Windmills

Global Heat Reduction Climate Footprint

CO₂e+ gives you the most comprehensive climate footprint available to help you chart the best course of action.

Conventional carbon footprints are insufficient to address today’s rapidly heating planet.

The Global Heat Reduction Climate Footprint gives you a comprehensive assessment of climate impacts, tracking not only CO2 and other greenhouse gases, but all drivers of climate change. This unparallelled level of visibility allows you to choose the best mitigation strategies for your needs, helping you realize the full value of these efforts by pinpointing actions that can most rapidly and effectively reduce excess heat in the near term.

Each Climate Footprint is independently verified by a qualified neutral third-party verification body. The standard supporting this program (SCS-117) was developed by SCS Standards, the independent standards development arm of SCS Global Services. To read more about the standard, click here.

Get Verified

Building Knowledge to Support Decision-Making

  • Carbon Icon

    More data drives better decisions
    Our comprehensive accounting, CO₂e+, includes everything you expect plus much more so that you can make more informed decisions. This includes:

    • CO₂ and other long-lived greenhouse gases (GHGs)
    • Short-lived methane and HFCs at a whole new level of granularity
    • Short-lived “super pollutants” black carbon and tropospheric ozone
    • Effects from reductions in air pollutants that block solar radiation (e.g., SO₂)
    • Changes in albedo (i.e., reflectivity of solar radiation)
    • Landscape-level changes that impact Earth’s natural climate defenses.

  • Shield Icon

    Build on Existing Information
    The footprint process enables you to integrate and build on information you may have already collected and analyzed under conventional carbon accounting approaches. By understanding your full climate footprint, organizations can make the most informed climate mitigation investment decisions.

  • Carbon Product

    Quantified environmental and human health impacts
    The standard includes protocols for assessing the environmental and human health co-benefits and trade-offs of different mitigation approaches. This enables you to evaluate various options, whether you are making operational changes to improve your footprint, or looking to insets or offsets to meet your climate goals.

  • Cutting edge science
    Our standard is based on the latest science from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) fifth and sixth assessment reports (AR5 and AR6) and provides the most comprehensive approach to climate footprinting available on the market today. Assessments are conducted by the award-winning SCS Global Services climate verification team, a leader across industries in scientific certification since 1984.

  • Footprints can be calculated:

    • Company-wide
    • By line of business
    • For or multiple facilities
    • Annual, to enable you to determine the degree to which your internal mitigation measures are paying off.

  • Benefits of calculating your complete footprint:

    • Increase organization understanding of impacts and risks
    • Identify opportunities to protect vital supply chains and operations threatened by rising heat
    • Satisfy regulatory, customer, and stakeholder expectations

Get your Global Heat Reduction Footprint

Please review these steps so you can start fully prepared. 

  • 1. Apply for verification

    Complete the application form. GHR staff will return a proposal to you for signature. To initiate the verification process, sign and return the proposal and contract agreement.

  • 2. Collect your data

    Your inventory may include existing data, newly compiled data and information on co-benefits and trade-offs. Download the Global Heat Reduction Standard for more information. 

  • 3. Submit inventory documentation

    Our verification team reviews your inventory documentation and issues findings. Applicants can address these findings before the site visit is conducted.

  • 4. Site visit

    SCS Global Services auditors conduct site visit(s) to assess compliance with the standards and issue findings from the visit. This includes an office visit and a field visit.

  • 5. Technical review

    Once the verification has been completed, an independent technical reviewer cross-checks the inventory and audit report. At this point, you can report any errors and measurement gaps.

  • 6. Verification report

    SCS Global Services will make a final verification decision and issue a report.

  • 7. Verification opinion

    A final verification opinion statement is registered by GHR and clear for publication. GHR can also provide client marketing support.