About the Humanitarian Carbon Calculator
The Humanitarian Carbon Calculator (HCC) is a free‑to‑use tool designed to help measure and manage carbon emissions in the humanitarian sector. It was developed under the leadership of the International Committee of the Red Cross and with input from over 100 humanitarian organisations and experts. These consultations helped define a methodology for estimating an organisation’s greenhouse gas emissions that would both be specific to the humanitarian sector and follow an international standard (the GHG Protocol).
The HCC supports the 500+ signatories of the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations, helping them implement their commitment to reduce the impacts of the climate and environment crisis and to rapidly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. By enabling organisations to measure emissions in a consistent and practical way, the HCC helps turn commitments into concrete action.
As of December 2025, technical maintenance and support of the HCC was handed over to the Climate Action Accelerator, with the support of the Crisis and Support Centre of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (CDCS). This transition ensures the tool’s long-term continuity, broader reach, enhanced community support, and the development of new functionalities, allowing the humanitarian sector to continue advancing its decarbonisation efforts.
Key features
-
Works across complex humanitarian operations
Helps organisations understand emissions from multiple offices, projects, or programmes, even in large and decentralised structures.
-
Built for humanitarian realities
Uses an emissions dataset specifically curated for humanitarian activities, reflecting how the sector actually operates.
-
Handles large amounts of information with ease
Accommodates both simple and complex datasets, with built‑in checks to improve confidence in the results.
-
Makes results easier to understand and use
Shows emission calculations clearly by activity and organisational unit, supporting better planning and prioritisation.
-
Turns data into insights
Enables results to be grouped, explored in more depth, and visualised through tools such as Power BI or Tableau.
Get the free tool and user manual in your inbox
To work around third-party data licensing caps on the Full Version, we’ve created an unrestricted Standard version so that any organization, practitioner or researcher can immediately download and pilot the calculator.
Choosing your version of the Humanitarian Carbon Calculator (HCC):
- Standard version (public demo & testing): fully functional, open access version of the calculator. This version does not include emission factors of certain specific products due to licencing restrictions. Use this version if you would like to get familiar with the tool and test it.
- Full version (with humanitarian-specific product emission factors): this version includes all emission factors, including those retrieved from life cycle assessments and covered under the ecoinvent licence. Use this version if you are ready to start your carbon footprint with the calculator.
Request the Standard Version here Request the Full Version here
If you are not sure which version is right for your organisation, you can always contact us at analyticscontact@climateactionaccelerator.org to get our advice.
Feedback
Organisations are encouraged to contribute to the refinement of the calculator and its supporting materials, ensuring that it remains a relevant and effective instrument for the humanitarian sector to address environmental impacts.
To share your insights and suggestions, please fill in the following feedback form.
Join the HCC community
-
Join the HCC community
A space to ask technical or practical questions, exchange experiences, and learn from peers. In many cases, another organisation in the humanitarian sector has already navigated similar challenges and can share valuable lessons. If you would like to join our dedicated Teams channel for peer support using the Calculator, please send a message to analyticscontact@climateactionaccelerator.org
Individual Support Sessions
-
Individual Support Sessions
Targeted support when you need it most. When group support isn’t enough, you can book 1:1 technical assistance.
How to Book: Access our booking calendar to schedule a focused session with a technical expert here.
Get in touch
If you’d like to discover more and learn about the tools, resources, challenges and lessons learned that inspired the development of the Humanitarian Carbon Calculator, please contact analyticscontact@climateactionaccelerator.org
Webinars and technical sessions
-
Foundational webinars
-
Practical onboarding
-
Technical sessions
Overcoming data collection challenges: Getting started with limited data, navigating data gaps, sector insights and peer experience sharing
July 2026
Watch the replay here
What’s new in the Calculator’s emission factor database: key changes and guidance
September 2026
Register here
GHG footprint baseline recalculations: core triggers and step-by-step guidance
October 2026
Register here
Resources
Using the carbon accounting tool
New to carbon accounting? Watch this video on the Why and How of Carbon Accounting:
Read the HCC Methodological guide to help you get started using the calculator.
As a complementary broader step-by-step process we recommend taking a look to the Toolkit Carbon Footprinting. It supports defining the scope of what will be computed, collecting the necessary data, and finally producing a carbon footprint report.
Need more help? Here are some videos on particularly complex aspects of carbon accounting
Please note that these videos are based on the first version of the Humanitarian Carbon Calculator (HCC), so the interface may differ slightly from the current HCC+ tool. However, this will not affect the overall learning or content provided in the videos.
- Carbon accounting principles
- Emissions factors
- Humanitarian supplies
- Freight transport
- Cash transfers
Solutions to reduce emissions
Are you looking for an initial list of ‘quick and easy wins’ to start decarbonising your organisation? Get inspired from these 10 ready-to-use actions.
For a comprehensive overview of solutions, you might scan them either via this spreadsheet format or on our website.
What users say
-
I would recommend the HCC+ to other humanitarian peers. It is so helpful to have a tool that is ready to use & that is aligned with humanitarian operations.
Before discovering the HCC, we were finding it hard to find a tool that was easy to understand and use and wouldn’t cost lots of money to create from scratch. We used it last year to calculate our baseline and will use it again to track our progress.
It is also very helpful having a community to share ideas with, and that the tool is continually evolving & improving.
Rebecca Shakeshaft, Senior Global Logistics Advisor at Medair
-
We have used the HCC for our annual carbon footprint calculations at Norwegian Red Cross. I find the tool intuitive and easy to use. Having prior experience with carbon accounting made it easier to get started and make effective use of the tool.
The biggest benefit has been access to a consolidated database of relevant emission factors and a structured way of presenting results. This makes it easier to identify the largest emission sources and prioritise areas for mitigation.
I would recommend HCC to humanitarian peers – and already have.
Helene Jortveit Lauvland, Senior Advisor on Climate and Environment at the Norwegian Red Cross
Donor
With the participation of the Crisis and Support Centre of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs