Carbon Impact Report uses your real data and comes with a live carbon dashboard you can share with clients and tender teams. It's the natural next step once you've seen where you stand.