Sustainability tools to use in 2026
Software, actionable reports, frameworks and other products designed to make your working life more impactful. Read More
Welcome to the Trellis roundup of new products and services for sustainability professionals, as chosen by our editorial team. Check out the new arrivals directly below, or click to jump to a specific category. We’ll be adding new sections as the list grows.
Do you have a favorite new tool you think should be on the list? Or have feedback — good or bad — about something we’ve featured? Email editor@trellis.net with details.
New arrivals
Monitor the ESG regulations that matter to your company (Added Feb. 25, 2026)
The fast-evolving landscape of ESG regulations presents what can feel like a nightmarish challenge, in which resource-strapped sustainability teams are asked to track developments in territories they may know little about. Thankfully, the market for solutions is also growing. One new example: Datamaran, a provider of risk and governance tools, now offers alerts on new policy developments — from proposals through to rule implementation.
Predict the emissions impact of new climate tech (Feb. 13, 2026)
Impact investors at the Prime Coalition have been using a tool known as CRANE — Carbon Reduction Assessment for New Enterprises — since 2020 to estimate the emissions savings associated with new climate tech. Now it’s available for others on Koi, a climate impact modeling platform. It’s free, but you’ll need to create an account on Koi.
Have an AI assistant complete sustainability surveys for you (Feb. 12, 2026)
Completing surveys from customers, investors and other groups can be a major timesink for sustainability teams. Ditchcarbon, a UK startup, has an AI system that will do the busywork for you. To get started, claim your profile on the Ditchcarbon site and upload documents containing the relevant data, such as annual sustainability reports.
The buildings industry gets its own carbon credits marketplace (Feb. 3, 2026)
For companies working in buildings and construction, there’s now a dedicated marketplace: BEXchange, where buyers can “procure verified, segment-relevant credits, fund innovative technologies and manage portfolios.” The platform is built on Emsurge Open Markets, an over-the-counter marketplace for environmental products and low-carbon fuels.
Supply-chain interventions make low-carbon apparel more affordable (Jan. 29, 2026)
Low-carbon materials often fail to reach mainstream apparel collections because incumbent options cost less. Fashion for Good, a nonprofit, aims to shrink the price gap with its Price Parity Toolkit. The strategy: Reduce overall production costs by having brands eat the premium early in the supply chain.
Model the effect of the GHG Protocol’s hourly reporting proposal for clean energy (Jan. 27, 2026)
Plans to revise the leading methodology used to count emissions savings from renewable energy contracts have split energy buyers, with some objecting to the proposal to match power consumption on an hourly and regional basis. But wherever you stand, it’s prudent to prepare. Constellation Energy’s free calculator helps companies measure the potential impact of the revisions and model responses.
1. Emissions reductions
We missed the deforestation deadline. Now let’s get back on track (Added Dec. 2025)
Demand for beef and other commodities derailed plans to end deforestation by 2025. Now, new guidance from the Accountability Framework initiative, a coalition of WWF, Rainforest Alliance, Ceres and other environmental organizations, is available for companies working to eliminate deforestation from supply chains. The Science Based Target initiative’s deforestation guidance, which is being revised, is designed to align with the framework.
Six steps to cut carbon and support climate action (Oct. 2025)
Most emissions-reduction frameworks focus on large companies. Not so the Climate Contribution Hub, a free-to-use site from the German nonprofit NewClimate Institute that provides a six-step process businesses and civil society organizations can use to cut carbon footprints and take responsibility for ongoing emissions. Successful companies will not, however, receive a certification (maybe not what your marketing team wants to hear).
2. Reporting and target-setting
CDP score could be better? This tool has tips on what to do. (Added Jan. 20, 2026)
The 2025 CDP scores are out — and some might wish they weren’t. The share of S&P500 companies achieving one of the top four scores fell again, according to data maintained by Net 0 Tracker. It’s now at 38 percent, down from 53 percent in 2021. The free CDP gap assessment from sustainability software company beSirius might help companies that slipped. It claims to show how responses map to scoring tiers, where points were missed and tips on how to improve next year.
