Carbon management decisions have become harder. Buyers are navigating a crowded market with over 100 solutions, many of which feel indistinguishable. Regulatory signals are less decisive than in 2024 and 2025, and expectations now extend beyond compliance to credible data, integration with finance and operations, and insight into both corporate and product-level emissions. Many buyers struggle to know where to start and which solutions to prioritise.

Vendors face a parallel challenge. With more than 20 providers in the Green Quadrant alone, standing out is increasingly difficult. Compliance-led messaging is losing relevance, while buyers demand strong data management, quality control, and clear measurement of value-chain emissions. Carbon management software in 2026 requires a fundamentally different approach, with greater emphasis on operational impact, business value, and competitive positioning.

• Discover how buyer priorities and carbon management software requirements have shifted in 2026 compared with 2024–2025, and what these changes mean for vendor positioning and solution selection.
• Learn where leading carbon management providers excel and where they fall short, enabling smarter procurement decisions or more effective competitive positioning.
• Understand how operational impact, risk exposure, and value-chain emissions now drive adoption, and how carbon management can be embedded into finance and operations to deliver measurable business outcomes.