Carbon reporting asks small suppliers for a sentence, not a spreadsheet

18 September 2026 A £40,000 freelance contract and a one-person business sit below every threshold that requires a calculated carbon footprint. I’ve spent a couple of years assuming tenders or clients would eventually make individual freelancers and “micro” sized companies count their carbon. It felt inevitable - reporting requirements are ratcheting up everywhere else, so why not here too? I even wondered if measuring freelancer emissions might be a business opportunity. Free online calculators are clunky. I’ve calculated my own scope 1-3 emissions by hand two years running, so I know the job is doable for a freelancer business that amounts to a desk, video calls, one heated room and a bit of saas and AI. The question was what the alternatives cost. Most providers won’t quote publicly. Two band by headcount: Green Business charges £599+VAT for a services-only business with 0-9 employees, and The Carbon Stamp quotes £1,495+VAT for 11-25 people. Self-serve software starts lower - £132…

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