A Guide To Your First Climate Audit

Know what is coming in your first climate audit, so nothing catches you off guard.

If your greenhouse gas assurance deadline is set, your readiness decides whether the auditor confirms your numbers or sends you back to revisit the data under pressure. 

Our guide covers what you need to know. Auditors start by examining how your figures were produced: the people, data and controls behind them. Then they turn to the figures themselves. Prepare in the same order so you build a solid foundation, and the audit confirms work you have already done.

If you're responsible for sustainability or compliance functions, download the guide to see how a climate audit works and what  you need to watch out for at each stage.

What's Inside

• The four decisions that set your audit's scope and cost.
• Limited vs reasonable assurance: how they differ, and what's entailed.
• The four stages of an engagement, and how to plan back from your publication date, so you reach the opinion you need even with a tight reporting window.
  
• The most common audit findings, and how to spot them before your auditor does.
  
• A pre-audit readiness checklist your team can work through before fieldwork.

Built on real engagements

The guide draws on the external assurance engagements Terrascope has supported, from single business unit to global, multi-continent inventories. For example, Dyno Nobel completed its first global Scope 1 and 2 limited assurance a full year ahead of its Australian deadline, covering 1.6 million tonnes of CO2e.

Written by our experts

This guide is written and reviewed by Terrascope's sustainability team, drawing on their work guiding companies through external assurance.