Demonstrate that your corporate, product or service, or event carbon footprint aligns with globally recognised standards and methods through Preferred by Nature’s CFM Standard.
Our Standard allows you to measure and reduce your GHG emissions, achieve carbon neutrality through offsetting, and use labels and claims following your verification.
The CFM Standard is aimed at mitigating climate change impacts as much as possible. While we use the term 'Carbon Footprint Management' in reference to our Standard and footprint scopes, we require that businesses include all GHG emissions covered under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change reporting guidelines.
The scope of the verification also assesses areas such as Climate Policy and documentation, relevant emission sources across the value chain or life cycle, data collection and calculations, reduction plans and targets, and public reporting.
If you need a price quote
Get started
Phases
The CFM verification process begins by completing our Service Request Form. We also ask that you complete an application form to help us better assess your needs.
The verification consists of the following phases:
|
|
Service scope: Our application form is meant for you to identify the service types that most align with your CFM needs and helps us to understand your company profile better. After we have discussed the application with you and you have accepted our offer, we will assign a Preferred by Nature representative to your organisation. |
|
|
Preparation: Your organisation develops a carbon management plan, incorporating the 6 sections of the Preferred by Nature CFM Standard. Depending on your experience, we also provide training and additional guidance during this process to help you better understand our standard requirements as well as CFM best practices – while adhering to our impartiality policy. Prior to the verification, we will evaluate portions of your management plan, data collection methods and calculations, and reduction strategy to help you prepare for the assessment. |
|
|
Evaluation: An actual on-site or remote assessment is conducted to check your compliance with our CFM requirements and your management approach. This phase is primarily carried out through document reviews and staff interviews. |
|
|
Report: We provide you with a formal report that outlines the results of the assessment or audit. Prior to report completion, you may raise any comments or questions you may have involving its contents. |
|
|
Verification Certificate: Upon positive verification, Preferred by Nature issues a verification certificate to your organisation. The CFM certificate remains valid for a period of 5 years, providing that you pass annual audits. |
Your options
Verification scope
At the onset of your CFM journey, we will review the application form with you and provide the necessary information to help you choose an appropriate verification scope and related services. The CFM standard allows you to calculate the carbon footprint of:
- Organisation. The corporate footprint covers relevant emission sources across the organisation’s value chain. This includes emissions from your operations, energy use and supply chain.
- Product or service. A product or service footprint includes the relevant life cycle stages and related processes that generate emissions. Life cycle options may include cradle-to-gate as well as cradle-to-grave.
- Event. An event footprint considers the emission hot spots and sources across the life cycle of the event. This option allows you to promote your event as carbon neutral once you have reduced the emissions attributed to the event.
The verification scope is largely determined by the nature of your business as well as your motivations for managing and reducing your GHG emissions.
Support services
Our Verification Program recognises that additional support may be required to understand our CFM requirements, best practices around carbon footprinting, and the latest developments in climate change action and initiatives.
As part of our Capacity Building and Support Services portfolio, you can enhance your climate journey by selecting the following options:
Training
Our training course reviews our CFM standard in detail and provides you with helpful tips and best practices involving data collection, calculations and management. The training also provides you with a general background on GHG emissions, links between our CFM Standard and other frameworks and standards, and exercises to enhance your CFM knowledge before developing your own program.
Ongoing support
If you require regular support to ensure your CFM work is moving in the right direction, to locate or identify relevant data inputs, or to determine if your calculation methods are appropriate, please let us know. Additional support options can help you better manage your own CFM plan prior to the initial assessment or annual audits.
For more information on our support services, please see our Capacity Building and Support Services section.
Our experience
With over 25 years of delivering sustainability certification services to organisations in more than 100 countries, our experts are equipped to provide you with the credibility and guidance you need across your value chain. By partnering with us you not only enhance your own sustainability initiatives, but also help us realise our mission and strategy.
|
|
Industry and auditing expertise. We draw on 25 years of experience delivering sustainability certification services to businesses around the world, particularly to the timber sector. |
|
|
Accessible for all. We cater to companies of all sizes but place a strong emphasis on making certification accessible to smaller businesses. Our standards and client tools are freely available on our website. If you need further help for example with your carbon calculations, you can opt for additional training and assistance services. |
|
|
Credible standard. We closely follow policy developments related to climate change. We have developed our CFM Standard and system to integrate and align with leading industry standards, ensuring that you will follow international best practice for carbon emissions reduction. |
|
|
Local presence, global reach. With staff located in over 40 countries and backed by an extensive global network of experts, we cater to companies worldwide. |
|
|
Non-profit factor. We are a value-based and impact-driven organisation. This is reflected in our commitment to quality when delivering our services. |
Your benefits
Preferred by Nature CFM Standard as well as our value-added services can provide several benefits to your business. While reducing GHG emissions helps mitigate climate change, other advantages may emerge along the way, enhancing your climate actions and opening up new strategic pathways.
|
|
Strengthen reporting and disclosures. The Preferred by Nature CFM Standard helps you manage GHG emissions in accordance with global standards and methods recognised by other reporting frameworks and disclosures. Meanwhile, our verification process provides the credibility you need to further strengthen your reporting efforts. |
|
|
Enhance your brand. Reputation is a key element to safeguard and strengthen as climate change risks and action become commonplace. A brand with strong climate considerations at its core is also important to a variety of stakeholders, internal and external to your organisation. To enhance your credibility and sustainability, our verification programme requires that you reduce GHG emissions based on global best practices. |
|
|
Demonstrate credibility. The CFM programme has been built to help you manage your GHG emissions and reduce your climate change impacts, while providing the third-party verification you need to communicate credible results. |
|
|
Prepare for the future. As mandatory reporting requirements and new climate regulations continue to emerge, the Preferred by Nature CFM Standard can help your business prepare for the future. Small and mid-size standards can also benefit from our services by meeting the requirements of clients, demonstrating initiative, and unlocking new forms of innovation. |
|
|
Gain insight into your value chain. Businesses are increasingly expected to demonstrate positive impacts across its value chain and understanding your Scope 3 emissions provides an entry point for collaborating with partners and identifying emission hot spots, risks and efficiencies.. Taking a value chain approach to reducing emissions can also help you uncover new approaches to strengthen social impacts. Understanding this, the CFM Standard requires that you assess and reduce your upstream and downstream emissions. |