Just like vetting any other software tool, there are plenty of options to choose from when it comes to emissions management software (EMS). Each of them carries different features and tools that’ll cater to the various needs of a company’s emissions initiatives.
How do you choose which emissions management tool is right for you? How do you make sure the product comes with the built-in features that’ll help you communicate your sustainability efforts, manage greenhouse gas emissions, and add clarity to your data?
To help with the process, this guide was written to shine a light on all things EMS. What features to look for, what the software actually is, and what your best choices are from our handpicked list.
Let’s dive in.
What is Emissions Management Software?
Emissions management software can be described in a few words: Measure, manage, report, and reduce.
The best emissions management software is built to help enterprise businesses effectively measure and record their emissions data. Whether it’s to be used to inform key company stakeholders or used to create future sustainability initiatives.
An effective EMS also helps businesses manage, report, and find unique insights to reduce their emissions. Modeling, benchmarking, and compliance are usually key parts of EMS because it enables companies to comply with regional emissions disclosure compliance laws, model trajectory toward emissions targets, and benchmark against sector and geographic peers..
Without the implementation of emissions management software, strategic planning through analyzing historical and current data is significantly more difficult. With a solid EMS, large companies can harness its features to refine their operations and decrease their operational carbon footprint.
Companies that incorporate emissions management software into their operations can benefit from:
- Lower costs of managing emissions
- Easier compliance with carbon emission reporting mandates
- Improved company reputation
- Better stakeholder relationships
What Features to Look for in Emissions Management Software?
The key features to prioritize in an EMS will vary depending on the specific needs of a business and the industry it operates in. For example, more basic needs like emissions monitoring and data analysis can be achieved with an accessible EMS.
However, if you’re a company in search of an EMS that prioritizes supply chain emissions management and monitoring, consider searching for more robust software solutions that bring the functionality capable of managing increasingly complex methodologies. Here are a few additional EMS features worth considering:
Personalized support: Some of the best emissions management software comes with the added feature of personalized and often real-time support according to the needs of a business. Often, software features alone are hardly enough for organisations to implement their emissions strategies effectively.
Industry expertise: Relevant industry experience matters. Effective emissions management solutions often depend on the founders' industry experience and relevant know-how. Consider gaining insight into the history of an EMS, its team, and how it came to market.
Regulatory reporting and analytics: Detailed analytics, emissions data, and reporting in line with climate disclosure mandates are fundamental for any emissions software worth implementing.
Relevant industry partnerships: Partnerships are a strong indicator of industry knowledge and the ability to cater to current and future climate change and emissions needs. The better a software’s partnerships, the more equipped it is to deal with various emissions needs.
9 Emissions Management Software Tools To Consider In 2024
1. Persefoni
Persefoni offers a streamlined and secure carbon accounting solution that supports businesses globally to manage and measure their carbon footprint across operations, suppliers, and portfolios. The cloud-based application integrates trustworthy standards from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) and the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), simplifying the collection of business activity data and accurate emissions calculations for both operational and financed emissions. With features such as the Carbon Activity Ledger, Net Zero Navigator, embedded AI models for error detection, and an Integration Hub for automation, Persefoni ensures a reliable and efficient carbon reporting process, allowing businesses to manage emissions data with the same rigour as financial data.
Persefoni boasts strategic relationships with industry leaders such as:
- Deloitte
- Bain & Company
- Workiva
- AWS
- ERM
This makes Persefoni one of the most comprehensive emissions solutions organisations can onboard for a clearer outlook on their emissions control efforts.
2. Emex
Emex is built around all things emissions management while also ensuring customer safety. As an emissions management solution, it’s designed to equip teams with the tools necessary to measure their goals and back them up with clear, updated data.
With Emex, you can identify emerging trends, with either out-of-the-box setups or a more customized approach. Their team offers emissions expert support whenever needed.
3. Cority
Cority seeks to centralize the need to track emissions management in one place. Its suite of solutions includes:
- Air emissions management
- Waste management
- Water management
- Sustainability and ESG software
- Risk management tools
- Chemical management
Rather than only focusing on air emissions as its principal area of expertise, Cority aims to cover more ground with its suite of environmental solutions. Regarding air emissions, Cority focuses on features like compliance management, air emissions inventory, toxic release reporting, and GHG emissions reporting.