Earned an EcoVadis badge? You can now display it on Amazon Business (Jan. 7, 2026)
Companies with Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum or Committed ratings from EcoVadis can showcase their achievement on Amazon Business stores in the EU and U.K. The impact could be significant if the dynamics seen on Amazon’s core consumer marketplace apply: Sellers operating there saw a 12-14 percent jump in sales after earning the company’s Climate Pledge Friendly badge.
Google’s open-source playbook on how to use AI in sustainability reporting (Dec. 15, 2025)
Sustainability leaders at Google have condensed two years of trial-and-error research on AI and sustainability reporting into a playbook with answers to questions such as “I know AI can help, but where do I even begin?”, “Which parts of the reporting heavy lifting are actually doable with AI?” and “Where can I find the copy-paste prompts to get this done?”
Sharper data on emissions from consumer use of products (Dec. 9, 2025)
Scope 3 emissions are often the toughest to measure — and within that scope, emissions from product use can be particularly challenging. Retailers’ end-use estimates should get a little sharper thanks to an upgrade to the Direct-Use Product Emissions Database, a project of carbon management firm Optera and the Retail Industry Leaders Association. The resource contains data on emissions generated by consumer use of appliances, electronics and other products.
Now the robots can read your sustainability report (Nov. 2025)
Actually, many companies will have to let robots read their reports: The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive will soon require metadata tags that allow machines to extract data from disclosures. Brisk AI is a new tool that simplifies the tagging process.
Run a double materiality assessment in minutes at no cost (Nov. 2025)
Should we file this one under too-good-to-be-true? Upright, a Finnish tech company, is offering double materiality assessments, free and delivered within minutes after providing no more than a company URL.
A more holistic methodology for measuring net-zero efforts (Nov. 2025)
Traditional carbon accounting tools focus on efforts to reduce emissions. But what about a company’s influence on climate policy, or its financing for emerging net-zero technologies? The Climate Contribution Framework from software firm Sweep and the Mirova Research Center considers all three metrics. The methodology was developed by BearingPoint and Winrock International; corporate supporters include EDF, Renault Group and Veolia.
Find a target-setting expert — or become one yourself (Oct. 2025)
The Science Based Targets initiative has launched a directory of professionals that possess “advanced expertise in science-based target setting.” The list, currently 63 strong, includes employees at Quantis, Arup and elsewhere who have completed the initiatives’ SBTi Academy, earning them the right to register as SBTi Certified Experts.
3. Carbon markets
How not to miss the next issuance of removal credits (Added Oct. 2025)
Companies seeking offtakes of high-quality carbon removal credits sometimes issue requests for proposals — a good way to discover what’s out there, but not the most efficient of processes. The Nasdaq Carbon Issuance Calendar, a collaboration with consultancy Carbon Direct, aims to more easily connect buyers and sellers by listing projects with offtake availability. Registration is open; listings are due to go live early next year.
Easy access to credits from the world’s largest biochar producer (Oct. 2025)
Biochar carbon credits are reasonably priced by the standards of “durable” carbon removal, a label earned by projects that lock carbon away for hundreds or thousands of years. Supercritical, a carbon credits marketplace, is trying to smooth the sometimes-cumbersome purchase process and allow smaller buyers to access credits from Exomad, the world’s largest biochar project developer. “You don’t need a 100,000-tonne budget to access 100,000-tonne pricing,” says Supercritical.
4. Circular Economy
The missing manual for circular business practices (Added Nov. 2025)
The Global Circularity Protocol wants to be the Greenhouse Gas Protocol for the circular economy — a single interoperable framework for all sectors to align with. The 236-page playbook walks businesses through the steps needed to embed circularity in operations and supply chains.
What did we miss? And are these products as useful as advertised? Share your thoughts via editor@trellis.net.
