MITECO carbon footprint registry: how to get the Calculo badge

Spain’s MITECO (Ministry for Ecological Transition) maintains the official Carbon Footprint, Offsetting and CO2 Absorption Projects Registry, governed by Royal Decree 214/2025 of 18 March. Enrolling is voluntary for most organisations — but it is the only way to earn the government-backed badges that publicly recognise your climate commitment.

The Calculo badge is the entry point. It confirms that your organisation has measured and registered its greenhouse-gas emissions. Without it, you cannot apply for the Reduzco or Compenso badges.

Who can register and who is required to

The registry is open to any organisation with activity in Spain that generates GHG emissions, calculates its footprint, and has a reduction plan. Eligible entities include legal persons and self-employed workers domiciled in Spain.

Participation is voluntary for most organisations, with one exception: companies required to report on non-financial matters (art. 11.1 of RD 214/2025) must register their footprint. Currently, this applies to:

• Companies with more than 250 employees.
• Entities of public interest that, over two consecutive financial years, meet at least one of these conditions: total assets exceeding 20 million euros, or net annual turnover exceeding 40 million euros.

These obligated companies must include Scope 1 and 2 in their calculations (Scope 3 remains optional).

What the registry expects

To register your footprint you need, at minimum, a complete inventory of Scope 1 (direct emissions from sources you control — fleet, boilers, refrigerants) and Scope 2 (emissions from purchased energy — electricity, district heating).

Scope 3 (value-chain emissions such as business travel, purchased goods, logistics) is not required by the registry, but including it gives you a fuller picture and prepares you for frameworks that do require it (CSRD, SBTi, CDP). Note that if you include Scope 3, you will need external verification by an accredited independent entity.

In addition to the footprint, registration requires submitting a reduction plan alongside it. The plan is presented together with your first footprint. Details on what the plan must include are covered in the Reduzco badge guide.

Organisational and temporal boundaries

• Territory: only emissions attributable to activity within Spain (domestic facilities) can be registered. All significant Scope 1 and 2 emission sources across your facilities must be included.
• Period: the footprint covers 12 consecutive months, normally a calendar year. If the period spans two different years, apply the emission factors for each year; the badge will reflect the year with the greater number of days.
• Each year is a separate registration: even for the same organisation, you must submit the full set of documentation for each year you wish to register.

Methodology and emission factors

There is no restriction on the calculation methodology, provided it is an internationally recognised approach (GHG Protocol, ISO 14064, etc.) and uses the Scope 1 and 2 emission factors published by MITECO on the registry website. Each year’s factors are typically released around May of the following year.

If you do not use the MITECO calculator, you must provide equivalent information:

• Activity data.
• Emission factors (value, units, and source).
• Results per emission source.

Documentation you need to prepare

Before starting the registration, make sure you have the following documentation ready:

• Carbon footprint report: with emissions by scope, breakdown by source, emission factors used, and an intensity metric. Dcycle generates this automatically.
• Scope 1 and 2 calculation data: downloadable from the Downloads section of the platform, with full traceability included.
• Emission reduction plan: with a base year, quantified target, minimum five-year time horizon, concrete measures, and an intensity metric. Submitted alongside your first footprint.
• External verification report (if applicable): mandatory for large companies or if you include Scope 3. Must be issued by an accredited independent entity.
• EMAS certificate or ISO 50001 audit report (if applicable): as an alternative to specific GHG verification, provided your calculations cover all significant Scope 1 and 2 sources using registry factors.
• Organisation details: tax ID (CIF), legal representative details, and contact information.

Step by step

1. Measure your footprint

Upload your activity data to Dcycle: energy invoices, fleet fuel records, refrigerant logs. The platform applies the official emission factors and calculates your GHG inventory automatically, expressed in tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e).

2. Generate the GHG report

From Dcycle, download a GHG Protocol-compliant report that includes:

• Total emissions by scope.
• Breakdown by category and source.
• Emission factors used (source and version).
• An intensity metric (emissions per unit of revenue, employee, or output).

It is also recommended to download the Scope 1 and 2 calculation data from the Downloads section of the platform, with full traceability included. If your organisation has verified its footprint with an independent third party, attach the verification report as additional documentation.

This report is the supporting document the registry requires.

3. Create your account on the MITECO portal

If this is your first time, register your organisation with:

• Company tax ID (CIF).
• Legal representative details.
• Contact information.

4. Submit the footprint in section a)

Complete the registration form with your report data and attach the supporting documentation:

• Calculation year, emissions per scope, organisational boundary, methodology, and emission factors.
• GHG report.
• Emission reduction plan (see the Reduzco badge guide).
• External verification report, if applicable.

Documentation can be submitted via two channels:

• Sede Electrónica: to the Spanish Climate Change Office (OECC).
• Autonomous community: to your community’s competent authority, if it has its own submission process.

5. Wait for validation

MITECO reviews the submission. Once approved, your footprint is officially registered and you receive the Calculo badge.

Typical timeline

Phase	Estimated time
Calculate your footprint with Dcycle	Days to weeks (depends on data readiness)
Generate the GHG report	Automatic from the platform
Submit to MITECO	30 minutes (online form)
MITECO validation	2–6 weeks

How Dcycle helps

• Calculates your footprint automatically from activity data.
• Applies up-to-date official emission factors (DEFRA, MITECO, IEA).
• Generates a GHG Protocol report ready to upload to the registry.
• Guides you through the MITECO form so you don’t get stuck on any field.

For more details, see the official MITECO Carbon Footprint Registry page.

Common questions

Do I need third-party verification to register? It depends on your organisation’s size and the scope you register. Verification by an accredited independent entity is mandatory in two cases:

• Your organisation is not an SME, medium-sized group, association, foundation, cooperative, or part of the public administration.
• Your footprint includes emission sources whose factors are not provided by the registry (Scope 3 emissions, process emissions, etc.).

If your organisation is an SME and you only register Scope 1 and 2 using MITECO factors, verification is not required. Additionally, if you participate in EMAS or hold ISO 50001 certification, you can substitute the specific GHG verification with:

• EMAS certificate (plus Environmental Declaration).
• ISO 50001 audit report.

In both cases, your calculations must cover all significant Scope 1 and 2 sources using registry factors.

Who can verify? MITECO accepts verification reports from:

• ENAC-accredited verifiers (or international equivalent) for GHG reports.
• EMAS environmental verifiers.
• ISO 50001 Energy Management System verifiers.
• UNFCCC-recognised verifiers.
• Verifiers accredited for Environmental Product Declarations (EPD).
• ISAE 3410 assurance reports issued by auditors registered in the ROAC.

Can I register the footprint of a previous year? Yes. There is no time limit. You can register the footprint of any year as long as you have the consumption data and use the MITECO emission factors for that year (or the latest available if they have not yet been published).

Do I need to include Scope 3? Not for the registry. But it is increasingly expected by other frameworks (CSRD, CDP, SBTi), so including it now saves you work later. Keep in mind that if you choose to include Scope 3, you will need mandatory external verification, since the registry does not provide emission factors for this scope.

Are there benefits beyond the badge? Yes. In addition to public recognition, article 10 of RD 214/2025 establishes that public procurement bodies may consider carbon footprint calculation as an environmental criterion in tendering processes.

Can I register with an autonomous community registry instead? Yes. The national registry’s carbon footprint section is interoperable with autonomous community registries, provided their requirements are compatible. If you have already registered your footprint with an autonomous community registry and want to register it nationally as well, you must notify the autonomous registry so they can forward your application.