Date: 7 April 2026 10:00-11:30 BST

Location: Online

Co-Chairs: Lucy Chambers (IB1); Dan Slidel (Southern Water)

Secretariat: Icebreaker One 

Meeting Aims

1. Create clarity on the framework, infrastructure and processes needed for sharing data.
2. Review use case process and confirm whether there is room for improvement.

Summary:

• It was noted that:
  • NESO is conducting similar work on templated Data Sharing Agreements, for interoperability purposes, Stream should endeavour to collaborate at some point.
  • The Working Group has developed early outputs to support data sharing, including a decision tree and an initial view of required templates and modules.
  • The work has been informed by a legal and risk‑based perspective, recognising varying sensitivity and risk across data sharing scenarios.
  • A revised use case process map was presented, intended to provide clearer expectations, support varied use case entry points, and remain adaptable as understanding matures.
• It was discussed that:
  • Widening participation in the Data Sharing Working Group is essential to diversify inputs.
  • A one‑size‑fits-all approach to data sharing agreements is not appropriate, and that a modular, templated approach may better accommodate different use cases.
  • Decision‑making tools should be usable by non‑legal stakeholders, while enabling appropriate escalation to legal, governance and compliance functions.
  • Reducing friction in data sharing requires attention beyond legal agreements, including identity management, audit and enforcement, data quality, infrastructure security, and organisational buy‑in.
  • Data ownership should sit with business leads, supported by legal oversight rather than led by legal teams alone.
  • There is a need to clarify what should be handled centrally versus individually by member organisations.
  • There’s a need for clearer decision rights and escalation, more effective prioritisation, and explicit consideration of funding, resourcing and capacity constraints within an agile use case process.
  • Members need better visibility of the pipeline and roadmap to understand what is coming, what is committed, and when.
  • The process should include a post‑delivery review to assess whether use cases delivered value and what was learned.

Next meeting: Tuesday 19 May 2026 10:00-11:30 BST

Formal records, including attendees, are maintained by the secretariat. 

These are confidential to the Advisory Group Members.

Date: 2 April 2026 10:00-11:30 BST

Location: Online

Co-Chairs: Charlotte Hillenbrand (IB1), Katy Woodward (United Utilities) and Josh Evans (Pennon Group) 

Secretariat: Icebreaker One 

Meeting Aims

1. Reviewing the use case template plus endorsement 
2. Review and discuss the ecosystem map 
3. Update members on use case status

Summary

• It was agreed that:
  • The WEC use case needed formal approval from members to take to the Steering Group.
• It was noted that:
  • All outcomes are now published on the Stream website. 
  • The stakeholder map is intended to be a live tool, reviewed and refined over time rather than fixed. 
  • Welsh, Scottish (and potentially Northern Ireland) regulators were identified as missing and should be added to the stakeholder map. 
  • Both Stream team capacity and member capacity were recognised as constraints when sequencing activity (particularly use cases). 
  • It is important that we measure the impact of what we’re doing, looking at outcomes and quantitative targets for the activity level. 
  • Each stakeholder will be assigned to a desired outcome: high levels of advocacy, integration of Stream into their ways of working (such as with DEFRA), facilitate access to sources of funding, and recognise and adopt Stream as the de facto data sharing infrastructure.
  • Independent innovators should be considered in the wider ecosystem map.
• It was discussed that:
  • The priorities of the group might be skewed towards the government/regulatory group, rather than the representative of the wider water industry but this may be influenced by the Water Sector reform over the next two years. 
  • Stream could look to the EU for research and data sharing opportunities.
  • Stream’s role may increasingly be one of coordination, rather than delivery alone.

Next meeting: Thursday 14 May 2026 10:00-11:30 BST

Formal records, including attendees, are maintained by the secretariat. 

These are confidential to the Advisory Group Members.

Since the end of February, energy price volatility has been seen across multiple fuels, including oil and gas. And, while this volatility is being felt across the board, SMEs – which represent 99.85% of total business population and £2.8Tn in turnover – are being disproportionately exposed, particularly to sharp rises in gas prices.

For many SMEs, energy costs represent a meaningful share of operating expenses, particularly in sectors such as accommodation, retail, and food production. This leaves them more exposed to sudden price volatility, especially when access to tools and finance might be limited.

As costs rise, margins tighten and cash flow becomes less predictable, leading to increased uncertainty for both SMEs and lenders. For financial service providers – with over £68bn in SME lending portfolios – this shapes how risk is assessed and how capital is allocated.

At the same time, SMEs remain difficult to assess due to limited and inconsistent data. Rising uncertainty could push banks to tighten credit conditions across their portfolios, resulting in a feedback loop where SMEs face higher costs and reduced access to finance, while lenders carry greater uncertainty and risk.

Perseus provides a more complete view of energy costs

By expanding to include gas data, Perseus directly addresses this problem. In March 2026, the Perseus scheme began incorporating gas data, supporting calculations of Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 1 (direct) emissions alongside the Scope 2 (indirect) electricity emissions.

Moving beyond electricity to provide a more complete view of SME energy consumption and emissions gives SMEs better control over their energy exposure, while enabling banks to assess risk, verify impact, and finance the transition with greater confidence.

With this expansion, Perseus is estimated to have potential reach of over 1 million UK SMEs and cover over 70% of use cases, reflecting the scale of energy data across organisations.

For more on Perseus gas emissions methodology: https://ib1.org/perseus/emissions-calculations/ 

For SMEs, this means:

• reduced time, cost, and complexity of reporting
• a more complete and credible picture of energy use and emissions
• better access to finance and incentives
• potential for lower cost of borrowing

For banks and lenders, it enables:

• more accurate assessment of SME energy exposure
• improved risk pricing and credit decisions
• comparable, standardised data across portfolios
• the ability to develop targeted financing products linked to energy performance

Renewables over reliance

Reliance on fossil fuels remains a key driver of energy market volatility. It’s not an imagined scenario either, with Reuters recently reporting that wind output in Q1 2026 increased significantly year-on-year, helping to drive a ~16% drop in gas-fired generation. This cushioned the UK from the impacts of the gas price spike and contributed to relatively lower wholesale power prices versus some European peers. 

As more low-cost renewable electricity comes online, reliance on gas, and exposure to its volatility, can be reduced. This means the shift towards a cleaner renewable energy future is more than an environmental move but a financial one too, creating new opportunities for both SMEs and Financial Service Providers. 

While renewables can reduce our reliance on gas, flexibility determines how much of that value can actually be captured. For more on the impact I&C Flexibility can have on renewables take-up and the wider energy market, read our latest blog.

