Frequently Asked Questions

CRI works with organisations of every size across Australia and internationally — listed corporates, local councils, government agencies, not-for-profits and small and medium businesses. If your organisation wants to measure its emissions, reduce them, or make a public claim that will stand up to scrutiny, we can help.

A first carbon inventory for a small or medium organisation usually takes four to eight weeks from data handover to final report. Larger organisations with complex supply chains, multiple sites or full Scope 3 coverage typically run three to six months. Certification adds a short review period once the inventory and reduction plan are complete.

Fees are scoped to the size and complexity of your organisation — the number of sites, the emissions boundary and the depth of Scope 3 coverage are the main drivers. We quote a fixed price after a short scoping conversation so there are no surprises, and we can stage the work across financial years where budget cycles require it.

Yes, in almost all cases. A carbon inventory is the measurement base for everything else: you cannot set a credible reduction target, build a decarbonisation strategy, report under AASB S2 or certify a claim without knowing where your emissions actually sit. If you already have an inventory prepared elsewhere, we can review it rather than start again.

Yes. Our methods follow the GHG Protocol and ISO 14064, which are international standards, and we apply country-specific emissions factors where operations sit offshore. Australian clients with overseas subsidiaries and supply chains make up a large share of the work we do.

The NoCO2 Net Zero Standard is CRI's published framework for making a net zero claim that holds up. It sets requirements for the emissions boundary, the quality of the inventory, the reduction pathway an organisation must follow, the limited role of offsets, and the evidence that must be disclosed publicly. It is reduction-first: offsetting cannot substitute for cutting emissions.

Net Zero Committed recognises an organisation that has measured its footprint, set a science-aligned target and published a credible reduction pathway with interim milestones. Net Zero Achieved recognises an organisation that has actually delivered those reductions and neutralised the small remaining residual. Committed is the start of the pathway; Achieved is the end of it.

SBTi validates the ambition of a target; ISO 14068 sets out carbon neutrality requirements at a principles level. The NoCO2 Standard is an operating framework that takes an organisation from inventory through reduction to a certified, publicly evidenced claim, with prescriptive rules on offset quality and disclosure. The approaches are complementary — organisations frequently hold an SBTi target and certify against NoCO2.

Yes. The full Standard and its supporting documents are free to read and download from our Net Zero Standard download page, available as PDFs and as web pages. We publish it openly so that anyone assessing a claim can check it against the rules we applied.

Following the Standard puts most of the groundwork in place — a GHG Protocol inventory across all three scopes, a documented transition plan and audit-ready records are all things AASB S2 expects. It does not replace AASB S2 reporting itself, which also requires governance, strategy, risk management and scenario analysis disclosures within your annual report. We help clients bridge the two.

Australia's mandatory climate reporting regime phases in by entity size. The largest entities and financial institutions were captured first, with medium and then smaller reporting entities following in later years. Thresholds are based on revenue, gross assets and employee numbers, and entities already lodging under the NGER scheme are captured as well. Many smaller businesses are affected indirectly, through the Scope 3 data their large customers must now collect.

Four pillars: governance of climate risks and opportunities; strategy, including transition planning and scenario analysis; risk management processes; and metrics and targets, which includes Scope 1, 2 and material Scope 3 emissions. Disclosures sit in the annual report alongside financial statements and are subject to phased assurance.

Obligations commenced for the largest entities from the 2024–25 financial year, with further groups phasing in over the following reporting years and assurance requirements deepening over the same period. Because the first report needs a comparable prior-year inventory, most organisations need to start measuring at least a year before their obligation begins.

We build the assurance-ready inventory that sits underneath the disclosure, run a gap assessment against the four AASB S2 pillars, support scenario analysis and transition planning, and help draft the metrics and targets section. Our working papers are structured for external assurers, which shortens the audit process.