Carbon Reduction Planning

Carbon Reduction Planning – Verification and Certification Pilot

Did you hear? It’s an exciting time here at Interface! We’re developing you a brand new Carbon Reduction certification service ensuring we maintain our position as the UK’s top-rated certification body.

Market pressures are increasing, (e.g., the government’s Procurement Policy PPN 06/21 and the Greener NHS Supplier roadmap) so Interface-NRM is putting together a service for you to ensure you remain compliant with your interested parties and potential future legislation. This is being developed through early-mid 2023 with chosen companies on a Carbon Reduction Pilot.

Earlier in the year, Innovate UK, the UK’s Innovation Agency, funded the development of this service by way of Interface winning the Fast Start: Innovation funding competition. With this funding, we have put together a Learning Management System which includes templates and learning materials for companies to quantify their carbon footprint and put in place a carbon reduction plan. This will all be accessible in a user-friendly manner in the brand-new Interface Learning Environment platform.

This platform will bring skills and competencies in-house to give you the ability to meet current pressures in putting together and evidencing a comprehensive carbon reduction plan – thus reducing costs long term in avoiding having to pay an expensive consultancy fee.

It’s not all about policy and business pressures though, we are pursuing this service because it matters to us as an organisation. Quick trivia fact: Interface NRM was born out of a sustainable forest management background, with the NRM standing for Natural Resource Management. We’ve held on to the name, as much as it can be a pain to spell out emails over the phone because sustainability is something all the team at Interface feel passionate about.

The outset and ongoing steering of the pilot is being informed by the R&D Innovation Group, a mixture of experienced professionals who have already undergone similar journeys, and some of the pilot companies so they can let us know what will provide the most benefit.

So how will the pilot work?

The 4 stages of the pilot have kicked off!

Stage one was an introductory webinar in December 2022, breaking down the stages of the pilot, laying out the particulars of the learning management system, and introducing the requirements of the standards being worked to. This allowed the participating companies to begin the pilot strengthening their understanding of the carbon emissions arising from their processes and operations.

After being enrolled into the Interface Learning Environment, the second stage is where the work begins for companies. We will support the pilot companies through a course of bite-sized modules designed to help with the gathering of data and the population of relevant templated spreadsheets. This stage will be accompanied by a series of webinars and one-to-one sessions with advisors.

Once the data is compiled, stage three will be the Carbon footprint verification. This will be accomplished through independent verification against the ISO 14064-1 standard ‘quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions’. Successful audits of the company’s carbon footprint will then result in a carbon verification statement.

Armed with a verified carbon footprint, pilot companies will then work on stage four, putting in place a carbon reduction plan. This will necessarily involve a suite of targets or objectives that will demonstrate the organisations commitment and ability to reach carbon neutrality and ultimately net zero. The Learning Environment will ensure that the Carbon Reduction Plan will be set up in line with the requirements of the carbon neutrality standard PAS 2060 ‘Specification for the demonstration of carbon neutrality’, with successful companies receiving certification. All being well, we predict PAS 2060 Certificates will be issued in late Summer 2023.

And it’s as simple as that!

Four stages of a pilot which will give companies a verified Carbon Footprint and certified Carbon Reduction Plan, allowing them to demonstrate that their carbon claims and plans have been fully and independently verified and stand up to scrutiny.

Combining this pilot with other work we have performed on carbon footprinting will enable Interface to implement this new service which will be of benefit to our current clients, bring in new clients and improve sustainability and reduce carbon emissions within the UK market.

If you want to work with a certification body who cares (about their customers and about the environment), get in touch today for a no-obligation quotation for ISO Certification, CoC Certification, or transfer of certification.

You can enquire now about Carbon Reduction Planning and Certification, and we’ll put you on the waiting list for the service going live after the successful completion of the focused pilot later this year.