As Perseus co-chair, members, stakeholders, and the broader community tell me that it is seen as a pioneering initiative, with a significant scale of opportunity (at least £5B+ in embedded sustainable finance), but there are still challenges in communicating what it is, and isn’t, and ‘why now?’.

“Collaborate on the rules, compete in the game.”

The course is set, now it’s time to shape how value is realised

Perseus is now recognised as a flagship exemplar under the UK Data (Use and Access) Act, supported by both the Smart Data Council (in its Smart Data Strategy for 2035) and the Net Zero Council. The regulatory current is moving in this direction, and the Perseus team is both in constructive conversations with regulators and code bodies, and at the table in creating the UK Smart Data guidebook. 

Perseus Members are defining where the rules of embedded sustainable finance are being written. The question isn’t whether this infrastructure gets built, it’s who helps shape it, and who arrives late.

To help better position what Perseus is, here are some of my reflections, based on 300+ conversations.

Getting the data to do the work: SME impact at market scale

SMEs are where the impact is needed (they are half of UK business emissions). For the vast majority, carbon reporting is a burden: manual, confusing, inconsistent, and disconnected from anything that actually helps them run their business better. 

Perseus flips this: with the SME’s permission, their energy data flows automatically into their accounting platform and to their lender. No spreadsheets, no data entry, no consultants: they get a verified emissions baseline, access to sustainable finance products they can’t easily reach, and a credible sustainability story they can use with their own customers and suppliers. 

Perseus meets them where they are, through the tools and relationships they already have, and costs them almost nothing to participate. Reducing friction and cost is the point of good data infrastructure, getting smart data to do the work so the SME gets the benefits, and the market gets the scale. 

Perseus is infrastructure, not a product

Most responses to addressing SME carbon emissions follow a familiar playbook: build an app, sign up users, grow a dataset, and sell reporting services. Some go further and package insights as a commercial proposition. Both hit the same ceiling: they create value for their own customers, but they don’t change the market.

“Carbon reporting can often be seen as a random number generator linked to compliance, not value.”

Data silos are no longer business moats

When data stays siloed and calculations stay inconsistent, every bank, accountant, lender, software provider keeps solving the same problem independently, at their own cost. Multiply that across the whole economy and you have a colossal, systemic waste of time and money: with no true comparability, little trust, and no efficiency of scale. As one senior expert put it, “it’s a random number generator linked to compliance, not value“.

“Perseus meets SMEs where they are, through the tools and relationships they already have, and costs them almost nothing to participate.”

Perseus takes a structurally different route (the same route Open Banking took). The design of Open Banking wasn’t to ‘make a better banking app’, it was that if you agree the rules by which data flows between any bank and any third party, every player in the market benefits simultaneously, and the infrastructure becomes self-reinforcing as more join.

Perseus applies exactly that logic to SME emissions data: not a pipe, not a platform, a Scheme. A Scheme is a shared rulebook that defines how the data flows, it is legally permissioned, technically assured, and provenance-stamped between energy data sources, carbon accountants, and lenders, regardless of which specific providers are involved.

Schemes are designed to ‘do as little as possible’ so that the heavy lifting that they do deliver, can deliver at scale. Perseus is not a database, or a calculator, or a portal. Instead it’s the trust layer that makes everyone else’s products work together, enables solutions to go to where the customer already is, and makes them credible due to the governance wrapped around its design.

“Perseus is not a database, or a calculator, or a portal. It’s the trust layer that makes everyone else’s products work together.”

No single organisation can build what Perseus builds collectively

Any carbon accounting platform can reach its existing customers, any energy data business can find organisations already looking for a data feed, any bank can bring these things together, but none of them can, on their own, shift the behaviour of 5.5 million SMEs and the financial system that serves them.

Perseus can because its Steering Group and commercial membership collectively represent the whole system: the banks, accountants, energy companies, trade associations, and SME platforms that already have the customer relationships. The joint communications that can flow from this coalition don’t just amplify awareness, or make ‘business today’ more efficient, it creates an addressable market that didn’t previously exist. By going far together, they can all reach SMEs who have never considered net zero was for them, through channels they already trust: their bank, their accountant, their software tools, and their trade association. Perseus is creating a route to market no individual organisation can replicate through its own sales effort, and this is estimated to be £5B-£10B by 2030 (see 2025 annual report).

Its benefits can compound in both directions: automating data flows that currently require manual effort, reducing the cost of compliance, reducing friction at every point in the chain and building customer trust not for one product, but at market scale.

“Perseus Members are defining where the rules of embedded sustainable finance are being written. The question isn’t whether this infrastructure gets built, it’s who helps shape it, and who arrives late.”

The value case for a Financial Services Provider (e.g. bank, lender)

There are reasonable objections a bank or lender might raise. Right now, Perseus is a UK SME Scheme, not where the biggest financed emissions numbers sit for most large institutions; they may have existing bilateral data arrangements they’re reluctant to revisit; and in a climate where public sustainability commitments are under scrutiny anything that looks ‘new’ can face internal resistance. 

These are valid questions, but they don’t change the underlying logic.

In impact, most initiatives measure engagement, they rarely measure or report on verifiable impact. Perseus enables continuous, assurable measurement, reporting and verification of impact. By harmonising the approach, the reporting is comparable across organisations.

On scale: the UK SME market is not a rounding error but half of all UK business emissions. Any lender with a material SME book has a financed emissions reporting problem that carries sufficient risk to increase their cost of capital. Perseus addresses this across the whole market at once. Perseus Members have indicated that ‘just’ energy (electricity and gas) addresses over 70% of their use cases, and the programme is designed to expand beyond energy based on Member needs (e.g. water). If we go far together, our collective impact is material and meaningful.

On existing bilateral arrangements: Perseus doesn’t replace them, it improves them through harmonisation of approach, liability and technical provenance. Joining doesn’t unwind existing relationships, rather it gives them an additional trust layer, aligned with the Data Act and endorsed by the Net Zero Council.

On the commitment: Perseus is not a ‘climate pledge’, but an action to deliver the data infrastructure for embedded sustainable finance. Operationally, it’s equivalent to joining any financial data scheme – a technical and commercial decision, not a public statement about net zero ambition. It supports diverse go-to-market impact messaging across cost savings, energy efficiency, energy security, net zero and transition planning. It’s not a campaigning approach, but rather a way to deliver measurable value to the market.

“Any lender with a material SME book has a financed emissions reporting problem that carries sufficient risk to increase their cost of capital.”

