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Your first year, month by month
Twelve months from "request received" to a published footprint, a target, the first reduction and a plan. A sequence a small supplier can follow alongside the day job, with what to send the customer at each step.
What should a supplier do in the first year after a customer asks for emissions data?
Reply, measure, publish, commit, act, plan, report, in that order, spread over twelve months. Each step is small, each produces something you can send to the customer, and each uses the guides in this section. The sequence below assumes one person doing this alongside their real job and a company with no sustainability team. Faster is fine; slower is fine as long as the customer knows the dates.
The twelve months
| Month | Do | Send the customer | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reply to the request with dates. Name an owner. Pull last year's bills into one folder. | The reply | Replying when you have little or no data |
| 2 | Run the bills through a free calculator. Record Scope 1 and 2 with the working. Claim your profile if your customer uses DitchCarbon. | A first Scope 1 and 2 figure | A first footprint from your bills and records |
| 3 | Write the one-page footprint statement and publish it. Take the request to leadership as a customer item. | The published statement | Publishing your numbers; Taking the request to your leadership team |
| 4 | Set a Scope 1 and 2 target using the SBTi's SME rate (see the SBTi SME FAQs). Sign the SME Climate Commitment. | The target statement | Setting a reduction target |
| 5 | Check the electricity contract. Switch to a renewable tariff with certificates, or buy certificates for the gap. | Renewable share and the evidence sheet | Renewable electricity |
| 6 | Build a ranked plan (ClimateMate, free). Pick three actions with owners and dates. Apply for an energy audit grant if one exists. | The one-page plan | A one-page reduction plan |
| 7 | Do the self-funding actions: lighting, controls, compressed air, switching off. | Nothing yet; note progress | Heat, efficiency, fleet and logistics |
| 8 | Email your three largest suppliers and your haulier for their figures. Add a factor column to the footprint. | Nothing yet | Asking your own suppliers; Moving from estimates to measured data |
| 9 | Decide on the SBTi: submit through its SME route (SBTi SME FAQs) if a customer has asked or several would count it. | SBTi status, if submitted | Is the SBTi right for you yet? |
| 10 | Start the first capital item from the plan if funded: solar quote, heat pump audit, electric van at replacement. | Progress against the plan | Paying for it |
| 11 | If you make physical goods and a customer has asked: scope the first product carbon footprint. | A date for the PCF | Product carbon footprints: when a customer needs one |
| 12 | Repeat the footprint for the new year. Publish year two beside year one. Revise the plan. | The year-two footprint and revised plan | Publishing your numbers |
Free national training can help you keep pace with the table: Denmark's Klimaklar course, in Danish, and Colombia's Programa Nacional de Carbono Neutralidad, in Spanish, both walk a small company through its first inventory and plan.
Your customer will accept: this sequence, told to them in month one. Most requests are satisfied by months 1 to 6; the rest is what separates a supplier in progress from one that has finished the form.
What if I only have time for half of it?
Do months 1 to 6. A reply, a figure, a published statement, a target, renewable electricity and a plan is a complete first-year answer to almost every customer request, and all six cost time rather than money. Months 7 to 12 are the reductions and the data improvements, and they can run into year two without any customer thinking less of you, provided the plan says when.
What does the customer see at the end of the year?
Two footprints side by side, a target, a renewable share with evidence, a plan with actions ticked and dated, and a supplier whose figures are now theirs rather than an industry average. For a customer with a supplier engagement target, that is a supplier they can count. For a procurement team weighing carbon, it is a supplier that is easy to keep.
What does year two look like?
The same loop, shorter. The footprint takes a day instead of an afternoon of learning. The plan is revised rather than written. The suppliers who gave you figures last year are asked again, and the ones who did not are asked for the first time. If a customer has asked for a product footprint, that is the year-two project. If several customers are asking, it is the year to decide whether software or a consultant saves more time than it costs.
Do this week: copy the table into a document, put real dates in the month column starting from today, and send the customer the month-one reply with the month-two and month-three dates in it.
What should I do next?
Start at month one with replying when you have little or no data. If your customer uses DitchCarbon, claiming your profile is the month-two step and takes about 30 seconds.
