Terms & Conditions

Our legal terms for the use of the ClimateClever platform

Terms and ConditionsPrivacy Policy

Terms and Conditions

The ClimateClever Platform has been developed by ClimateClever Pty Ltd, and is based on research conducted byCurtin University. The online sign up process forms part of these terms. By accepting the Terms and Conditions box in the sign up form, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and accepted these terms.

1. Objectives of the ClimateClever Platform

The ClimateClever Platform aims to:

・ Assist Users to understand, and subsequently reduce, carbon emissions and costs from the consumption of energy, water, travel, paper, the production of waste as well as other emission sources;

・ Identify options to reduce User's carbon footprint and ways to embed low carbon initiatives into daily practices;

・ Offset remaining emissions to enable Users to become Carbon Neutral;

・ Create a network of ClimateClever champions within the community to actively address climate change andsave money.

2. Parties to this Agreement

ClimateClever is a social enterprise whose purpose is to achieve social, economic and environmental outcomes in the community by providing services in carbon management and sustainability practice. ClimateClever Pty Ltd is the primary developer and facilitator of the ClimateClever online Platform.

Any party that signs up to the ClimateClever platform, including educational institutions, local and state governments, businesses, organisations and households, are referred to in this agreement as 'Users'.

Other persons/organisations involved in the ClimateClever Platform but are not parties to this agreement are:

・ Sponsors, which are government entities and/or private sector enterprises who provide monetarycontributions for platform development and implementation, subsidies for Users' fees, and/or in-kind donations.

・ Program partners, who may also be sponsors, who provide time, staff and resources for the development of the Platform and facilitation of workshops, webinars and other ClimateClever projects.

ClimateClever will sometimes share aggregated, de-identified / anonymous data with Partners and Sponsors. Any sharing of identifiable data will always require User's explicit permission.

The ClimateClever Platform may have direct links to State or Local Government programs designed to improve the sustainability of educational institutions, businesses or houses. However, ClimateClever remains independent of the government agencies that administer these programs.

3. Duration of the Agreement

The ClimateClever Platform is based on either a monthly or annual subscription that begins from the point of signup, and which can occur at any time during the year. The subscription will auto renew at the end of the subscription period. Paid subscribers will receive an email one month prior to renewal. Within this period, Users can cancel at any time and will not be charged the renewal fee. Any User can choose to leave before the end of the subscription, however they will not be eligible for a refund. Refunds may be given on a case by case basis, at the discretion of ClimateClever. When a User upgrades from a free to a paid tier, the subscription restarts from the date of payment.In the case of a User moving between paid tiers, for example moving from the Basic to the Standard tier, thesubscription does not restart but payment implications apply (see section ‘7: Payment’ for details).

4. Deliverables

Users will receive access to the ClimateClever Platform, including:

・ The ability to enter bill data from a variety of emission sources (the number and type will depend on which tier users are subscribed to) into the Platform to create a baseline emissions profile, track consumption patterns and costs and make comparisons with other similar Users using de-identified data.

・ The ability to manage their carbon footprint by providing Users with ideas and tips for low carbon initiatives and actions, as well as the ability to manage their implementation online.

・ The ability to purchase carbon offsets to offset their remaining emissions.

・ The ability to download a Carbon Footprint Report (on Standard Tier and above).

ClimateClever will not:

・ Provide the capital funds for carbon reduction initiatives, such as solar panels or LED lighting;

・ Partake directly in capital works.

5. User Obligations

In accepting these Terms and Conditions, Users will endeavour to:

・ Undertake a baseline carbon emissions audit using the ClimateClever Platform, including entering utility bills for 12 months of the previous year. This is required by the platform to compare a User’s ongoing performance.

・ Regularly enter the required utility bills during the year into the ClimateClever Platform.

・ Identify and add actions to the platform that reduce their carbon emissions (beyond purchasing offsets).

In addition to the above Users will endeavour to:

・ Establish a Climate/Sustainability Sub Committee consisting of at least two people, including;

・ Administration/finance staff member who is responsible for paying bills.・ Someone tasked with sustainability within the organisation.