On governance and legal overhead: Perseus’ architecture is deliberately modelled on Open Banking. Its legal agreements, certificate infrastructure and KYC processes are designed to align with what regulated financial institutions already do (the path through legal and compliance is not trivial, but it is well-trodden).

Ultimately, the financial providers already in Perseus are sitting in the room where the rules of sustainable finance data infrastructure are being written. It is a choice to be a late adopter of a model that Perseus members helped design, for a membership fee and some internal process. The cost of joining later is accepting the rules written by others.

The value case for a Carbon Accounting Providers (whether financial or carbon management)

A CAP might ask: why do we need Perseus? (we already have integrations with energy data providers, have bank and lender customers, and are building the product that does this).

These are fair points, but miss what Perseus is.

“Perseus is not a database, or a calculator, or a portal. It’s the trust layer that makes everyone else’s products work together.”

Every CAP currently solving this problem is solving it alone: each has negotiated its own data access arrangements, built its own ingestion pipelines, made its own judgements about data quality, and written its own terms. The result is a market where every emissions calculation is done differently, every audit trail looks different, and no two outputs are directly comparable. That’s not a CAP problem to fix, it is a market structure problem, and no single CAP can fix market structure.

This has been the case for decades. Now the baseline calculation needs to become pre-competitive infrastructure (co-designed and delivered by the market) so that CAPs can compete on the value they build on top of it.

Collaborate on the rules, compete in the game

Perseus addresses this by establishing a common trust layer (common legal agreements, provenance standards, assurance levels, harmonised calculations) so that data flowing into any Perseus-connected CAP is verified, traceable, and comparable to data flowing into every other. This doesn’t commoditise the CAP’s product, but rather makes the CAP’s product something an SME or bank can actually rely on, report against, and put in front of an auditor with confidence.

On distribution: joining Perseus is not just a technical integration but access to a network of lenders, trade associations and SME platforms that collectively reach the entire UK SME market. This is a route to market no CAP can replicate through its own commercial efforts. Perseus-connected CAPs are not just selling software but access to a trusted, standards-aligned data flow that their competitors outside the scheme cannot match.

On the competitive question: the CAPs already building Perseus integrations reach hundreds of thousands of UK SMEs today. They are not waiting before positioning themselves within it. Waiting until Perseus is ‘already proven’ before engaging will find the integrations, the relationships, and the market positioning is already occupied.

On effort: Perseus adds a compliance overhead, but this is inversely proportional to scale. The cost of integrating once (which can be done in under a month) with a common framework is substantially lower than maintaining multiple bespoke bilateral arrangements as the market grows. Perseus reduces long-run complexity, it doesn’t add to it.

Spend-based estimates or manually uploaded spreadsheets are no longer fit-for-purpose. Perseus provides the foundations that CAPs can build on top of, creates trust, defensibility, reduces long-term costs, increases market engagement and innovation.

To go far, we go together.

Join Perseus today

Ref: https://drcf.org.uk/publications/papers/insightssmartdataframeworks 

Published on 26 March 2026, this report from the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) provides an international comparative analysis of Smart Data implementation models to inform the UK’s strategic approach under the Data (Use and Access) Act (DUAA) 2025.

Core focus

The report reviews how jurisdictions worldwide have approached consumer data portability and Smart Data ecosystems, drawing lessons to help the UK implement its cross-sectoral Smart Data ambitions. The DUAA 2025 empowers the Secretary of State to create sector-specific Smart Data schemes via secondary legislation, building on the Open Banking precedent. As of May 2025, one in five UK consumers and small businesses were actively using Open Banking services, up from one in seventeen in March 2021.

Three implementation models

The report categorises global Smart Data approaches into three main models:

1. Regulator-mandated 

Government-led, prescriptive legislation (e.g. Australia’s Consumer Data Right, Brazil’s Open Finance). Provides legal certainty and mandated participation, but risks high compliance costs, regulatory rigidity, and potential for stifling innovation. Australia’s experience is cited as a cautionary tale of disproportionate costs relative to uptake.

2. Market-facilitated  

Industry-driven, with regulators in a facilitative role (e.g. US, Japan, Hong Kong). Fosters innovation and commercial flexibility but suffers from inconsistent standards, fragmentation, slower incumbent adoption, and uncertain liability frameworks. The US is experiencing particular instability following legal challenges to its framework, which has been seen as lacking unambiguous positioning.

3. Public infrastructure-led 

Built on foundational national Digital Public Infrastructure such as digital identity and data exchange layers (e.g. Estonia’s X-Road, Singapore’s SGFinDex via Singpass). These solve interoperability and trust-by-design but require major upfront investment and sustained political commitment. Estonia saves an estimated 820+ years of working time annually through X-Road.

A fourth category, Hybrid and Transitioning, covers jurisdictions like India (Account Aggregator / DEPA framework, with over 100 million consents by 2024) and the UAE (transitioning from market-led to a centrally mandated Open Finance framework).

Key themes from the analysis

Governance

A central coordinating body is consistently identified as critical. Without it, sector-by-sector schemes under the DUAA risk creating new data silos rather than eliminating them.

Standards and interoperability

Cross-sector fragmentation is a recurring failure mode. The risk that different UK government departments managing different Smart Data schemes could produce divergent technical standards is highlighted as a significant concern.

Consumer consent journey

Legal compliance alone is insufficient. The quality of the consent user experience is as important as the legal principle. Brazil’s experience shows how broadly drafted consent forms led to data misuse and loss of public trust. India’s AA framework shows high consent numbers but low conversion due to friction. Singapore’s integration with Singpass is held up as a model of frictionless, trustworthy consent.

International alignment

The report recommends aligning with Gaia-X (the EU’s federated data infrastructure framework) to protect the UK’s data adequacy status (renewed until 2031), maintain access to EU digital markets, and reduce compliance burdens for internationally active businesses.

Anti-competitive risks

The report flags the possibility that Smart Data schemes could inadvertently facilitate tacit collusion if they enable easy monitoring of competitor pricing — a novel risk that warrants safeguards by design.

Considerations for the UK

The report proposes five strategic pillars:

1. A central Smart Data governance body to coordinate all schemes, set baseline standards, and prevent fragmentation.
2. Phased, use-case-driven rollout prioritising energy (for Net Zero), finance, and telecoms, learning iteratively before expanding.
3. Sector-tailored implementation models — acknowledging that some sectors suit market-led approaches while others need regulatory mandates, within a unified strategic framework.
4. Interoperability by design, integrating with the UK’s Digital Verification Services (DVS) trust framework (as envisioned in the DUAA) to create a trusted, unified consent architecture.
5. Clear secondary legislation covering liability frameworks, security standards, transparent cost-benefit processes, and safeguards against anti-competitive conduct.

