Vendor profile · Microsoft · described from Microsoft’s site
Microsoft carbon accounting software
Microsoft Sustainability Manager is the main application in what Microsoft’s documentation now calls Microsoft for Sustainability, the family once searched for as Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability (Microsoft Learn).
Unlike most enterprise vendors, Microsoft publishes its plan prices, and this page states them as published.
We have not tested the product and give it no rating.
Owner sources disagree
Which Dataverse capacity does the quoted licence include?
Microsoft’s UK product page and Microsoft Learn present different Dataverse capacities, so neither should silently replace the other in a quote comparison.
| Owner page read 20 October 2026 | Essentials | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| UK product page, footnote 2 | Database 10 GB/month; file 20 GB/month; log 2 GB/month. | Database 50 GB/month; file 20 GB/month; log 2 GB/month. |
| Microsoft Learn plans table | Database 3 GB; file 20 GB; log 12 GB. | Database 3 GB; file 20 GB; log 52 GB. |
| Written quote check | Ask which database, file and log entitlements govern the specific offer. | Ask the same, keeping capacity labels and units separate. |
These are two attributed owner descriptions, not capacities to add together or a finding that one plan has changed.
In its own words
What Microsoft Sustainability Manager says it does
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Product family
Module 02 / 04
Main application
Module 03 / 04
Data
Module 04 / 04
Frameworks named
| Item | As Microsoft Sustainability Manager describes it |
|---|---|
| Product family | Microsoft for Sustainability (formerly searched as Cloud for Sustainability) |
| Main application | Microsoft Sustainability Manager |
| Data | Carbon, water, waste, energy, social and governance |
| Frameworks named | CSRD, ASRS, BRSR, GRI, IFRS S1 and S2, SASB |
| Factor libraries | ADEME, EPA, EXIOBASE, IPCC, DEFRA and others; IEA in Premium |
| Price | US$4,000 or US$12,000 per tenant, per month |
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
Microsoft describes Sustainability Manager as a way to “track and reduce your environmental impact using data and AI”.
Its UK product page organises the product around three verbs: record your impact, report your progress, reduce your footprint.
Recording means data ingestion and standardisation on the Microsoft for Sustainability data model, and pre-built calculation methods you can tailor.
Reporting means dashboards, configurable reports, Copilot help with CSRD preparation, and preparatory reports for CSRD, ASRS, BRSR, GRI, IFRS S1 and S2, and SASB.
Reducing means goals, scorecards and Teams collaboration, with partner solutions for carbon, water and waste.
Around it, Microsoft’s sustainability page lists sustainability data solutions in Microsoft Fabric, Emissions Impact Dashboards for Azure and Microsoft 365, a CSRD template in Purview Compliance Manager and an Environmental Credit Service.
These are Microsoft’s statements about its own products.
Audience
Who Microsoft Sustainability Manager says it is for
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Key point 01
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Key point 02
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Key point 03
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Key point 04
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
Microsoft’s pages are written for organisations that want sustainability data on the same platform as the rest of their Microsoft estate: Dataverse, Power BI, Teams and Fabric.
The licensing model says as much: each tenant needs the Sustainability Manager tenant licence, and each user needs a user licence that carries Power Apps and Power Automate rights limited to the product.
Microsoft’s footnote adds that certain features require Azure meters and other Microsoft licences, naming Microsoft 365 and Power BI.
For a UK reader the first question is which regimes bind you, set out on carbon management software.
Searches for sustainability management software, sustainability data platforms and sustainability cloud software in general land here too; the wider field, each vendor in its own words, is on sustainability software.
Emissions
Scope 1, 2 and 3: what Microsoft Sustainability Manager claims, and what the UK rules ask
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Emissions
Module 02 / 04
Scope 3
Module 03 / 04
Method
Module 04 / 04
Method · 2
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
Microsoft’s plans article is unusually specific about emissions coverage.
Both plans include Scope 1 and Scope 2 calculations, and Scope 3 calculations for categories 1 to 9, 12 and 13 (plans and licensing).
