3Rs Net Zero Certification Standard

3Rs Certification is a structured standard that recognises how your business is addressing its climate impact across three areas: reducing emissions, funding climate solutions, and reporting progress.

It assesses your approach against defined criteria and places you within a clear progression pathway, so your certification reflects your current level of maturity and ambition.

3Rs Certification is built around a progression model rather than a single threshold.

Instead of a one-off pass or fail, it shows:

• where you are today

• what you’ve achieved

• what’s required to progress

It combines emissions reduction, climate funding and reporting into a single framework, aligned to recognised standards but designed for practical implementation.

Yes. The certification is designed to align with science-based approaches, including the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

It supports:

• emissions measurement in line with GHG Protocol

• science-aligned target setting

• progression towards net zero

It can also help prepare your organisation for SBTi validation, without requiring you to start there.

There are four certification levels, reflecting increasing ambition and maturity:

• Committed – establish your baseline and begin taking action

• Advanced – expand coverage and strengthen targets and investment

• Leader – demonstrate measurable reductions and structured climate investment

• Net zero – achieve long-term targets and address residual emissions

Each level is time-bound and aligned with net zero pathways.

To achieve certification, your organisation must meet defined criteria across all three pillars:

• Reduce – measure emissions, set targets and demonstrate progress

• Restore – fund climate solutions in proportion to your emissions

• Report – publish and communicate your climate data and actions

The exact requirements depend on the certification level and increase as you progress.

Certification is based on structured assessment against defined criteria, including requirements such as third-party validation or assurance of emissions data at different stages.

This ensures that certification reflects measurable action and transparent reporting, rather than self-declared claims.

Certification is time-bound and reflects your current position.

You are expected to:

• maintain your performance

• continue improving

• progress to the next level over time

This ensures your certification remains relevant and up to date.

Yes. The certification is designed to be practical and accessible, particularly for mid-market businesses and growing organisations.

It provides a structured pathway that allows you to start where you are and build over time, rather than requiring full maturity from the outset.

Certification provides a clear, externally understandable signal of your climate approach.

It can support:

• procurement requirements and RFP responses

• stakeholder reporting and disclosures

• investor and board communication

By structuring your climate strategy and demonstrating progress, it makes your position easier to understand and evaluate.

Certified businesses receive:

• a certification level aligned to their progress

• a certification badge and communication assets

• inclusion in Ecologi’s certification listings

• a clear pathway to progress to the next level

This helps you communicate your climate action consistently across your website, reporting and commercial materials.

Timelines vary depending on your current level of maturity and data readiness.

For businesses with existing emissions data and climate activity in place, the process can be relatively quick. For others, certification may form part of a broader programme to establish measurement, targets and reporting.

Carbon neutral typically means a business has offset its current emissions, often through carbon credits, without necessarily reducing them. Net zero requires deep, science-aligned emissions reductions across the full value chain, with only residual emissions addressed through high-quality carbon removal.

3Rs Certification is a net zero standard, not a carbon neutral one. The Progressive Pathway requires businesses to measure, reduce and report emissions in line with science-based targets, with climate funding playing a supporting rather than substituting role. This distinction matters increasingly to regulators, investors and procurement teams who are scrutinising environmental claims more closely.

ISO 14064 is an international standard for greenhouse gas accounting and verification. It provides a framework for measuring and reporting emissions but does not include reduction targets, climate funding requirements or a progression pathway to net zero.

3Rs Certification builds on the same rigorous measurement principles as ISO 14064 and adds the full strategic layer: science-aligned targets, structured climate investment and transparent reporting. For businesses that want to go beyond accounting and demonstrate active progress toward net zero, 3Rs provides the complete framework.

B Corp certification assesses overall business impact across governance, workers, community, environment and customers. It is broad by design and well recognised, but it is not a net zero or carbon certification. Environmental performance is one component of a wider scorecard.

3Rs Certification focuses specifically on climate action: measuring your carbon footprint, reducing emissions, funding climate solutions and reporting progress. The two are complementary. Many B Corps pursue 3Rs Certification to strengthen and evidence the environmental pillar of their B Corp assessment with a dedicated, independently verified climate standard.

SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative) is the gold standard for corporate emissions reduction targets, but full validation is a significant undertaking. It requires substantial internal resource, a detailed submission process, and typically suits larger organisations with dedicated sustainability teams.

3Rs Certification is designed to be SBTi-compatible without requiring you to start there. It follows the same science-aligned methodology for emissions measurement and target setting, so businesses that achieve 3Rs certification are automatically prepared for SBTi validation if and when they need it. For mid-market businesses that want credible, structured climate action now, 3Rs is the practical starting point.