Relevance to IB1

The DRCF report findings and recommendations are closely aligned with IB1’s existing work and strategic positioning.  

Central governance and Trust Frameworks

The report’s core recommendation, a ‘central’ body setting common baseline standards and ensuring cross-sectoral interoperability, closely mirrors the architecture IB1 has developed through its Trust Framework and Scheme architecture. The DRCF’s concern about fragmented sectoral schemes producing new data silos is precisely the problem IB1’s governance approach is designed to solve, specifically the interoperability between them.

Energy Smart Data and Perseus 

The report explicitly names energy as a priority sector for Smart Data designation, citing its alignment with Net Zero policy objectives. IB1’s Perseus programme, enabling permissioned energy data access for SME carbon reporting and green finance, is an existing example of the kind of sector-specific, use-case-driven scheme the report advocates.

Consent and liability frameworks

IB1 has developed detailed consent and liability standards across energy, water, finance, supply chains, and other sectors. The DRCF’s finding that the quality of the consent journey is as critical as the legal principle, and that clear liability apportionment is essential for industry confidence, directly reinforces the value of this work.

Interoperability across sectors

The report warns that without strong central coordination, different government departments could develop incompatible standards across schemes. IB1’s cross-sector interoperability work, including its engagement between Open Energy, Perseus and Open Banking, addresses this risk directly.

International standards alignment

The report recommends aligning with international frameworks such as Gaia-X. IB1’s engagement with cross-border data governance and its work across multiple jurisdictions is consistent with this direction.

The DRCF report diagnosis and recommendations map closely with the approach IB1 has built, and provides independent external validation of the strategic importance of IB1’s work.

Date: 26 March 2026 10:00-10:45 GMT

Location: online

Co-Chairs: Laura Townshend, (IB1); Zarina Banu, (Tide)

Secretariat: IB1

Meeting Aims:

1. Update on case studies
2. Discuss upcoming actions
3. Review Vision statement

It was agreed that:

• British Chambers of Commerce, FSB and IOD should be prioritised as strategic targets to help amplify comms due to their credibility, authority and member reach
• The updated Perseus’ vision and mission statement should be approved

It was noted that:

• Innovate Finance’s Global Summit is in April and panel opportunities on sustainable energy featuring Perseus maybe available
• London Climate Action Week takes place in June and IB1 has a cross-sector meetup planned
• One of the members has two potential SME contacts who might be able to contribute, both PR-ready having presented at the Houses of Parliament

It was discussed that:

• The geopolitical context presents a timely opportunity to amplify Perseus messaging, particularly around energy sovereignty, the government’s consideration of decoupling gas/electric price caps, and the cost of living crisis
• Small businesses are being significantly impacted by energy costs, national insurance increases, minimum wage changes and inflation, making Perseus a relevant operational efficiency solution
• In order to achieve amplification, there is a need to identify the right internal spokespeople within steering group member organisations, not just the steering group representatives themselves

Next meeting: Thursday 28 May 2026 10:00-10:45 BST

Formal records, including attendees, are maintained by the secretariat. 

These are confidential to the Advisory Group Members.

• twenty interoperable Smart Data schemes by 2035
• £36m of Industrial Strategy investment
• cross-sector Trust Frameworks and data sharing interoperability across the economy

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-data-strategy

For IB1, this is core to our work – and features the Perseus programme. It underpins how we will help deliver our sustainable economy into a data-enabled digital-first era, building the load-bearing foundations for trust, protecting our data rights, and delivering impact.

Open Banking took a decade to get right: we can now move much, much faster. The opportunity isn’t just ‘switching’, it’s opening up new markets and connecting financial flows to real-world outcomes at scale. The time to engage is now: the schemes being shaped today will define the data infrastructure of the next decade.

The UK has a great team helping to lead this, with Samantha as co-chair, the Department for Business and Trade (Siobhan, Agnieszka, Priya, and a growing support team), and non-govt Smart Data Council members including Henk, Adam, Liz, Charlie, Marie, Chris, Ezechi, Ghela, Helen, Joe, Josh , Louise, Maria, Nicola, Stephen, Jane, Lucy, Sue and many others across industry and government now engaged.

At Icebreaker One it’s what we’ve been building with IB1 Open Energy Perseus, STREAM and our Data Infrastructure work and we will continue to lead on Open Sustainable Finance.

Consumer-led Industrial and Commercial (I&C) flexibility allows large energy consumers (factories, retailers, office blocks, data centres, hospitals etc.) to adjust their net energy consumption for short periods in response to the needs of the grid, incentivised through flexibility markets.

In the electricity market, this enables demand to respond to supply, a crucial shift as sectors move towards electrification and as electricity production shifts to cheaper, cleaner, but more intermittent, renewable sources.

Flexibility forms up a core part of the government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan and is explored in depth in the Clean Flexibility Roadmap. It also delivers clear value, from reducing system costs for networks to unlocking new revenue streams and resilience for energy users. But, realising its full potential and accelerating the transition to Net Zero requires market-wide adoption.

Benefits of I&C flexibility

For grid operators, enabling flexibility can deliver:

• Reduced generation curtailment
• Reduced need for expensive grid-scale energy storage projects
• Reduced costs for grid capacity upgrades
• Alignment with Ofgem’s forthcoming RIIO-ED3 price control

For I&C Consumers, benefits include:

• Lower energy costs
• New revenue streams
• Reduced expenditure on grid connection upgrades
• Increased resilience for key consumers, such as hospitals, in times of grid stress

Data is the common thread

And yet, I&C flexibility isn’t one-size-fits-all. It encompasses a spectrum of approaches from direct demand response (where consumption is increased or decreased for a set period) to more sophisticated coordination of co-located technologies like solar, battery storage, heat pumps, and EV fleets.

What connects these approaches is data. Granular, trusted data sharing enables I&C sites to assess what options are feasible and maximise the benefits of participating in flexibility markets. Electricity networks also need real-time, high-quality data to plan and operate their networks, and to balance supply and demand. Without this, take-up of I&C flexibility will not reach its full potential, or will be costly to implement.

Sharing large amounts of data between diverse groups or organisations can lead to challenges including:

• Varying data formats, standards and semantics
• Separate representations of network assets and constraints
• Different data publication schedules
• Non-interoperable licensing and permissioning frameworks
• Issues with machine-readability
• Commercial and security sensitivities
• A lack of easy consumer data portability
• Fragmented data on existing I&C flexibility participation and performance

For I&C consumers, these barriers make it harder to identify viable flexibility opportunities and build robust business cases. This increases cost and complexity, often diverting time and investment elsewhere.

Unlocking flexibility at the speed and scale required to decarbonise the grid will therefore require a fundamental shift in how data is shared.

A data sharing scheme to accelerate I&C flexibility

The market needs a way for I&C actors to securely and easily share data with authorised parties to assess, plan and deliver flexibility at scale. Open Energy’s mission is to collaboratively define and develop a data sharing Scheme to support this, recognising that delivery is a co-ordination challenge, requiring collaboration to solve.

No single organisation can solve this alone, and implementing technical solutions without understanding the needs, constraints, and capabilities of others risks becoming an expensive exercise with unreliable outcomes.

The scheme will align with wider energy and cross sector initiatives such as NESO Data Sharing Infrastructure, RECCo Consumer Consent Solution, Elexon Flexibility Market Asset Register, Market-Wide Half-Hourly Settlement, and Smart Data policy), strengthening the overall data ecosystem and enabling interoperability.

Open Energy brings together energy system and I&C participants to build the data foundations for accelerating flexibility. IB1 acts as a neutral facilitator and data governance expert supported by the Energy Sector Trust Framework, a ready-to-use mechanism for governing the exchange of data in a consistent, trusted, and scalable way, without the need for centralised infrastructure.

How your organisation can benefit

If flexibility impacts your organisation, whether as an opportunity, a challenge, or a dependency, being part of Open Energy gives you a seat at the table, where the future of data sharing is being built. You’ll also help shape how the Energy Sector Trust Framework evolves to meet the specific needs of the flexibility market.

For networks:

• Contribute to, and benefit from, sector-wide alignment on data classification, licensing, and access controls
• Reduce the risk of costly inconsistencies emerging as flexibility markets mature.

For flexibility providers and aggregators:

• Access cleaner, more consistent data pipelines
• Access a governance framework that makes it easier to operate across multiple network areas.

For large energy consumers and trade bodies:

• Gain faster visibility of viable flexibility opportunities and incentives
• Access insights to support adoption and decision-making

Join us & your peers

To find out more about the Industrial & Commercial Flexibility use case, or to join Open Energy, get in touch with us at openenergy@ib1.org

And register for our upcoming webinar: https://events.humanitix.com/oe-i-and-cflex-webinar

The decisions being made now will shape the direction of the energy sector for years to come. Those helping to shape it will be best placed to benefit from the opportunities that follow.

Date: Tuesday 10 March 2026 10:00-12:00 GMT

Location: online

Co-Chairs: Melissa Tallack (NWL); Gavin Starks (IB1)

Secretariat: IB1

Meeting Aims 

1. Sign off Q2 outcomes and priority use case
2. Align on bids process criteria for incoming bids

Summary:

• It was agreed that:
  • Q2 strategic business priorities include: (endorsed by members after this meeting)
    • defining Stream’s 12‑month ambition and roadmap
    • continuing development of the Change Champion network
    • establishing a clearer process for supporting funding bids
    • progressing the Open Data maturity assessment plan.
  • The first prioritised Water Efficiency use case for this year will be Water Situation Reports.
• It was noted that:
  • Co-ordination will be required with the Environment Agency for the water situation report (as the report is owned by the EA)
  • Growing demand for Stream support on shared data use cases highlights the need for a clearer triage and prioritisation approach.
  • Members and observers felt there were certain items that should be taken into consideration, such as scope clarification (open vs shared data), the importance of FOI/EIR alignment, and maintaining opt‑in/opt‑out flexibility.
  • Energy sector learnings highlight the importance of common pattern libraries and Trust Frameworks to minimise cost and legal complexity.
  • Cross‑sector use cases may present future opportunities and should be considered in long‑term design thinking.
• It was discussed that:
  • The bids process requires refinement, including criteria such as value, repeatability, resource impact, technology implications, and avoiding parallel infrastructures.
  • A scoring matrix for shared data use cases could include economic, social and environmental value, friction reduction, legal complexity, and organisational readiness.
  • A Trust Framework model separating identity assurance from Scheme rules could lower future cost and improve cross‑sector interoperability.
  • Sector legal engagement will be challenging but early use case examples could build confidence and reduce friction.
  • Further knowledge‑sharing and workshops are needed to deepen understanding of Trust Frameworks and scheme governance.

Next meeting: Tuesday 21 April 2026 10:00-12:00 BST

Formal records, including attendees, are maintained by the secretariat. 

These are confidential to the Steering Group Members.

Date: Monday 23 February 2026 13:00-15:00 GMT

Location: online

Co-Chairs: Gavin Starks (IB1); Hannah Gilbert (British Business Bank)

Secretariat: IB1

Meeting Aims 

1. Agree on updated vision and mission
2. Understand 2026 roadmap
3. Update on DOC and AG
4. Commit to amplifying case studies
5. Identify funding sources

Summary:

• It was agreed that:
  • Case studies are the critical success metric for 2026. The ambition is to secure at least five examples that demonstrate real-world application.
  • Alignment with the Net Zero Council and the Smart Data Council agenda should continue, positioning Perseus as an exemplar of Smart Data implementation and Net Zero innovation.
• It was noted that:
  • The 2025 AGM reflected strong engagement from key stakeholders and financial service providers (including incumbents NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds and challenger banks).
  • Language has evolved to “embedded sustainable finance”, with continued emphasis on SME impact.
  • Sandbox learnings (AG2) identified and resolved integration challenges (e.g. with certificate authentication, improved documentation and clarity of roles, setup guides, tooling and specifications have been developed in response).
  • Legal updates (AG3) incorporate gas into permission text, clarify CAP-initiated (two-click) and FSP-initiated (single-click) consent journeys; Scheme agreement documentation has been consolidated; changes remain compliant with prior external legal advice.
  • Annual renewals remain the current funding model, with forecast renewals on track but cashflow risk recognised and multi-annual renewals should be considered.
  • The relationship with B4NZ (formerly ‘Bankers for Net Zero’) was recognised as having been supportive in the formation of the programme, and there is no ongoing relationship with that initiative.
  • Adam Jackson has accepted the role of DOC Chair.
• It was discussed that:
  • The proposed new vision, “Embedded sustainable finance for SMEs”, provides a clear and memorable direction of travel. Further refinement of mission language will be considered to ensure terminology resonates with SMEs.
  • The SME focus remains strategically valuable for maintaining clarity and discipline. Discussion included whether anchoring exclusively on SMEs may constrain broader use cases and it was noted that related initiatives (e.g. ib1.org/Orion and ib1.org/carbon-commons) had been created as channels to help develop ideas without distracting from Perseus’ core mission.
  • Case study development faces practical barriers: delays often arise from internal processes and time constraints, rather than inherent SME reluctance. It was noted that the majority SMEs day-to-day concerns are focussed on cash, not sustainability, and that Perseus’ strategy to reduce both cost and friction for SMEs (including ‘taking solutions to where the SME already are’) was the correct approach.

