Carbon neutral standard

A carbon neutral standard is a set of guidelines and requirements that a company or organisation must follow to achieve carbon neutrality.

Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard for Organisation 

Pathzero leverages the Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard for Organisation (“Standard”), which is a unique government-backed standard to credibly claim carbon neutrality.  

The Standard is developed and administered by the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.  

It provides best-practice guidance on how to measure, reduce, offset, validate and report emissions that occur as a result of an organisation's operations. 

How Pathzero can help you to reach your carbon neutral goals 

As a client of Pathzero, you will have the opportunity to reach your carbon neutral goals and claim carbon neutrality through Pathzero’s assessment against the Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard.  

If your organisation wishes to take a further step, you can choose to become a certified carbon neutral organisation through the Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard.  

Pathzero’s sustainability consultants are Climate Active registered consultants and trained GHG professionals who support you in achieving a credible and accurate carbon neutral status either way.  

Pathzero and Climate Active carbon neutral claims – what’s the difference? 

The difference between Pathzero’s and Climate Active’s carbon neutral claim is summarised below. Pathzero’s sustainability consultants can support you to understand what trademark is most suitable for your organisation and goals.  

 

Pathzero 

Climate Active 

Terminology

Carbon Neutral Organisation 

Certified Carbon Neutral Organisation

Trademark 

Pathzero trademark 

Climate Active trademark 

Region 

International operations 

Designed for organisations with operations in Australia but can extend to overseas operations

Additional fees and trademark requirements apply for overseas operations

Carbon Neutral Standard for Organisation 

Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard for Organisation 

Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard for Organisation 

GHG calculation methodology 

GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard 

GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard 

GHG Protocol Corporate
Accounting and Reporting
Standard 

GHG Protocol Corporate Value
Chain (Scope 3) Standard 

Data review requirements 

Verification of the emissions boundary by Pathzero’s sustainability consultants 

Validation of the activity data by Pathzero’s audit team 

Verification of the emissions boundary by Pathzero’s sustainability consultants 

Validation of the activity data by Pathzero’s audit team

Technical assessment by a registered Climate Active Consultant (where required) 

Independent third-party audit by external auditor (where required) 

Climate Active assessment

Price 

The Pathzero Clarity platform pricing is equivalent to that of the Climate Active service, with the exception that the Climate Active specific fees are not applicable 

The cost of Pathzero Clarity platform remains consistent with that of Pathzero's carbon neutral services.  

However, clients incur supplementary charges associated with the Climate Active process, such as costs related to registration fees for Climate Active, consulting fees for completing Climate Active documentation, and third-party auditors, where applicable

How to use the term ‘certified’ and trademark accurately 

One can self-assess activities against the Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard. However, only entities who have met certification requirements and executed a Licence Agreement with Climate Active are able to claim they are certified Climate Active and use the Climate Active trademark.  

What entities does Pathzero and Climate Active support in reaching carbon neutral goals? 

Currently, Pathzero’s Clarity platform is only set up for carbon neutrality claims for organisations.  

Both organisation-specific trademarks from Pathzero and Climate Active can only be used to represent the carbon neutrality of the organisation. They cannot be used on marketing for products and services, or in any other way suggest that the certified claim of carbon neutrality applies to the products or services.  

Climate Active has other specific Carbon Neutral Standards that certify buildings, events, precincts, product and services as carbon neutral. These are not covered in Pathzero’s Carbon Neutral Organisation knowledge base articles.  

 
We’re here to help 

Pathzero’s sustainability consultants can support you in understanding what standard is most suitable for your company's goal. 

Please contact us at support@pathzero.com for more information.