Net-Zero Ambition Assessment Tool (NZAAT)

Comparison of Net-Zero Ambition Disclosure Frameworks

Some frameworks are used by organizations to plan, assess and report on their progress towards net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, or sooner. (e.g., CDP, UN’s Race to Zero, SBTi, Canada’s Net-Zero Challenge).  Primarily, these frameworks are designed for use by large organizations. However, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) comprise over 99% of the companies on the planet. We need an SME-friendly net-zero self-assessment tool: Net-Zero Ambition Assessment Tool (NZAAT).

This free, open-source spreadsheet / table compares how the above mainstream net-zero assessment  frameworks used by large companies assesses organizational commitment to net-zero GHG targets. NZAAT is designed to cover the same questions in an SME-friendly way.

Criteria for a Net-Zero Ambition Assessment Tool  

For internal management purposes, an organization may want to know how it is doing on its migration to a business model that will position it to thrive in a decarbonized, circular economy.  The organization may also need to be ready for questions from customers, bankers,  investors, and other stakeholders about its greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, its GHG reduction efforts, its commitment to science-based, net-zero GHG targets, and its commitment to circularity.

To be fit for these multiple purposes, a net-zero ambition disclosure questionnaire must meet the following criteria:

  • Generic / Comparable … any organization, any sector, any size, anywhere
  • Comprehensive… based on typical questions asked by other questionnaires that assess a company’s commitment to net-zero targets
  • Scorable… produces a score out of 100%; used to determine points earned
  • SME-friendly… few questions; multiple-choice; few quantifications required
  • Educational… checklist of how to improve score; helpful explanations; suggests actions to take to reduce GHGs
  • Bonuses… credit for helping reduce others’ / global GHGs
  • Verifiable… clear, specific, and objective
  • Accessible … free, user friendly, open-source, tailorable

Net-zero Ambition Assessment Tool (NZAAT)

Resource extraction and production of new goods are responsible for 45% of global GHG emissions. Repairing and refurbishing products can cut global GHG emissions by 39%. Net-zero ambition and circular design ambition are symbiotic. That’s why Net-Zero Ambition Assessment Tool (NZAAT) assesses both.

NZAAT is a generic, SME-friendly self-assessment tool that meets all the above criteria. It is comprehensive and is based on questions asked by other questionnaires that assess a company’s commitment to net-zero targets (see the  Comparison – Net-Zero Questionnaires, above). It uses only multiple-choice questions to score the organization’s commitment to, and progress toward, science-based net-zero targets and to circularity.  It also suggests over three dozen actions that would reduce Scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG emissions.

The free Excel version of the tool is downloadable  here . It is an open-source tool, so feel free to tailor it to better suit your purposes, translate it into other languages, change question weightings, change scoring formulas, use it as a base for an online app, integrate elements of it into your current tools, etc.

Note: Do not try to use this Excel workbook in Google Sheets. Unfortunately, all checkboxes are stripped out by Google Sheets, so formatting and many calculations don’t work.

Feedback: The tool is being continuously improved. Your suggestions are welcome. Please send your ideas to bobwillard@sustainabilityadvantage.com. Thanks.

NZAAT slides 

The Master – Assessment Frameworks slide deck is one of the six slide decks available to Master Slide Decks subscribers. Because NZAAT was created to assess a company’s net-zero and circularity ambitions, its overview is in that deck.