Next meeting: Monday 18 May 2026 13:00-15:00 BST

Formal records, including attendees, are maintained by the secretariat. 

These are confidential to the Steering Group Members.

Date: 24 February 2026 10:00-11:30 GMT

Location: Online

Co-Chairs: Lucy Chambers (IB1); Darren Anderson (NWL)

Secretariat: Icebreaker One 

Meeting Aims

1. Endorse the Q2 outcomes
2. Endorsement for CReDO data standardisation
3. Accelerating the decision towards sharing agreement templates

Summary:

• It was agreed that:
  • There were no significant concerns with the overall approach; however, the primary delivery risk identified was engagement with internal legal teams.
  • There’s value in the development of reusable artefacts and templates to avoid repeated drafting and to help colleagues engage legal teams more effectively.
• It was noted that:
  • A decision was made to continue with Esri on a reduced basis, with the cost totalling £27,000, down from £45,000 in year 1 and 2 of the project.
  • Q2 outcomes were presented for endorsement, including:
    • progressing data sharing agreements (created and signed) and sharing progress on shared data; 
    • technology / data sharing infrastructure best practice to CaSTco extension funding project
  • The next CReDO workshops are on hold, pending a further funding decision.
  • A case study on the Perseus data sharing scheme was presented as an example of how multilateral data-sharing arrangements and governance structures have been implemented elsewhere.
  • The working group outlined its approach to data-sharing agreements, including developing a decision framework and questionnaire to guide organisations on appropriate sharing mechanisms, categorising data by risk level, and creating a modular template agreement that could be adapted by participating organisations.
• It was discussed that:
  • There are risks associated with combining datasets and the need for legal and security considerations to be embedded within the framework.
  • It might be worth convening legal stakeholders together, potentially at the Innovation Festival, to help develop draft agreements and accelerate buy-in across water companies.

Next meeting: Tuesday 7 April 2026 10:00-11:30 BST

Formal records, including attendees, are maintained by the secretariat. 

These are confidential to the Advisory Group Members.

Date: Tuesday 17 February 2026 11:00-12:30 GMT

Location: In person & online

Co-Chairs: Sara Vaughan & Gavin Starks

Secretariat: IB1

Meeting Aims 

1. Support for the use case for 2026
2. Support the governance process
3. Connect us with new potential members

Summary:

• It was agreed that:
  • The 2026 roadmap will move from engagement and prioritisation early in the year to implementation activity later in the year.
  • Remaining organisations will be asked to complete outstanding terms of reference signatures, where that is possible.
• It was noted that:
  • An update was given on activities since the last SG, including:
    • Government and Ofgem activity is increasingly focused on ensuring greater visibility of distributed and flexible energy assets.
    • Elexon has gone live with its flexibility market facilitator role, and the new Flexibility Commissioner has been announced.
    • NESO and XOSERVE have announced a strategic partnership on consolidation and sharing of gas data which will help facilitate and streamline whole-system planning.
    • Ofgem published its Forward Workplan for 2026/7.
    • RECCO published the design consultation on its Consumer Consent solution.
    • The intended publication of the DESNZ/Ofgem Digitalisation Vision in Q1 2026 was confirmed.
  • The Smart Data Council has resumed and is developing UK guidance for smart data schemes.
  • The Perseus programme has broad participation and commercial offerings are expected from 2026, with a £5-10bn SME opportunity by 2030.
  • Feedback to the Open Data access controls paper has been positive across the sector.
  • The 2026 priority use cases will focus on UC04 – cross-sector storm response or UC05 – industrial and commercial flexibility.
• It was discussed that:
  • Practical implementation and real use cases may be more persuasive to policymakers than theoretical proposals.
  • A Community Interest Company (CIC) based SPV funding model could support multi-year funding and participation from multiple network operators but, given IB1’s non-profit, public benefit status, there was not a strong case to change to such a model.

Next meeting: Thursday 7 May 2026 14:30-16:00 BST

Formal records, including attendees, are maintained by the secretariat. 

These are confidential to the Steering Group Members.

Date: 19 February 2026 10:00-11:30 GMT

Location: Online

Co-Chairs: Charlotte Hillenbrand (IB1), Alex Hughes (Portsmouth Water), Andy Johnston (Scottish Water) 

Secretariat: Icebreaker One 

Meeting Aims

1. Review the feasibility of the Q2 outcomes 
2. Prioritise Q2 use cases

Summary

• It was agreed that:
  • Breakout group outputs indicate that initial focus is expected to fall on Water Situation Reports and Smart Metering use cases.
  • Recruitment for the next Change Champion cohort will begin in Q2, adopting the new six month model.
• It was noted that:
  • Alignment on Stream’s long‑term ambition to 2030 will require a clearer narrative and a shared understanding of data‑maturity expectations.
  • There is a need for earlier visibility of future expectations, including DEFRA’s emerging monitoring direction, and Stream could provide a coordinated route for this.
  • Q2 planning includes further development of CReDO, water‑efficiency workshops, and refreshed ecosystem communications
    • Use case and dataset activities will require higher member engagement than ecosystem‑level work.
• It was discussed that:
  • Water Situation Reports present a clear opportunity to move from PDF‑based reporting to consistent, reusable datasets aligned with EA‑sourced information.
  • Smart Metering requires alignment on core data items and consideration of processing‑scale challenges, reflecting varied rollout maturity across companies.
  • DWMP, WRMP and WINEP remain important but carry higher complexity due to predefined reporting formats and the need to reconcile published plans with underlying datasets.
  • Members emphasised ensuring new datasets are interoperable and sensitive to internal organisational capacity and timelines.

Next meeting: Thursday 2 April 2026 10:00-11:30 GMT

Formal records, including attendees, are maintained by the secretariat. 

These are confidential to the Advisory Group Members.

Carbon accounting is complex. The methodologies used to calculate emissions can vary significantly depending on carbon accountant, framework, or data source. And, while inconsistencies exist across all emissions factors, they are particularly problematic when it comes to Scope 3 emissions – the indirect emissions that occur across a company’s supply chain.

