Managing a climate change agreement (CCA)
How to report your data, deal with changes to your account or organisation, and what happens if you miss or exceed targets or report late.
Those organisations holding or wishing to have an agreement, must ensure their sector association applies for an agreement on their behalf within the digital service. The digital service is also used to manage CCA accounts and report on performance at the end of each target period.
For more detailed guidance on how to apply and manage a CCA see the operations manual. The Environment Agency will update the manual for the start of the new CCA scheme on 1 January 2026.
Manage your Climate Change Agreements service
The management of CCAs is completed within the Manage your Climate Change Agreements digital service.
Sector associations and regulators use the digital service to:
- apply for new agreements
- vary (change) existing agreements
- submit reports of performance against targets
Access the Manage your Climate Change Agreements digital service:
Change an agreement
Agreement holders can change their details within the digital service by asking their sector association to make the change on their behalf.
Under the terms of a CCA, any changes must be notified to the regulator within 20 working days of the change taking place.
A CCA will need to be changed in the following situations:
- an operator takes over a facility from another operator, or buys target units from another operator
- the operator or facility name has changed, or the operator address has changed
- there has been a structural change or a change to the extent of the eligible facility
- errors have been discovered in the base year data used to set the target
Once the changes have been submitted within the digital service, the regulator will review these changes and issue a new agreement.
Target periods
The CCA scheme is split into target periods. At the end of each target period, a report is required to be submitted showing the performance against the targets stated within the agreement.
Table 1 shows the duration of each target period together with the deadline for the submission of the target period reports.
Table 1
| Target period | Target period starts | Target period ends | Deadline for submitting data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 January 2013 | 31 December 2014 | 1 May 2015 |
| 2 | 1 January 2015 | 31 December 2016 | 1 May 2017 |
| 3 | 1 January 2017 | 31 December 2018 | 1 May 2019 |
| 4 | 1 January 2019 | 31 December 2020 | 1 May 2021 |
| 5 | 1 January 2021 | 31 December 2022 | 1 May 2023 |
| 6 | 1 January 2024 | 31 December 2024 | 1 May 2025 |
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will implement a new CCA scheme following target period 6. This will start on 1 January 2026 and end on 31 December 2030.
Table 2 shows the duration of each new target period, together with the deadline the for the submission of the target period report.
Table 2
| Target period | Target period starts | Target period ends | Deadline for submitting data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 January 2026 | 31 December 2026 | 1 May 2027 |
| 2 | 1 January 2027 | 31 December 2028 | 1 May 2029 |
| 3 | 1 January 2029 | 31 December 2030 | 1 May 2031 |
Eligibility
Those organisations wishing to hold an agreement, must ensure they are eligible to hold an agreement before contacting their sectors. As part of the application process for a new agreement for target period 1, those wishing to hold an agreement, will need to confirm they understand and meet the eligibility requirements.
A full list of eligible processes can be found in appendix A of the operations manual.
If during an eligibility audit or other review process, an agreement holder is not eligible, then the agreement will be terminated. The agreement holder may be liable to repay any Climate Change Levy (CCL) that has been incorrectly claimed.
Reporting requirements
At the end of each target period, agreement holders are required to report their performance. The reporting requirements will depend if an agreement is based on either:
- energy usage
- carbon emissions
From target period 6 onwards, agreement holders must submit an annual performance accounting report. This annual report will provide information to the regulator on energy and carbon savings actions taken and the measures agreement holders have completed in the previous year.
The operations manual will provide additional information on how energy use, carbon emissions and performance against targets should be calculated. The manual will also provide information on how the performance accounting report should be completed.
Agreement holders need to send both reports to their sector association, who will enter the data onto the digital service and submit the reports on their behalf.
Targets
If an agreement holder does not achieve its target at the end of the target period, they may pay a buy-out fee on the difference between their performance and target. The paying of this fee allows agreement holders to continue to receive the CCL discount in the next certification period.
If an agreement holder needs to pay a buy-out fee, the regulator will issue a notice detailing the amount to be paid and the details of payment.
If a buy-out fee is not paid by the deadline, a decertification notice will be issued. This will result in the agreement holder not being eligible to claim CCL discount.
Financial penalties
The regulator may issue financial penalties to an agreement holder if they fail to comply with their agreement.
The process used when considering financial penalties is explained in annex 2, section F of the Environment Agency’s enforcement and sanctions policy (ESP).
If an agreement holder does not pay a penalty by the deadline or fails to make expected progress to remedy the matter that led to the penalty, the regulator may terminate the agreement.
A summary of the CCA civil penalties imposed is published on data.gov.uk.
Audits
The regulator will conduct audits on agreement holders and will review:
- performance
- eligibility
As part of the selection process of the audits, this will either be based on a risk-based approach, or it will be a random selection ensuring a representative sample.
The type of audits that the regulator may complete are:
- full site
- desktop
Further guidance
More detailed information will be published in the operations manual for the start of the new CCA scheme on 1 January 2026.
For help, please contact your regulator by emailing cca-help@environment-agency.gov.uk.
Updates to this page
Published 9 April 2014Last updated 18 November 2024 + show all updates
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Sector associations need to submit the 2024 performance report for their members holding a CCA agreement using the new CCA digital service (Manage your Climate Change Agreements). Target period 6 ends on 31 December 2024 and agreement holders need to report their performance by 1 May 2025.
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We have updated the CCA reporting timetable and the section on buy-out fees for target periods 3, 4 and 5.
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Added under section: CCA: financial penalties 'We publish a summary of the penalties imposed on data.gov.uk'. Updated link to our revised Enforcement and Sanctions policy.
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Page updated: the buy-out fee is now £14 per tonne of CO2 (equivalent) emitted over your target. For example, exceeding your target by 1,000 tonnes of CO2 (equivalent) would mean a buy-out fee of £14,000. For target period 1 (2013 and 2014) and target period 2 (2015 and 2016) the rate was £12 per tonne of CO2 (equivalent).
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Clarity has been provided to section ‘CCA: target not met or exceeded’.
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First published.