Categories 10, 11, 14 and 15 — processing of sold products, use of sold products, franchises and investments — are calculated in Premium only.
An Essentials customer can still ingest emissions for those four categories if they were calculated elsewhere, Microsoft says, but cannot calculate them from activity data in the product.
UK SRS S2 requires every one of the fifteen categories to be considered and the included ones disclosed (¶¶B32–B33), and it requires location-based Scope 2 (¶29(a)(v)).
Category 15 matters most to financial institutions, which ¶29A allows to limit it to financed emissions; on Microsoft’s table, that calculation is a Premium feature.
The categories are numbered as in the GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard, and explained on Scope 3 emissions.
Essentials or Premium
Which plan calculates the Scope 3 categories you report
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Scope 3
Module 02 / 04
Key point 02
Module 03 / 04
Scope 3 · 2
Module 04 / 04
Method
Your Scope 3 categories · Microsoft’s published plans
- 1. Purchased goods and servicesFrom Essentials
- 4. Upstream transportation and distributionFrom Essentials
- 6. Business travelFrom Essentials
- 7. Employee commutingFrom Essentials
Plan coverage as Microsoft publishes it (Microsoft Learn, plans and licensing, read 1 October 2026) — not a test of the product.
Nothing you pick leaves your browser.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
The searches that reach this page ask what Microsoft Sustainability Manager costs, and the honest answer depends on which Scope 3 categories you calculate.
Microsoft publishes Essentials at US$4,000 per tenant, per month, and Premium at US$12,000 (UK product page).
On Microsoft’s own table, the main carbon difference between them is four Scope 3 categories: processing of sold products, use of sold products, franchises and investments.
The map beside this text takes the categories you expect to include and shows which plan Microsoft says calculates them.
It reads Microsoft’s published table only; whether a plan calculates a category well is something to test in a demonstration.
The duty to consider every category comes from UK SRS S2 ¶B32, not from any vendor, and it applies whichever plan you buy.
The UK regimes
Microsoft Sustainability Manager against SECR, UK SRS and the other regimes it is searched for
The left-hand columns are the law and the vendor’s own words.
The right-hand column is the request that turns one into evidence about the other.
Nothing here is a finding about the product.
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SECR
Module 02 / 04
DESNZ factors
Module 03 / 04
UK SRS S2
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FCA listing rules
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
| Regime | What the rule requires | What Microsoft Sustainability Manager says | Ask to see |
|---|---|---|---|
| SECR | Energy in kWh, the statutory emissions limbs, one emissions intensity ratio, methodology and comparatives (Sch 7) | SECR is not named on the Microsoft pages read; configurable reports are | A directors’ report SECR section for one UK entity, with the kWh total and last year’s figures |
| DESNZ factors | The set for the year the activity falls mostly within (2026 methodology ¶1.10) | “DEFRA” listed among factor libraries in both plans (plans and licensing) | Which year’s UK set is loaded, and how an April–March year is split |
| UK SRS S2 | Gross Scopes 1–3; location-based Scope 2; all fifteen Scope 3 categories considered (¶29(a); ¶¶B30–B33) | Names IFRS S1 and S2 among standards for preparatory reports (Sustainability Manager page) | A UK SRS S2 output reflecting the UK amendments, not an IFRS S2 one relabelled |
| FCA listing rules | Comply or explain; relief, location, assurance and transition-plan statements (PS26/19) | Not named on the pages read | The three-part explanation and the Scope 3 relief statement, produced from stored data |
| CSRD / ESRS | FY2026 version statement (DR 2026/1563 Art 2(2)) | Copilot-assisted CSRD preparation; a CSRD template in Purview Compliance Manager | Where the ESRS version applied to a 2026 report is recorded |
| Other frameworks | Voluntary frameworks and other jurisdictions’ rules (IFRS) | ASRS, BRSR, GRI and SASB named for preparatory reports | Which outputs are templates you complete and which are generated from data |
Microsoft names a long list of reporting frameworks, but none of them is SECR, the UK statute most large companies actually report under.
The government’s SECR guidance sets out what a directors’ report must contain, so ask to see that section produced.