6. Media Permissions

ClimateClever will seek to acquire, produce, share and publish photos and videos of Users in relation to carbon reduction initiatives to celebrate successes and achievements. It is the highest priority of ClimateClever to respect and protect the privacy and safety of Users, in particular, students and, as such, ClimateClever will endeavour to abide by the media and privacy policies of participating educational institutions. Images and multi-media supplied by Users may be used by ClimateClever, its sponsors and partners, in promotional material, media releases and program updates, both in print and online, unless otherwise specifically stated by the supplier of the images or multi-media. Permissions from individual Users will be sought prior to the publication of any details that make it possible to identify a User.By signing up, educational institutions, businesses and organisations (not individual householders) giveClimateClever permission to name them on ClimateClever's website and in social media as a participant on thePlatform, unless otherwise specified by the User.

7. Payment

If Users wish to upgrade to a paid tier, they can choose to pay on a monthly or annual basis. Users will save 20% on the fee if they choose the annual subscription plan. The 12 hours of support by ClimateClever staff is also delivered differently between the plans:

・ Pro tier annual plan comes with 12 hours of support which can be used anytime throughout the year. The hours do not accrue and must be used within the 12 months.

・ Pro tier monthly plan comes with one hour of support per month and does not accrue month to month.

If Users choose an annual plan, they must pay the full fee upfront. If they choose to pay monthly, the card on file will get charged once a month.

During a subscription period, Users are able to upgrade or downgrade. If a User upgrades from a lower paid tier to a higher paid tier and are paying on an annual basis, they are charged the difference between the tiers for the remainder of the subscription. If the User is paying on a monthly basis, they are charged the difference between the tier prices for the remaining days left in the current month and then the User will start to pay the new monthly price.

While upgrading, Users can choose to switch from a yearly to a monthly plan, or a monthly to a yearly plan. If a User wishes to upgrade and switch from yearly payments to monthly payments, it may result in the first month or two being free as this has already been covered by their initial yearly payment.

If a User switches from a monthly plan to a yearly or vice versa on the same tier (for example, staying on the Standard tier), this will come into effect at the end of the current billing period (either the year or month).

Paid Users will not be eligible for a refund from downgrading tiers, or in the case that ClimateClever chooses to terminate a User's subscription in accordance with a breach of the conditions stated in Section 8. However, some refunds may be granted on a case by case basis.

Free subscriptions from Partners

Users may receive a free paid subscription from a ClimateClever Partner who has chosen to subsidise the cost.Please note the subsidy only applies to the first year, after which the User can decide whether to continue paying for the subscription or downgrade to the free tier. However, if the User continues on the paid subscription, they will continue to receive the 10% Partner discount for as long as the Partner holds a ClimateClever Partner subscription.

8. Termination of the Agreement

ClimateClever reserves the right to terminate this agreement and subscription in the event that a User:

・ Fails to pay the subscription fee as set out in Section 7;

・ Enters intentionally false and misleading information/data into the Platform;

・ Engages in fraudulent activity.

9. Confidentiality and data

ClimateClever acknowledges that use of the ClimateClever Platform may entail the exchange of commercially confidential information, including financial data and information about business models, operations and prospects, costs and income as well as other sensitive information. Accordingly, ClimateClever will:

・ Seek full permission from Users to use any identifiable sensitive information for program reporting, promotion and research purposes;

・ De-identify and aggregate data and information that is used to make comparisons with other Users, which is displayed through the Platform or for promotional purposes;

・ De-identify and aggregate data and information that will be used to monitor and report on the progress of the Platform in published articles, media and blogs, unless otherwise agreed to by the User;

・ De-identify and aggregate data for use in correspondence with partners or sponsors on Users' behalf, unless otherwise agreed upon by the User;

・ De-identify and aggregate data for use in academic research. If further data is required (i.e. interviews or additional surveys), researchers will seek permission directly from Users. This research will also be subject to the ethics clearance requirements of the lead university. Users will be required to separately provide consent directly to the researcher in relation to research ethics clearance.

For purposes of this undertaking, the data and information mentioned above shall not include that which:

・ Is in the public domain at the time of disclosure;

・ Becomes part of the public domain after disclosure to a party through no fault, act or failure to act, error or breach of this undertaking by ClimateClever;

・ Is discovered by parties independent of any involvement in the Platform;

・ Is required by order, statute or regulation of any government authority to be disclosed to any court or other body, provided that the party shall notify the other party thereof to provide or afford it the opportunity to obtain a protective order or other relief;

・ Or is obtained from a third party who has acquired a legal right to disclose the specific information.

For further information around how ClimateClever deals with Personal Information, please see ClimateClever's Privacy Policy.