Scope 3 emissions typically represent the largest share of a company’s footprint – around 75% of total emissions on average. This, coupled with the voluntary nature of reporting for SMEs, means a significant gap exists in supply chain emissions reporting.

In short: the biggest share of emissions is the least reliable to measure.

There is also a distinct lack of harmonisation in approach. Current methods are often incomplete, inconsistent, and difficult to compare and data is collected in multiple formats, using different methodologies. This culminates in a fragmented landscape that burdens businesses with information that is rarely decision-useful.

Without reliable, comparable data:

• Businesses struggle to identify emissions hotspots and prioritise action
• Banks and corporates lack certainty around their supply chains when making financing decisions
• Governments and regulators face barriers to designing effective policy interventions because the underlying data is inconsistent or incomplete.

The importance of this high-quality carbon data is rapidly increasing too; becoming central to procurement decisions, taxation frameworks, cross-border adjustment mechanisms such as CBAM, and access to sustainable finance. And yet, the current data ecosystem is lagging behind this growing demand.

Transparent, unified and harmonised

CC was created to address this challenge. Instead of another competing standard, it will create a transparent, unified, and fit-for-purpose approach towards a harmonised methodology, and principles for calculating hybridised, system-complete, emissions factors.

If this can be accurately addressed, then the benefits could be far reaching, helping businesses manage supplier risk, tackle incoming regulatory pressures (TCFD, CSRD, CBAM, SECR), and allowing them to respond to stakeholder demands.

For SMEs, the impact could be particularly transformative. Through Perseus we’ve seen how reliable emissions data can help unlock access to sustainable finance. With its focus on Scope 3, CC could help SMEs streamline reporting requests from large customers, and provide a clearer pathway for them to participate in low-carbon supply chains.

Our approach

The solution to improving supply chain carbon accounting hinges on pre-competitive collaboration. CC facilitates this, alongside independent governance and oversight, ensuring outputs are practical, robust, comparable, and fit-for-purpose, while drawing on technical and academic expertise.

Membership

Joining CC offers organisations an opportunity to shape the future of supply chain emissions data. Benefits include:

• Helping shape a harmonised approach to emissions factors that is practical, scalable, and aligned with real-world business needs.
• Gaining early access to outputs (e.g. hybridised emissions factors) for integration into products, services, and reporting solutions.
• Staying ahead of regulatory change and influence alignment with standards, regulators, and policymakers.
• Gaining early insight into developments in carbon reporting, procurement requirements, and international mechanisms such as CBAM.
• Strengthening your organisation’s supply chain resilience and sustainability
• Supporting the creation of reliable, comparable data that enables better risk management and decision-making.

To find out more about membership and fees, reach out via cc@ib1.org

You can read the minutes of our latest Steering Group meeting here: https://ib1.org/2026/02/11/carbon-commons-steering-group-january-2026-minutes/

Date: 10 February 2026 10:00-11:0 GMT

Location: online

Chair: Frank Wales

Secretariat: IB1

Meeting Aims:

1. Summarise Sandbox learnings
2. Feedback from members on Perseus-ready integration
3. Discuss change management best practice
4. Present draft certificate revocation specification
5. Explore workshop topics in 2026

Summary:

It was agreed that:

• Lessons from sandbox integrations would continue to inform incremental improvements to documentation, tooling, and processes.
• Future change proposals would aim to present technical changes more concretely, including clearer linkage between definitive specifications, and registry entries.

It was noted that:

• Four categories of issues had emerged from recent sandbox integrations:
  • Certificate authentication challenges, including confusion around directory usage and certificate expiry on services.
  • Conceptual understanding gaps, particularly around the FAPI 2 security model and Perseus’ role as an enabler of connections rather than a data provider.
  • Areas where documentation required clarification, including subdomain queries, CAP-to-EDP selection, and OAuth flow setup.
  • Technical usability issues with the directory service, including sandbox labelling and endpoint behaviour.
• A range of documentation and support improvements had been implemented in response, including workflow diagrams, role-specific setup guides (CAP and EDP) , a CLI testing tool for EDPs, and a directory usage guide with screenshots.

It was discussed that:

• IB1 recommends a Certificate Revocation List (CRL) approach over OCSP for certificate withdrawal, on the basis of simplicity, lower operational complexity and improved privacy characteristics; we are accepting review and feedback on this until February 27 (see actions)
• Git-based workflows were seen as helpful for proposing and reviewing technical changes (such as API updates), but not sufficient on their own to describe multi-environment availability or long-term governance state.
• Future change proposals could benefit from clearer presentation of “before and after” states, including diffs against OpenAPI specifications, supported by explanatory documents.

Next meeting: Tuesday 28 April 2026 10:00-11:00 GMT

Formal records, including attendees, are maintained by the secretariat. 

These are confidential to the Advisory Group Members.

Date: 9 February 2026 10:00-11:30 GMT

Location: online

Secretariat: IB1

Meeting Aims:

1. Orientate for 2026
2. Agree workshops
3. Review market based carbon accounting concept

Summary:

It was agreed that:

• The primary focus for the year ahead is on concrete customer use cases and case studies.
• Individual follow‑ups will be undertaken with Members to map internal stakeholders and decision‑making processes.
• Each Member will prioritise identification of at least one potential ‘lighthouse’ customer.
• Further work will document and consult on the proposed market‑based emissions methodology, including supporting FAQs.

It was noted that:

• 2026 is the key go‑to‑market period, translating existing technical capability into demonstrable customer value.
• Constructive early conversations have taken place with the Financial Conduct Authority regarding Perseus’ positioning with Smart Data/Open Finance initiatives.
• to broaden scope beyond lending to include savings, asset finance, and other financial products, the phrase “access to finance” has evolved to “financial incentives”
• £5–10bn potential addressable  market is seen as ‘directionally credible’ and indicates substantial value opportunities for all stakeholders.

It was discussed that:

• From an SME perspective, particularly micro‑businesses, sustainability and net zero language has limited traction
• SMEs prioritise cost reductions, operational efficiency, and resilience, with emissions reduction often viewed as a secondary benefit. Perseus’ position as embedded sustainable finance is tactically aligned with this. 
• A key opportunity to increase TAM is ‘taking incentives directly to where the SMEs are’ (i.e. in their accounting and analysis applications) 
• Large financial institutions face material internal constraints, with implementation timelines often measured in years rather than months
• Technology is not the primary blocker; the key gap lies in the business case and incentive structures and this will inform our go‑to‑market approach, and clarity of financial value.

