The race is on to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, making this a hot topic. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) has been developed to meet the need to reduce emissions and is meant to help countries, cities, and businesses to measure and manage their greenhouse gas emissions.
Whether you’ve heard of the GHG Protocol, you can rest assured that greenhouse gas emission reduction is meaningless without specific standards for measurement.
But you may be wondering what the Greenhouse Gas Protocol is. Read on to learn more about the GHG Protocol, who it’s for, and more.
What is the Greenhouse Gas Protocol?
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) was first established in 1998 to address the need for international standards that could be used by organisations to account for and report their GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions. The protocol was first published as the Corporate Standard in 2001.
The GHG Protocol guidelines came from a collaborative effort by governments, industries, NGOs, corporations, and partners with the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
The most famous system the GHG Protocol has created for greenhouse gas emissions measurement is its Scope 1, 2, & 3 emissions categories; however, this is only one part of the protocol’s work.
In addition to the scopes, the protocol also offers standards for a wide range of situations and use cases, as described below. The protocol’s standards are updated every so often, and the GHG Protocol has also developed tools and training for improved carbon emissions calculation.
The GHG Protocol has also broadened to create standards and tools for governments and cities to track climate action. All of this has developed since the Paris Agreement in 2015.
The GHG Protocol recently also launched the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) initiative (2019). The goal is to develop a global standard for the financial industry to report greenhouse gas emissions from investments.
What Does the GHG Protocol Do?
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol was established to develop standards that make it easier for everyone to reduce their emissions in a clear, consistent manner. The guidelines cover the following:
- Data collection
- Measurement
- Reporting
The GHG Protocol has taken time to work with governments, NGOs, industry associations, and businesses to develop standards that are useful for lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The protocol also updates the standards and adds new ones to be used in specific cases.
The GHG Protocol supports an approach that’s driven by data to address the issues caused by climate change. This makes the complex problem of climate more manageable and easier to understand.
The protocol works to help organisations make climate action progress by offering standards that pinpoint their greenhouse gas emissions priorities. The protocol allows companies to gain a clear understanding of the most important actions they can take to reduce the emissions causing climate change.
Why is the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Useful to Companies?
Now, you may be wondering why the GHG Protocol is useful to companies, including your own. Well, there’s a reason the protocol has become the standard.
The GHG Corporate Standard and Value Chain Standards are two of the most useful standards for corporations. For instance, the Corporate Standard makes it easier for companies to measure and keep GHG inventories of their operations. The Value Chain Standard facilitates a corporation to undergo carbon accounting across their value chain.
About 80% of greenhouse gas emissions for most companies come from their value chain. The Value Chain Standard supports companies and helps them reduce these emissions.
In addition, the GHG Protocol helps organisations comply with the most rigorous ESG frameworks, such as the SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative).
While the protocol was first developed for the private sector, it also works with the public sector. The two sectors are working together to reduce emissions in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement.
What About the GHG Protocol Scopes?
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol created a system of scope-based classifications that subdivide the direct and indirect sources of greenhouse gas emissions for businesses. The GHG Protocol is most well-known for these GHG emissions scopes. The three main scopes it has established are:
- Scope 1: direct emissions from business operations
- Scope 2: power plant emissions from business energy requirements; their purchased electricity, steam, heat, and cooling
- Scope 3: indirect emissions from upstream (supply chain) and downstream (consumer & waste stream emissions) for products and services.
Each company creates greenhouse gas emissions both directly and indirectly, reflected in these scopes, along with the greenhouse gas emissions produced by their products over their lifecycle.
These scopes are designed to communicate which emissions are included in the accounting system of a company. This helps to create a baseline of their progress across industries and understand greenhouse gas emissions gaps.
What are the Different GHG Protocol Standards?
The protocol has also created a wide range of standards for organisations of all types; by applying these standards, these organisations can report their carbon footprints and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Each standard addresses a unique need for different situations:
Corporate standard: creates steps and recommendations for companies to prepare a GHG inventory.
GHG protocol for cities: cities and larger government regions can use this standard to measure and reduce GHG emissions.
Mitigation goal standard: was developed to train countries and cities on how to meet their greenhouse gas emission mitigation targets.
Corporate value chain standard (Scope 3): includes the monitoring and tracking of these indirect emissions in the value chain and how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the supply chain.
Policy & action standard: is used by countries and cities to evaluate the effectiveness of a range of different policies & actions.
Product standard: is a life cycle analysis of the environmental impact of a product across its entire lifecycle.
Project protocol: is designed to quantify greenhouse gas emissions reduction benefits associated with a specific project.
Summing It Up
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is a helpful standard that your business can use to reach and establish its sustainability goals. If you’re new to the process of greenhouse gas emission reduction, it may be helpful to contact an environmental consultancy that offers a program to reduce your carbon emissions and learn how to use the GHG Protocol effectively.