UK SRS is available for voluntary use by any UK entity (DBT guidance), and listed companies in scope of the FCA rules report against it on a comply-or-explain basis for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
Microsoft names IFRS S1 and S2 (IFRS navigator), which UK SRS adopts with amendments set out on UK SRS vs IFRS S1 and S2.
Microsoft’s library is labelled “DEFRA”; the UK factor sets are now published by DESNZ as the government’s conversion factors for company reporting.
Audit trail
Assurance readiness: what can be checked, and by whom
Module 01 / 04
Key point 01
Module 02 / 04
Listed categories
Module 03 / 04
Assurance
Module 04 / 04
Listed categories · 2
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
Microsoft’s plans table lists “audit and traceability” as platform-only in both paid plans — available for a custom build, without capacity — and included in the trial.
Report versioning is listed in Premium only.
In the UK no company is required to obtain sustainability assurance.
Listed companies in scope of the FCA rules state whether they obtained it and, if so, the provider, the disclosures covered and the standard used.
For any tool, the test an assurer will apply is a trace from a reported figure back to its source document; ask to see one inside the product on the plan you are being quoted.
If you report to CDP, its disclosure platform is where the response goes; CDP is not named on the Microsoft pages read.
Price
Microsoft Sustainability Manager pricing: what the vendor publishes
Module 01 / 04
Price evidence
Module 02 / 04
Scope 3
Module 03 / 04
Scope 3 · 2
Module 04 / 04
Price evidence · 2
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
Microsoft publishes two prices on its UK Sustainability Manager page, read on 1 October 2026.
Essentials: US$4,000 per tenant, per month — foundational carbon, water and waste data, calculation models for Scopes 1, 2 and multiple Scope 3 categories, 10 GB Dataverse capacity on the UK product page (compare the conflicting Learn view).
Premium: US$12,000 per tenant, per month — everything in Essentials plus carbon management for all of Scope 3, value-chain and product-footprint tools, Copilot, AI Builder credits and 50 GB Dataverse capacity on the UK product page (compare the conflicting Learn view).
Microsoft notes that certain features need Azure meters and other Microsoft licences, and its licensing article says every user also needs a Sustainability Manager user licence; neither of those is priced on the page read.
Prices are Microsoft’s, in US dollars, and can change; check the live page before relying on them.
A quote should therefore cover the tenant plan, the number of user licences, any Azure, Power BI or Fabric consumption, and implementation by Microsoft or a partner.
In the demonstration
Questions to put to Microsoft Sustainability Manager, each tied to a provision
Module 01 / 04
Method
Module 02 / 04
Key point 02
Module 03 / 04
Comply or explain
Module 04 / 04
Key point 04
Questions for Microsoft Sustainability Manager · 16 requests
- Show the year’s kWh total and the lines it is built from, split by fuel.SECR · SI 2008/410 Sch 7 ¶15(3A); ¶20D(3) ↗
- Map each calculation line to the statutory limb it reports under.SECR · Sch 7 ¶15(2)–(3); ¶20D(1)–(2) ↗
- Let us set our own denominator, and show the ratio uses emissions, not energy.SECR · Sch 7 ¶17; ¶20G ↗
- Export the methodology statement, naming the factor set and approach used.SECR · Sch 7 ¶16; ¶20F ↗
- Reproduce last year’s energy and emissions beside this year’s from stored data.SECR · Sch 7 ¶18, ¶18A; ¶20H ↗
- Keep a log of measures that feeds the narrative.SECR · Sch 7 ¶15(3D); ¶20D(4) ↗
- Show the relief test running on every energy product, and the statement it produces.SECR · Sch 7 ¶15(5)(a); ¶20D(7)(a); ¶20, ¶20K ↗
- Show which factor set was applied to each activity line, and the rule for periods spanning two years.Conversion factors · DESNZ 2026 Methodology Paper ¶1.10 ↗
- Does the year-on-year view annotate the 2026 methodology change?Conversion factors · Methodology Paper ¶1.13; 2026 major changes report ↗
- Show the measurement approach and organisational boundary the engine applies.UK SRS S2 · UK SRS S2 ¶29(a)(ii) ↗
- Show that credits sit in a separate ledger and never reduce the reported total.UK SRS S2 · UK SRS S2 ¶29(a)(i) ↗
- Default Scope 2 to location-based, with market-based alongside if we choose.UK SRS S2 · UK SRS S2 ¶29(a)(v); ¶¶B30–B31 ↗
- Show a category-by-category record of what is included and why the rest is not.UK SRS S2 · UK SRS S2 ¶¶B32–B33; ¶29A ↗
- Keep a gap register that exports into that three-part statement.FCA listing rules · UKLR 6.6.6R(7A)(b), from 1 January 2027 ↗
- Record a relief statement rather than leaving a blank field.FCA listing rules · PS26/19 ¶¶3.14, 3.20; UKLR TP 16 ↗
- Produce the location and transition-plan statements with the cross-references.FCA listing rules · UKLR 6.6.6R(8)(c), (e) ↗
Your record of your own demonstration — not an assessment of any product.