10. Indemnification

ClimateClever will make all reasonable attempts to provide Users with accurate advice that will reduce carbon emission outputs and costs. It is, however, the responsibility of Platform Users to implement this advice with caution and due diligence. Given the nature of this Platform, ClimateClever:

・ Provides no guarantee to the results that individual Users may achieve in terms of carbon emission and cost reductions;

・ Will not be liable or held responsible for any negative consequences of low carbon actions implemented by the User, resulting in either damage to infrastructure, in bodily harm or negative financial impact;

・ Reserves the right to make changes to the content of the Platform without notice, though ClimateClever will endeavour to make reasonable efforts to ensure no adverse effects to Users.

In addition:

・It is the User's responsibility to ensure all data has been added correctly to the platform before generating a report. ClimateClever will not be held liable for any missing or incorrectly added data or any discrepancies due to human error or negligence.

・Each party shall indemnify and hold harmless the other party and its Users and other affiliates in relation to any claims or issues that may arise from direct engagement with the ClimateClever Platform;

・ Each party shall act as an independent contractor, with sole responsibility for its own operations, personnel and operating expenses, and nothing contained in these terms shall be construed to create a partnership or joint venture between parties;

・ When acting on advice from ClimateClever, it is the responsibility of Users to ensure they act within the policy and regulatory frameworks of State and Federal Governments and other governing bodies to which they are accountable;

・ Users acknowledge that the emission factors used within the ClimateClever platform/system are only relevant in the Australian context. The ClimateClever platform should not be used for emissions calculations outside of Australia;

・ ClimateClever cannot predict nor control changes in government funding allocations that may or may not occur as a result of changes in Users operating budgets (i.e. educational institutions or organisations) as a result of implementing carbon reduction initiatives.

11. Purchasing offset credits

Carbon offsets purchased within the ClimateClever Platform come from South Pole, a carbon asset management company that develops projects with the specific aim of making reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions to address climate change.User’s details are used to generate Verified Emission Reductions (VERs) under the Verified Carbon Standard or theGold Standard (VCUs or GS VERs). The verification of VCUs, VERS or GS VERs is carried out by independent UN accredited auditors, such as TUV, SGS and DNV. The generated and/or acquired emission rights will be retired bySouth Pole, ClimateClever’s offsetting provider, through an independent register (such as Markit or APX) and thus will be withdrawn permanently and irrevocably in the market for emission rights.Retirement of Offsets:The Offset Certificate that Users receive from the ClimateClever Platform does not imply carbon neutrality or anything else other than the retirement of the specified numbers of VERs. The User acknowledges that South Pole will retire the VERs purchased together with the VERs purchased by other customers, and hence, the VERs purchased by the User shall not be retired individually and no individual formal retirement certificate will be provided by SouthPole. That is, the User will not receive title to the VERs achieved by any specific emission reduction projects.

・ Should the User require an individual formal retirement certificate, the User should contact South Pole prior to making any purchase, as such requirement may result in an additional charge.

・ The formal retirement of the VERs purchased shall be carried out by ClimateClever’s offsetting provider in the calendar year following the year in which the VER purchase is made by the User.

Maturity and Payment:

・ The User understands that when purchasing offsets and entering into this agreement, they are sending a purchase order to ClimateClever and that the User’s credit card will be charged for the amount of the purchase by clicking the purchase button.

・ Upon a receipt of payment, ClimateClever’s offsetting partner will offset the CO2-e emissions specified and is subject to this agreement.

Refunds:

・ The User will receive a non-transferable certificate. Purchase of any carbon certificates is non-refundable and the User is responsible for payment when purchased.

Editing carbon data after generating offsets:

・ Once a carbon footprint report has been generated for a specific year within the ClimateClever Platform, and includes offsets, no edits or revisions to the data can be made.

Purchasing offsets external to ClimateClever’s Platform:

・ Users are under no obligation to purchase offsets from the ClimateClever Platform. Users are also able to purchase offsets from external providers and upload the certificate to the ClimateClever Platform.

Pre-purchasing offsets:

・ Users are able to pre-purchase offsets for use in the future.

・ For more information about South Pole’s Offsets, see South Pole's Terms and Conditions.

Privacy Policy

ClimateClever PTY LTD is an Australian-based social enterprise, which designed and built the ClimateClever App/Platform. The Platform assists schools, homes and businesses to reduce their carbon footprint and save money on utility bills.

