Greenhouse Gas Protocol  

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) is an internationally accepted set of standards that helps organizations measure, report and manage their greenhouse gas emissions in a consistent way.

Developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the GHG Protocol establishes common terms, accounting rules and reporting formats. It groups emissions into three scopes (categories). Scope 1 consists of direct emissions from sources an organization owns or controls, such as fuel burned in company vehicles or factories. Scope 2 is indirect emissions from purchased electricity, heat, steam and cooling.

By improving transparency and enabling credible comparisons across organizations and over time, it supports efforts to set and track greenhouse gas reduction targets. This is especially important in the context of global climate initiatives such as the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming by encouraging countries to reduce emissions through their own national regulations for businesses and other organizations.

Scope 3 is all other indirect emissions across the organization's full operations and product life cycle, divided into 15 upstream and downstream categories, including suppliers and the use of its products by customers. For many organizations, these emissions make up the largest share, but they are also the most complex to measure. For example, a clothing company's Scope 3 emissions may include emissions from textile production, transportation and even customers' washing and disposal of garments.

Rather than a single document, the GHG Protocol is a set of standards tailored to different goals. For example, its Corporate Standard helps businesses track their company-wide carbon footprint, while the Scope 3 and Product Standards look deeper into supply chains and individual item lifecycles. Other specialized frameworks exist to help local and regional governments measure community emissions and policymakers track climate goals.

Although use of the GHG Protocol is voluntary, it has been widely adopted by businesses, governments, investors and environmental organizations worldwide. It underpins many sustainability reporting systems, including corporate climate disclosures, ESG (environmental, social and governance) reporting and carbon footprint assessments.