Nothing you mark leaves your browser.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
Because Microsoft names IFRS S1 and S2 but not SECR or UK SRS, the UK requests are the ones to press: the SECR section, the factor year, and UK SRS S2 output with the UK amendments.
The builder beside this text lists them with their provisions; mark each as shown on your data, described only, or not yet asked.
The FCA’s comply-or-explain rules are explained on UK SRS S2 and UK SRS compliance.
Everything above describes what Microsoft Sustainability Manager publishes about itself, set beside what the rules require.
We have not trialled the product, taken a briefing or accepted any fee, and we rank no vendor above another.
Also in the directory
Other vendors described the same way
Module 01 / 03
Key point 01
Module 02 / 03
Key point 02
Module 03 / 03
Key point 03
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
These profiles are built on the same pattern: the vendor’s own words, set against the same requirements.
Listing them is not a recommendation, and they are in no order of merit.
- Salesforce Net Zero Cloud — ESG software on the Salesforce platform, which also publishes a UK price.
- IBM Envizi — ESG data management from IBM, priced by data volume.
- Workiva — a reporting platform connecting carbon and financial data.
All seventeen are described side by side, alphabetically, on carbon management software, with the requirements every tool is measured against.
Frequently asked
Questions people ask
What is Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability now called?
Microsoft’s documentation now uses the name Microsoft for Sustainability for the product family.
Its main application is Microsoft Sustainability Manager, alongside sustainability data solutions in Microsoft Fabric and the Emissions Impact Dashboards for Azure and Microsoft 365.
How much does Microsoft Sustainability Manager cost?
Microsoft publishes two plans on its UK page, read on 1 October 2026: Essentials at US$4,000 per tenant, per month, and Premium at US$12,000 per tenant, per month.
Microsoft says certain features need Azure meters and other Microsoft licences, and its licensing article says each user also needs a user licence.
What is the difference between Essentials and Premium?
Microsoft’s licensing article lists Scope 3 calculations for categories 1 to 9, 12 and 13 in both plans, and categories 10, 11, 14 and 15 in Premium only.
Premium also adds Copilot, what-if analysis, report versioning, product carbon footprints and the IEA factor library, among other features.
Does Microsoft Sustainability Manager use UK conversion factors?
Microsoft lists a DEFRA factor library in both plans.
The UK Government conversion factors are now published by DESNZ, and each year’s set is for activity data falling entirely or mostly within that year, so ask which set is loaded for your period.
Does Microsoft Sustainability Manager support CSRD and IFRS S1 and S2?
Microsoft says users can build and collaborate on preparatory reports for CSRD, ASRS, BRSR, GRI, IFRS S1 and S2, and SASB.
UK SRS is not named; it adopts IFRS S1 and S2 with UK amendments, so ask to see UK output specifically.
Does Microsoft Sustainability Manager support SECR?
SECR is not named on the pages read.
A UK directors’ report needs a kWh figure, emissions under the statutory limbs, an emissions intensity ratio, a methodology statement and comparatives, so ask to see each produced from your data.
