The Organisational Carbon Audit Tool (OCAT) is a spreadsheet-format resource that helps small organisations or community groups calculate their carbon emissions. Use it to understand what actions will have the biggest impact. It can also provide evidence to back up applications for funding.

OCAT collects data for utilities (electricity, gas, water, heat), waste, travel, food, IT and data storage, and fuel. If data is not available in all categories, you can still use OCAT.

Using this data, the tool calculates an organisation’s carbon emissions. In line with government guidance, it splits these emissions into reporting scopes 1, 2 and 3 and those emissions out of scope.

There is also a limited function for adding carbon-saving measures. This includes renewable energy and different vehicle types, and will provide pointers to where changes you could make will reduce carbon emissions.

Try it today

Click here to download the Organisational Carbon Audit Tool.

OCAT is a 6MB spreadsheet (xlsx) and includes a step-by-step user guide. Any questions? Please email communities@cse.org.uk

If you want to find out more about your local area’s carbon footprint, use CSE’s Community Carbon Calculator here.

Limitations of OCAT

OCAT is designed for small organisations or those looking for an introductory understanding of carbon auditing and gives an estimate of an organisation’s emissions not an exact measure. Financial decisions should not be taken based on the results from OCAT. There are companies which can provide more robust estimates and certification.