With Cority, you can be sure you’ll meet your compliance requirements and track trends in data. It comes with standard calculations templates you can use with your data. But it’s flexible enough that you can opt to create your own.
4. FigBytes
FigBytes aims to simplify climate accounting by combining climate accounting tools, benchmarking, financial data calculations, and reporting to enable businesses to reach their net zero targets faster.
For instance, its reporting dashboard comes preloaded with accessible templates and frameworks designed to streamline your emissions initiatives. Moreover, it automates specific reporting, including GRI reporting, CDP, and SASB.
It also offers useful features like automated infographics and integrates well with Microsoft Teams. FigBytes is built to help you capture and manage carbon credits while you identify cost-reduction opportunities.
5. Diligent
U.S.-based Diligent, founded in 1994, is built for board members, government organisations, and nonprofits so they can more easily collaborate on emissions management initiatives.
In essence, Diligent’s focus is on strengthening governance. It does this by unifying the tools that manage risk, compliance, auditing, and cost savings in a centralized platform.
Climate leadership certification, sustainability, and ESG reporting, and compliance management tools are also included. However, enterprise companies beyond the scope of nonprofits and government initiatives may be better off considering other options with more complex features that meet their needs.
6. Greenly
Greenly focuses on carbon tracking solutions for small to medium businesses. It offers plenty of automation and a long list of integrations with third-party solutions for better data analysis.
All in all, Greenly is built for smaller organisations as it may not deliver on more complex emission tasks that need to be executed at scale. Moreover, it caters to a primarily European audience, which may be a deciding factor depending on where your business operates around the globe. However, it’s robust enough to calculate emissions across scopes 1, 2, and 3 and offers climate expert support when requested.
Greenly also offers emissions reduction certifications as you hit milestones. Companies looking to step into the carbon accounting arena as beginners can look to Greenly as a potential option.
7. Benchmark ESG
Benchmark ESG connects the relevant teams across organisations through a series of APIs and remote collaboration features to make data accessible. In practice, it compiles and showcases data to select users according to their organisational rank. Its drag-and-drop features make it easy to use and makes the creation of reports and workflows a breeze.
Teams and organisations looking to improve the transparency and accuracy of their reports can consider a tool like Benchmark ESG as a possible solution. It enables teams to manage operational risk and compliance guidelines while equipping them with the ability to unearth improvement opportunities.
As a solution that’s been around for over two decades, its robust set of features is worth considering.
8. WatchWire
As a cloud-based energy management solution, WatchWire is designed for easy report creation features native to Excel. Along with its unit conversion and multiple currency tracking tools, it enables businesses to easily compare the management of buildings and regions across their portfolios.
Along with data management features, its forecasting algorithms, supply market projection capabilities, and delivery tariff rates ensure companies stay on top of their emissions impact and how those metrics affect them financially. This way, the decision-making can be based on actionable insights.
9. Metrio
Metrio’s focus is on centralizing data. You can expect the usual suite of features that sustainability tools offer. This includes data tracking, analytics, and stakeholder engagement tools.
Its multi-format reports with built-in data frameworks are customizable and easy to use. It aims to shorten the data collection process with manual and automated features. It centralizes records in one place and documents any data record entries as they’re made.
With Metrio, administrators can closely monitor data and can count on both IT support and emissions expert support. Metrio has a history of working with Fortune 500 companies and SMEs across multiple industries.
Do more with better emissions management software
Current and future organisations will need to contend with emissions control and its environmental impact on factors like climate and air quality. With the growing regulations and the constant evolution in this space, it’s paramount that both growing businesses and large enterprises get a handle on their emissions data so they stay in the driver’s seat.
To remedy an ever-changing landscape, end-to-end carbon emissions management solutions are now integral to a data-driven solution for growth-oriented organisations.
Persefoni, the number one climate disclosure and carbon management solution, can help.
Learn more about Persefoni here.
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