Climate Active Closing: What it means for your business

This article was contributed by Green Moves.

Climate Active is closing. Here’s what matters now

If you’ve seen the news that the Climate Active program is closing, you might be wondering what it means for your business, especially if you’re already certified or partway through the process.

In short, the certification is ending on 30 June 2027, while the climate action behind it continues.

What’s happening with Climate Active

The Australian Government has confirmed that Climate Active’s carbon neutral certification will close on 30 June 2027. Until then, the program keeps running as normal. Businesses can stay certified, keep reporting, and continue using the Climate Active trade mark, provided their Licence Agreement is still active.

There’s no need to do anything urgently. Certified businesses can choose to stay in the program right through to the closure date, or withdraw earlier with written notice if that suits them better. Either way, final reporting will still be required to support the integrity of any carbon neutral claims already made.

What this means if you’re already Climate Active certified

If you’ve invested time and resources into Climate Active certification, it’s fair to feel a bit uncertain or even disappointed by the announcement.

Here’s the reassuring part: none of that work is wasted. Your emissions inventory, your reduction plan, your data collection processes — all of it stays valuable, program or no program. The certification pathway is changing, though the underlying discipline of measuring, reducing and reporting your emissions remains the same.

It’s a good moment to ask what the right next step looks like for your business specifically, because the answer isn’t the same for everyone. It’ll depend on your industry, your customers, and what your supply chain or investors expect from you.

The bigger picture: climate reporting expectations were already shifting

Climate Active closing isn’t happening in isolation. Customers, investors and supply chain partners have been asking for more than a certification badge for a while now. They want real data, genuine reductions, and clear evidence of progress.

Mandatory climate reporting is also expanding in Australia. While it currently applies to larger organisations, smaller businesses are increasingly being asked for emissions information through their supply chains too. If your business is approaching that threshold, our Mandatory Climate Reporting page walks through what’s involved.

So if anything, this reinforces the direction the sustainability landscape was already heading, toward transparency and substance in climate reporting.

What you can do next

Keep using a recognised emissions framework

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol remains the most widely used framework for measuring and reporting emissions, and it’s what we use at Green Moves for carbon inventories outside of Climate Active. Depending on your goals, you might also consider the Science Based Targets Initiative to set reduction targets aligned with climate science and the goals of the Paris Agreement, or standards like ISO 14001 and ISO 14064 if your business needs a more formal environmental management or verification framework.

Independent assurance of your emissions data and climate claims, or an industry-specific reporting framework, may also be worth considering, particularly if you work with larger customers or international supply chains. For businesses navigating multiple reporting expectations at once, our Materiality Assessments service is often a useful starting point.

Keep reducing emissions

This should remain the main goal of your sustainability strategy, regardless of certification status. For most businesses, that means:

• Continuing to measure and monitor carbon emissions
• Improving energy efficiency and switching to renewable electricity
• Electrifying vehicles and equipment where practical
• Reducing waste and reviewing procurement practices
• Working with suppliers on Scope 3 emissions

Offsets still have a place for emissions you genuinely can’t avoid yet, as one part of a broader reduction strategy alongside practical action.

Keep your data current

A good emissions inventory tells you where your emissions are actually coming from, and where the real opportunities for improvement sit. It also makes it much easier to respond when a customer, investor or procurement team asks for your numbers, which is happening increasingly often.

Consider independent verification of your emissions

Certification is ending, but third-party review of your emissions data remains valuable and carries real weight. Independent assurance builds confidence that your inventory’s been prepared properly, helps identify gaps in your data, and strengthens your internal processes. It’s particularly useful if you’re making public climate claims or reporting into a supply chain.

How Green Moves can help

Since 2009, Green Moves has helped businesses and government organisations across Melbourne cut their energy use, emissions and costs through practical, independent advice. This transition is exactly the kind of thing we can help you think through. Have a look at our Sustainable Business services for the full picture of how we work with organisations like yours.

Whether you’re already Climate Active certified, are partway through the process, or are simply reassessing your sustainability approach, we can help you:

• Review your current Climate Active position and what it means for you
• Prepare or update a greenhouse gas inventory
• Identify practical, business-specific emissions reduction opportunities
• Develop an emissions reduction plan
• Set suitable, credible targets
• Improve your climate-related reporting
• Review the role of offsets in your approach
• Work out whether independent verification makes sense for your business

Get in touch with the Green Moves team to talk through a practical, credible way forward.