The sustainability alphabet soup
Climate and ESG acronyms, in plain English
GHG, CRP, VSME, CSRD, CBAM, GRI, IFRS S2. Sustainability comes with a lot of letters, and most guides assume you already know them.
The good news: most small businesses only need two or three of them. Which ones depends on who is asking you.
Which ones do you need?
If you are asked by
A UK government or NHS tender
- GHG: Greenhouse gas
- Scope 1 and 2: the fuel and electricity your business uses
- CRP: Carbon Reduction Plan
If you are asked by
A large EU customer or an EU bank
- GHG: Greenhouse gas
- Scope 1 and 2: the fuel and electricity your business uses
- VSME: Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for SMEs
If you are asked by
Any large customer asking for your footprint
- GHG: Greenhouse gas
- Scope 1 and 2: the fuel and electricity your business uses
- Scope 3: Everything else in your value chain: what you buy, transport, waste, business travel, staff commuting. Usually the biggest part, split into 15 categories.
If you are asked by
Nobody yet
- GHG: Greenhouse gas
- Scope 1 and 2: the fuel and electricity your business uses
Measuring emissions
The words behind any carbon footprint. Every other standard on this page builds on them.
- GHGGreenhouse gas
- Gases that trap heat, mainly carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. "GHG emissions" simply means your carbon footprint.
- For: EveryoneRead more →
- GHG ProtocolGreenhouse Gas Protocol
- The standard method for counting a company’s emissions. Almost every other standard expects your figures counted this way.
- For: Everyone who measures a footprintRead more →
- Scope 3
- Everything else in your value chain: what you buy, transport, waste, business travel, staff commuting. Usually the biggest part, split into 15 categories.
- For: Anyone asked by a large customer or a tenderRead more →
- tCO2eTonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent
- The unit a footprint is reported in. Other gases are converted to the amount of CO2 that would warm the planet the same.
- For: Everyone
- DESNZDepartment for Energy Security and Net Zero
- The UK government department that publishes the official conversion factors used to turn kWh and litres into emissions.
- For: UK reporting
UK rules
What UK buyers and regulators ask for. Most small firms meet only the first one, through public tenders.
- CRPCarbon Reduction Plan
- A short public document with your emissions and your net zero commitment, asked for in UK government and NHS tenders.
- For: Suppliers bidding for UK public contractsRead more →
- PPN 006Procurement Policy Note 006
- The UK rule that sets the Carbon Reduction Plan format. It replaced PPN 06/21 for procurements advertised from 24 February 2025.
- For: Bidders on central government contracts over £5m a yearRead more →
- SECRStreamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting
- Large UK companies report their energy use and emissions in their annual report.
- For: Large UK companies (two of: £36m turnover, £18m balance sheet, 250 staff)Read more →
- ESOSEnergy Savings Opportunity Scheme
- A UK energy audit that large organisations must carry out every four years.
- For: Large UK organisationsRead more →
- UK SRSUK Sustainability Reporting Standards
- The UK version of the international IFRS S1 and S2 standards, published in February 2026.
- For: UK-listed companies (comply or explain, from 2027)Read more →
- EPRExtended Producer Responsibility (packaging)
- Businesses that supply packaging pay the cost of collecting and recycling household packaging waste.
- For: Large producers pay fees (over £2m turnover and 50 tonnes of packaging a year)Read more →
- UK CBAMUK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
- A carbon charge on some imported goods, such as steel and aluminium, from 1 January 2027.
- For: UK importers of covered goodsRead more →
EU rules
What EU customers, banks and regulators ask for. For a small firm, the one that matters most is the VSME.
- VSMEVoluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for SMEs
- A short, voluntary sustainability report built for small firms. Large EU customers may not ask small partners for more than it covers.
- For: EU SMEs asked for data by customers or banksRead more →
- CSRDCorporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
- The EU law that makes large companies publish a sustainability report. After the 2026 changes it covers EU firms with more than 1,000 staff and €450m turnover.
- For: Very large EU companiesRead more →
- ESRSEuropean Sustainability Reporting Standards
- The detailed standards companies under the CSRD must report against.
- For: Very large EU companiesRead more →
- CBAMCarbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (EU)
- An EU carbon charge on imports of steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen and electricity.
- For: Importers into the EU and their suppliersRead more →
- EUDREU Deforestation Regulation
- Proof that products made from cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soya or wood did not come from recently deforested land. Applies from 30 December 2026.
- For: Companies selling these products in the EURead more →
Global standards and initiatives
Names you will see in questionnaires from large companies and investors.
- ESGEnvironmental, social and governance
- A broad label for how a company handles the environment, its people and how it is run.
- For: Everyone
- GRIGlobal Reporting Initiative
- A widely used standard for a full sustainability report covering a company’s impact on the economy, environment and people.
- For: Mostly large companiesRead more →
- ISSBInternational Sustainability Standards Board
- The body that wrote IFRS S1 and S2.
- For: Listed companies and investorsRead more →
- IFRS S2IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures
- An investor-focused climate standard: how climate change could affect a company’s finances. IFRS S1 covers sustainability in general.
- For: Listed companies, in countries that adopt itRead more →
- CDPCDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project)
- A platform where companies answer a yearly climate questionnaire, often because a large customer asks them to.
- For: Suppliers to large companies
- SBTiScience Based Targets initiative
- Checks that a company’s emission targets are in line with climate science.
- For: Companies setting formal targets
- NDCNationally Determined Contribution
- A country’s own climate plan under the Paris Agreement.
- For: Governments (context, not a company duty)
Maps and climate data
Terms from our climate-risk mapping and data guides. You only need these if you work with maps or climate data.
- GISGeographic information system
- Software for making and analysing maps.
- For: Mapping projectsRead more →
- NDVINormalized Difference Vegetation Index
- A number from satellite images that shows how green and healthy vegetation is.
- For: Land and farming projectsRead more →
- ERA5ERA5 climate reanalysis
- A free global record of past weather, hour by hour, from Europe’s Copernicus programme.
- For: Climate data analysisRead more →
- CDSCopernicus Climate Data Store
- The website where you download ERA5 and other climate data.
- For: Climate data analysisRead more →
- GLOFGlacial lake outburst flood
- A sudden flood when the wall of a lake formed by a melting glacier breaks.
- For: Mountain regionsRead more →
Not sure which applies to you?
Tell us who is asking and by when. In a free 15-minute call we tell you which of these you need, and which you can ignore.