Carbon accounting software provider Normative announced today the launch of Business Carbon Calculator, a new tool aimed at enabling small businesses to measure and understand their carbon emissions in order to support their emissions reduction efforts.

Normative’s new carbon calculator was developed with support from the Google.org Fellowship, an initiative that matches Google employees with non-profit organizations and civic entities to help build scalable solutions. Google provided Normative with a team of 12 software engineers, UX designers and product managers to work on the project for six months. The new carbon calculator will be available for free through the SME Climate Hub, a UN-backed initiative aimed at encouraging small and medium-sized companies to commit to halving greenhouse gas emissions before 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions before 2050.

SMEs have an outsized impact on organizations’ ability to meet global climate goals, as the source of many organizations’ scope 3 emissions, and are coming under increasing pressure to participate in decarbonization efforts. In a blog post highlighting Google’s work with Normative, Jen Carter, Google.org’s Head of Technology & Volunteering, said:

“Helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) cut down their carbon emissions is a vital step towards tackling climate change. 90% of emissions from large corporations can be traced to SMEs that play key roles in the creation of products and services.”

According to Normative, the new tool is optimized for businesses with up to 50 employees and revenue below €10 million. The calculator estimates the carbon footprint of the businesses’ direct and indirect emissions, and provides data visualizations enabling businesses to point out emissions hotspots and identify focus areas for action.

In a statement announcing the launch, Sandra Uddbäck, Head of Product at Normative, said:

“As a category, small businesses have a large carbon footprint, due in part to their prevalence in the value chains of larger companies. But with limited funding and staff, small businesses face an uphill battle to achieve carbon reduction.

“Business Carbon Calculator aims to help businesses overcome these obstacles.”