GHGProtocol

GHG Protocol, also written as GHG Protocol, is a widely adopted international framework for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions. It provides standards and guidance that help organizations quantify their emissions, set reduction targets, and disclose performance to stakeholders. Developed through a collaboration between the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the protocol emphasizes transparency, comparability, and decision-useful data.

The protocol organizes accounting around organizational boundaries and emission scopes. It defines three essential scopes: Scope 1 for direct GHG emissions under an organization’s control; Scope 2 for indirect emissions from the consumption of purchased electricity, heat, or steam; and Scope 3 for other indirect emissions in the value chain. It also outlines boundary-setting approaches such as operational control and financial control, and provides methods for data collection, calculation, and the selection of emission factors. The framework guides the delineation of organizational and reporting boundaries to ensure inventories are consistent and comparable.

Key components include the Corporate Standard for organizational inventories and the Scope 3 Standard for value-chain emissions; there are also standards for product-level accounting and sector-specific guidance. The GHG Protocol is widely used by corporations, governments, and non-governmental organizations for internal management, external reporting, investor communication, and supply-chain improvements. It supports alignment with other sustainability reporting frameworks and may inform regulatory disclosures where applicable.

While the GHG Protocol is voluntary, it has become a de facto industry standard in many sectors, with updates issued to reflect advances in measurement methods and evolving emission sources. The framework aims to improve comparability and reduce measurement uncertainty across organizations and geographies.