How is the certification process?

Kick off your certification process and receive a service quote by contacting us directly. The process typically includes the following steps:

Step 1: Service scope 
Identify service types aligning with your CFM needs. After discussing the application and accepting our offer, we assign a Preferred by Nature contact person.

Step 2: Preparation
Develop a carbon management plan and baseline carbon footprint calculation, incorporating the 6 sections of the Preferred by Nature CFM Standard. We provide training and additional guidance, evaluating portions of your management plan, data collection methods, calculations, and reduction strategy.

Step 3: Evaluation
An on-site or remote assessment checks compliance with CFM requirements and your management approach, primarily through document reviews and staff interviews.

Step 4: Audit report
We provide a formal report outlining assessment results. Before finalisation, you may raise any comments or questions.

Step 5: Verification certificate
Upon positive verification, Preferred by Nature issues a certificate valid for 5 years, subject to annual audits.

Complaints and resolutions

If a complaint is raised about our certification services or one of our clients, we handle this in accordance with our Dispute Resolution Policy. We may call on our Impartiality Committee if Preferred by Nature’s impartiality is under question.

Certification scope

Embarking on your CFM journey, we review the application form with you and provide information to help you choose an appropriate certification scope and related services. The CFM standard allows you to calculate, verify and communicate the carbon footprint of:

• Organisation. Covers emissions across the value chain, including operations, energy use, and the supply chain.

   

• Product or service. Encompasses relevant life cycle stages, offering options like cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-grave.

   

• Event. Considers emission hot spots and sources throughout the event's life cycle.

Certification scope depends on your business nature and motivations for GHG emissions management.

Support services

Recognising the need for additional support in understanding our CFM requirements, best practices, and carbon disclosure regulations, our cerification programme offers:

Training 

Reviews our CFM standard in detail, providing tips, best practices, and exercises to enhance your CFM knowledge before developing your own programme. We usually offer half a day or full day training that can be tailored to your actual needs. Q&A sessions are always part of the training. 

Ongoing support

If you require support to ensure your CFM work is on the right track, to locate relevant data inputs, get the most up-to-date emission factors, or to determine if your calculation methods are appropriate, please let us know. We can support you to be on track with your CFM plan before assessments or audits.

Preferred by Nature Carbon Footprint Management Standard

The Preferred by Nature CFM Standard allows your business to align with globally recognised GHG accounting and reporting standards and methods.

The CFM Standard includes requirements to help you systematically measure and reduce your emissions while understanding how to develop a comprehensive carbon management plan.

The Standard incorporates requirements from GHG Protocol as well as BSI Publicly Available Specification, along with other criteria from several leading organisations and climate initiatives.

Aside from providing requirements on corporate, product or service and event footprints, the Standard also clarifies and provides guidance on emission sources, credible offsetting, and land use change.

Organisations certified under the CFM Standard demonstrate a commitment to reducing their footprint and can use the the Carbon Footprint Management (CFM) labels and eligible claims.

Standard features

• Reductions: Critical for mitigating climate change, clients meeting ongoing reduction requirements demonstrate commitment to global climate efforts.

   

• Management: Identifies activities causing GHG emissions, guiding ongoing plans to integrate climate responsibility into daily operations.

   

• Clarity: Clearly outlines CFM plan phases, offering additional guidance, tools, and services.

   

• Credibility: Verification by trained verifiers experienced in carbon accounting and various certification schemes.

   

• Alignment: Complies with requirements endorsed by GHG Protocol and BSI PAS for corporate, product and service footprints.

   

• Comprehensive: Gathers requirements and best practices from credible GHG accounting and reporting sources, covering Scope 3 accounting, offsetting and insetting.

Embarking on carbon footprint management opens your business to new sustainability insights, enhancing impacts, business models, risk management and stakeholder relations.

>> Download the CFM Standard

Share your feedback

Contact us today with any comments or questions. Your feedback helps us strengthen the impact and usability of the Standard and overall programme.

CFM Standard Consultations

The original CFM Standard underwent two rounds of public consultation in 2012 and 2013. Following that, version 2.0 was developed and underwent public consultation from 10 February to 10 April 2021. These consultations provided insightful feedback from stakeholders, significantly strengthening the impact and usability of the standard. Updates to the standard include additional clarity around emission source requirements, a carbon-neutral event option, and new emissions reduction targets and labels.

The second version of the CFM Standard aims to help organisations manage their corporate, product or service, and event carbon footprints systematically. It may be used to communicate annual GHG emissions and reductions, and investments in credible carbon credits, and how your organisation is enhancing its climate responsibility.