Where to get help
- SME Climate Hub Small Business Carbon Calculator: month two, a first Scope 1 and 2 figure from your bills. Free with registration, also in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Arabic.
- SME Climate Commitment: month four, the public commitment for small businesses. Free, also in Spanish, French, Portuguese and Arabic.
- SBTi SME FAQs: months four and nine, how the SBTi's route for small companies works and what it asks of you. Free to read; validation is paid (SBTi fee).
- ClimateMate: month six, a ranked list of actions for a business like yours. Free.
- Climate Fit: seven short courses by CISL and BSR on the SME Climate Hub to take alongside the twelve months. Free, course in English, pages also in Spanish, French and Portuguese.
- Claim your DitchCarbon profile: month two, if your customer uses DitchCarbon. Free, about 30 seconds.
In your country
Local calculators, grants and advice for this guide, where we have them. See all countries →
Colombia
- Programa Nacional de Carbono Neutralidad (National Carbon Neutrality Programme): Ministerio de Ambiente. Free 20-hour virtual training on a GHG inventory and plan. In Spanish. Free.
Denmark
- Klimaklar (Climate-ready learning platform): Dansk Industri and Industriens Fond. Free course on collecting CO2 data and building a scope 1 to 3 account; open to non-members. In Danish. Free.
France
- ADEME Académie (ADEME training academy): ADEME. Catalogue of 158 courses on the ecological transition. In French. Mixed.
India
- MSME Sustainable (ZED) Certification (Zero Defect Zero Effect): Ministry of MSME (Quality Council of India). Subsidised certification and handholding on quality and environment. In English and Hindi. Subsidised.
Ireland
- SEAI: Small and medium business: SEAI. SME energy training, briefings and an SME energy guide. In English. Free.
Italy
- ENEA Formazione (ENEA training): ENEA. Energy-efficiency courses, in person and online. In Italian. Mixed.
Kenya
- Centre for Green Growth and Climate Change: Kenya Association of Manufacturers. One-stop help on ESG, resource efficiency and climate mitigation. In English. Free info.
Nigeria
- Environmental and Green Manufacturing Unit: Manufacturers Association of Nigeria. Members' contact point for sustainability and energy efficiency. In English. Free info.
Portugal
- Academia ADENE (ADENE Academy): ADENE. Courses on industrial energy efficiency and decarbonisation. In Portuguese. Price not shown.
Singapore
- Enterprise Sustainability Programme: Enterprise Singapore. SME sustainability training, playbooks and project support. In English. Subsidised.
Tunisia
- Offre de formation (DecarboAct) (Training offer): ANME / DecarboAct. Training on carbon accounting and reduction. In French. Free info.
Türkiye
- Hazır Giyimde Sürdürülebilirlik Kılavuzu (Apparel sustainability guides): İHKİB (Istanbul Apparel Exporters' Association). Step-by-step sustainability guides for garment exporters. In Turkish. Free.
European Union
- Enterprise Europe Network: Sustainability: European Commission (EISMEA). Free local advisers on sustainability plans, finance, reporting and energy saving. In all EU languages. Free.
Looking for another country? See free help by country.
Common questions
What should a supplier do in the first year after a customer asks for emissions data?
Reply with dates, measure Scope 1 and 2 from bills, publish a one-page statement, set a target, switch electricity, build a plan, do the self-funding actions, ask your own suppliers, and repeat the footprint at month twelve.
How long does it take a small business to produce a carbon footprint and target?
About four months alongside the day job: reply in month one, first figure in month two, published statement in month three, target in month four, all with free tools.
What is the minimum a supplier should do in year one?
Months one to six: a reply, a figure, a published statement, a target, renewable electricity and a plan. All cost time rather than money and satisfy most customer requests.
What should a supplier send the customer during the first year?
The reply, then the first figure, the published statement, the target, the renewable evidence, the plan, and at month twelve the year-two footprint beside year one.
What does year two look like for a supplier?
The same loop, faster: refresh the footprint, revise the plan, ask suppliers again, and take on a product carbon footprint if a customer has asked for one.
Get help
Email suppliersupport@ditchcarbon.com and hear back within two working days. Free, whether or not your customer uses DitchCarbon.
Free, takes about 30 seconds, and is where your customer reads your answer from.