Next meeting: Monday 20 April 2026 10:00-11:30 GMT

Formal records, including attendees, are maintained by the secretariat. 

These are confidential to the Advisory Group Members.

Date: 5 February 2026 10:00-10:45 GMT

Location: online

Co-Chairs: Laura Townshend, (IB1); Zarina Banu, (Tide)

Secretariat: IB1

Meeting Aims:

1. Understand the Perseus 2026 Roadmap
2. Feedback from the AGM
3. Sign off a 2026 comms plan

Summary:

It was agreed that:

• 2026 comms will pivot more strongly to detailed, high‑quality case studies as a central tool to build trust and drive membership, rather than relying primarily on generic messaging or high‑level testimonials.
• The co-chair will share existing best‑practice case‑study and member‑spotlight formats she has developed (at Tide) with the IB1 team to inform Perseus templates.

It was noted that:

• The Perseus AGM was positively received
• The core comms outcomes for 2026 remain: Building trust and confidence in Perseus and making a consistent, compelling case for new and renewed memberships
• The communications plan for 2026 was presented and agreed
• High‑quality, detailed case studies are better suited than broad messaging to demonstrate ease of integration, tangible benefits, and business value.

It was discussed that:

• Perseus’ vision and mission will evolve in 2026, with suggestion by one member that this ought to be amended to also highlight benefits
• New case‑study formats could include a multi‑part journey following one CAP across the year
• Physical/in‑person or live formats (e.g. roundtables, workshops) can generate richer engagement and large amounts of reusable digital content

Next meeting: Thursday 26 March 2026 10:00-10:45 GMT

Formal records, including attendees, are maintained by the secretariat. 

These are confidential to the Advisory Group Members.

Carbon Commons (CC) is a new collaboration to improve supply chain carbon accounting. 

Today’s carbon accounting methods often rely on inconsistent and incomplete data, which can result in fragmented, incomparable, and often unrealistic emissions estimates across complex supply chains. CC will help create a transparent, unified, usable, and fit-for-purpose approach towards a harmonised methodology, and principles for calculating hybridised emissions factors. 

Role

The CC Steering Group, provides independent governance, oversight and direction by convening non-commercial stakeholders to guide and validate priorities and outputs. It will ensure delivery of fit-for-purpose reporting that is practical, realistic, robust, comparable, and complete. 

Date: 26 January 2026 10:00-12:00 GMT

Location: online

Co-Chairs: Gavin Starks (Icebreaker One) and Duncan Oswald (Sage, interim co-chair pre-launch)

Secretariat: IB1

Meeting Aims: 

1. Explain Carbon Commons and its governance processes
2. Discuss targets and launch ideas
3. Agree on Membership proposal and reach out to prospective members

Minutes:

• It was agreed that:
  • the governance model and membership terms be adopted
  • the vision, mission, and values be adopted, subject to the addition of ‘five principles’

• It was noted that:
  • for-profit organisations cannot sit on the Steering Group (n.b.  DO will step down as interim co‑chair and there will be a selection process for the new co-chair)
  • CC is positioned to aid harmonisation and compliance, not as a competing standard. The SG will determine its scope – e.g. data set(s), defining criteria for CC-compliant factors and methods, enabling comparability across products, companies and sectors.
  • the SG will approve a definition of ‘fit-for-purpose’ for CC
  • the role of technical and academic expertise is essential in safeguarding methodological quality 
  • governance is key to enable adoption and reduce risk
  • carbon accounting is increasingly important in procurement, taxation, cross-border adjustment mechanisms (CBAM), and financial decisions, but the data quality is not fit for purpose or system complete
  • product‑level emissions factors are an initial priority area for impact and alignment

• It was discussed that:
  • there is a need to coordinate with government and parallel initiatives (e.g. WRI, UK Government) to ensure incremental development and avoid duplication of effort
  • clear communication and storytelling are critical: CC participants must be able to understand and explain what it is and what it is not (e.g. via product-level use cases) in plain language, for practitioners, SMEs and related stakeholders

Next meeting: March 2026 [date to be confirmed]

Formal records, including attendees, are maintained by the secretariat.  These are confidential to the Steering Group Members.

At the Perseus 2025 AGM it was reported that Perseus is:

• evolving from ‘financing green’ to embedded sustainable finance creating a potential addressable market of £5-10 billion
• adding gas, extending energy coverage from Scope 2 (electricity) to Scope 1
• estimated, via its existing members, to have potential reach of over 1 million UK SMEs and cover over 70% of use cases
• continuing to advance ‘Perseus Ready’ implementations with commercial members
• running a live sandbox (equivalent to production) for use by Carbon Accounting Providers (CAPs) and Energy Data Providers (EDPs) to develop solutions
• working with Perseus members to develop go-to-market capabilities to support hundreds of thousands of SMEs
• exploring integration with Open Banking to enable cross-sector interoperability
• producing XBRL outputs to enable integration with financial reporting systems
• pioneering the development of a voluntary, cross-sector Smart Data scheme, aligned with the UK Data Act and supported by an openly-licensed digital public infrastructure (DPI) architecture for secure data sharing 

“Perseus makes it easier for everyone to do their carbon calculations properly, and comfortably moves us years ahead of the most stringent proposed updates to the GHG Protocol. This is exactly why Sage intends to roll out a Perseus enabled product to make reporting easier for hundreds of thousands of UK SMEs.”

George Sandilands, Vice President, Sage Earth

From financing green to embedded sustainable finance

For much of the last decade, ‘green finance’ has focused on funding individual projects: a retrofit here, a solar installation there. Important, but limited. 

Perseus marks a shift to something far more systemic: it moves beyond financing green to embedding sustainable finance by integrating trusted, verifiable emissions data directly into everyday accounting and financial decision-making.

This evolution means Perseus can be applied across the whole SME market, not just specialist green products. Rather than expecting SMEs to seek out solutions themselves – something most lack the time or expertise to do – Perseus brings trusted insights to where they are (e.g. inside their existing accounting, banking and carbon applications). 

Perseus can support lending, credit and debit products, and even savings accounts, allowing sustainability performance to be reflected wherever financial decisions are made. The impact on SMEs is significant: personalised insights, lower reporting costs, easier access to capital for energy-efficiency upgrades, and new space for financial innovation. By making sustainability data usable at scale, Perseus aims to help turn ‘net zero’ from a niche ambition into a normal feature of how the economy works.

“As a leading smart data initiative, Perseus is developing guardrails for assurable data to support finance and supply chain decisions towards a sustainable economy.”

Hannah Gilbert, Director of Sustainability, British Business Bank