Is Microsoft Sustainability Manager sustainability management software or carbon accounting software?
By Microsoft’s description it is both: it records carbon, water and waste data, calculates Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, reports, and tracks goals.
The UK test is whether the specific statutory outputs can be shown on your data.
Has this site tested Microsoft Sustainability Manager?
No. This page describes what Microsoft publishes and sets it beside what the rules require. It gives no rating.
Prepare the evidence
Microsoft carbon accounting software: from a requirement to a reporting pack
Use this preparation sequence alongside the detailed requirements on this page.
An editorial workflow, not a statutory schedule.
- Stage 0101
Reporting specification
Write the reporting boundaries and required outputs before evaluating a platform.
- Stage 0202
Evidence sample
Ask the vendor to demonstrate a representative import and calculation.
- Stage 0303
Method control
Inspect factor versions, estimates, permissions and change history.
- Stage 0404
Reporting export
Test the export against the required disclosures and existing reporting systems.
- Stage 0505
Review trail
Check whether a reviewer can follow a result back to its source record.
- Stage 0606
Commercial record
Record only the features, scope and prices the vendor actually commits to.
Read the applicable instrument: Microsoft Sustainability — products and solutions
A practical brief
An evidence pack, with a clear review trail
Ask for a pack that lets the next reviewer retrace the scope decision, follow the evidence and understand the limitations.
This describes a useful handover; it does not certify compliance or establish that a vendor or adviser delivers it.
Module 01 / 04
Applicability record
Write down the entity, reporting route and relevant period, including why the route applies.
Module 02 / 04
Evidence register
Attach each reported figure or statement to its source, method, version and limitations.
Module 03 / 04
Review trail
Name the preparer, reviewer, open questions and decisions taken before publication.
Module 04 / 04
Usable handover
Retain the working files and unresolved actions so the next reporting cycle can reuse the evidence.
View the preparation diagram
- Prepare01
Create the traceable pack
Keep the input records, calculation files and narrative together.
- Challenge02
Resolve questions before publication
Record the assumptions challenged and any limitations still unresolved.
- Retain03
Make the next cycle reproducible
Keep the approved version and the actions carried forward.
Continue your research
Related guides, one question at a time
Sources
Primary sources
Every figure, date and status on this page traces to the instrument’s owner.
Secondary commentary is never the source for a number.
- MicrosoftMicrosoft Sustainability — products and solutions
Microsoft’s own overview of its sustainability products. A product reference, not evidence.
- MicrosoftMicrosoft Sustainability Manager (en-GB) — features and plan prices
The Essentials and Premium plans and their published prices, read 1 October 2026.
- Microsoft LearnMicrosoft for Sustainability documentation
Microsoft’s documentation hub and the current product-family name.
- Microsoft LearnMicrosoft Sustainability Manager plans and licensing
Which Scope 3 categories and factor libraries each plan includes; tenant and user licences.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410 Schedule 7 — SECR
The statutory limbs, ratio, methodology and comparatives.
- Department for Business and TradeEnvironmental reporting guidelines, including SECR guidance
The government’s SECR guidance.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGovernment conversion factors for company reporting
The UK factor sets Microsoft’s library labels “DEFRA”.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGHG conversion factors 2026 — methodology paper, ¶1.10
Which year’s set applies to which activity data.
- Department for Business and TradeUK Sustainability Reporting Standards — guidance
UK SRS available for voluntary use.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures, ¶29(a), ¶29A, ¶¶B30–B33
Gross emissions, location-based Scope 2, the fifteen Scope 3 categories.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19 — UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis
Listed companies, accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
- IFRS FoundationIFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards navigator
IFRS S1 and S2, which Microsoft names and UK SRS adopts with amendments.
- GHG ProtocolCorporate Accounting and Reporting Standard
The measurement basis UK SRS S2 names.
- GHG ProtocolCorporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard
The fifteen Scope 3 categories and their numbering.
- EUR-LexDelegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563 — the revised ESRS
The FY2026 version statement under the CSRD.
- CDPCDP disclosure platform
Where CDP responses are filed.