A brand bought carbon offsets for our factory: does that count in the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM)?

Only if the offsets were bought and retired for that year. If a brand retired them, the guide says they must be registered and retired under your facility's name and location, as on your Worldly account. The Higg FEM asks for the registry, the tonnes retired and the purchase papers, and the question is not scored in 2026.

What the question asks

• A carbon offset is a tonne-sized claim that someone avoided or removed emissions elsewhere. Retiring it is like cancelling a ticket after use, so the same one cannot be sold twice.
• Answer Yes only if offsets were purchased and retired for the reporting year. If you bought but did not retire, answer No.
• If a brand or manufacturing group bought and retired them for you, they must have been registered and retired under your facility's name and location, as on your Worldly account.
• The sub questions ask which registry, how many tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) were retired in the year, and for your purchase invoices or other papers.
• The guide marks this question as not scored in the 2026 reporting year, and says scoring may be applied later.

What the verifier looks for

• Proof of purchase and the registry record showing retirement for your facility name and address.
• Your emission records showing the offsets were accounted for properly. Cascale's own wording is that records should show the facility's emissions and demonstrate that offsets were appropriately accounted for.
• A staff member who can explain how the offsets were bought, retired and counted.

If the brand retired them under its own name

Our reading of the guide's wording is that this is not retired for your facility, so the answer is No. Ask the brand whether it can have them re-registered under your legal name and address, or whether it will give you the retirement record naming your facility.

Three situations, the guide's rule applied

• Factory bought 50 tonnes and retired 50 in the year: answer Yes, enter 50 tonnes of CO2e
• Factory bought 50 tonnes, retired none: answer No
• Brand retired 50 tonnes under the brand's own name: answer No for the factory (our reading)

Tonnes are an example. The rule is the guide's.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so your monthly fuel and electricity records are ready to feed the emissions accounting the guide asks for. Senseible is not a registry and not a credit verifier, and the self-serve product does not enter anything into the Higg FEM.

• Can a GHG report subtract carbon offsets
• Higg FEM energy and GHG data
• Buyer carbon questionnaires: what your bills answer

Sources: Cascale, Higg FEM How to Higg Guide 2026 (English)

Last reviewed 2026-11-07. From the 2026 guide (energy question 4). The question is unscored in the 2026 reporting year. Check the current guide each cycle.