This page is used to inform you of our policies regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information and who we share it with. We don’t take your privacy for granted and we use the greatest care in protecting your personal information.

If you choose to use our Platform, then you agree to the collection and use of information in relation to this Policy. The personal information that we collect is used for providing and improving our Platform. We will not use or share your personal information with anyone except as described in this Privacy Policy.

The terms used in this Privacy Policy should be taken in conjunction with our Terms and Conditions, which is accessible on our website Terms, unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy.

1. What information do we collect and why?

For a better experience while using our Platform, we may require you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information, including but not limited to email, name, address, demographic information, billing information, utility bills, building information, including appliances and other building assets, and information on low carbon actions undertaken.

  • The information that we request will be retained by us and used as described in this Privacy Policy, as well as in the Terms and Conditions on our website Terms, which users accept during the signup process.
  • We collect your personal information directly from you via the ClimateClever Platform and, in some cases, from other organisations. In situations where we work closely with partner organisations, such as social services organisations, we may share your information in order for those organisations to better support you. Rest assured; we will always request your consent when we do this, and they will never disclose your personal information to another organisation without your consent.

We may also share de-identified information with other partner organisations or sponsors (see our Terms) such as local governments, utility companies and other organisations that may subsidise or support you to use our Platform. The information will be de-identified, aggregated and generic in nature and used predominantly for reporting purposes, as well as for improving their own services to you. We may also provide de-identified information and data to research organisations, including universities, for the purpose of conducting research.

For the purpose of this undertaking, the data and information mentioned above shall not include that which:

  • Is in the public domain at the time of disclosure;
  • Becomes part of the public domain after disclosure to a party through no fault, act or failure to act, error or breach of this undertaking by ClimateClever;
  • Is discovered by parties independent of any involvement in the program;
  • Is required by order, statute or regulation of any government authority to be disclosed to any court or other body, provided that the party shall notify the other party thereof to provide or afford it the opportunity to obtain a protective order or other relief;
  • Or is obtained from a third party who has acquired a legal right to disclose the specific information.

Current Third Party Services

Our Platform uses third party services that may collect information used to identify you. Below are links to Privacy Policies of third party Platform providers used by our Platform:

  • Stripe, used for collecting payment details and creating subscriptions;
  • Customer IO, used for sending you transactional emails such as notifications and account updates;
  • Amplitude, used for tracking anonymous engagement throughout the platform;
  • Sentry, used for bug tracking;
  • Intercom, used for live chat and responding to users' questions.

2. Log Data

Whenever you use our Platforms, we collect data and information (through third party products) on your device called Log Data. This is in case of an error in the Platform and will help us to rectify the problem for you in the most efficient manner. This Log Data may include information such as your device Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, device name, operating system version, the configuration of the browser and web app when utilising our Platform, the time and date of your use of the Platform, and other statistics.

3. Cookies:

Cookies are files with a small amount of data that are commonly used as anonymous unique identifiers. These are sent to your browser from the websites that you visit and are stored on your device's internal memory.

Our Platform uses ‘cookies’ to collect information to improve our Platforms. You have the option to either accept or refuse these cookies and to know when a cookie is being sent to your device. If you choose to refuse our cookies, you may not be able to use some parts of the ClimateClever Platform.

4. Service Providers:

We may employ third-party organisations, companies and individuals due to the following reasons:

  • To facilitate our Platform;
  • To perform other related services or;
  • To assist us in analysing how our Platform is used.

We want to inform you that these third parties may have access to your information. However, we will always ask for your consent if we share your personal information. These third parties perform the tasks assigned to them on our behalf, such as payment systems and automated email services. They will not disclose or use the information for any other purpose.

5. Security:

We value your trust in providing us with your personal information and we use best practice, commercially acceptable, means of protecting it. However, it is important to understand that no method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage, is completely secure and reliable. If any data breach occurs, we will let you know within 24 hours of us discovering the breach, including what information was accessed.

6. Links to Other Sites

This Platform may contain links to other sites. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that site. Note that these external sites are not operated by us. Therefore, we strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of these websites. We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or Platforms.

7. Children’s Privacy

Our Platforms do not address anyone under the age of 13 to create an account. However,  children under the age of 13, may be provided with access to their school ClimateClever account, but no personal data is collected. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. In the case we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we immediately delete this from our servers. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately.

8. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. Thus, you are advised to review this page periodically for any changes. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. These changes are effective immediately after they are posted on this page.

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