1.1 Development of the GHG Protocol | DART – Deloitte Accounting Research Tool

The GHG Protocol was developed through a multistakeholder partnership (the “GHG Protocol organization”) of businesses, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), governments, and other entities convened by the World Resources Institute (WRI), a U.S.-based environmental NGO, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), a Geneva-based coalition of nearly 200 international companies. Throughout this Roadmap, the following standards and related guidance will be referred to collectively as the GHG Protocol:

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (the “Corporate Standard”), first issued in 2001 and revised in 2004.
GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance: An Amendment to the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard (the “Scope 2 Guidance”), issued in 2015.
Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard: Supplement to the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (the “Scope 3 Standard”), issued in 2011.
Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions (Version 1.0): Supplement to the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting & Reporting Standard (the “Scope 3 Technical Guidance”), issued in 2013.
Accounting and Reporting Standard Amendment: Required Greenhouse Gases in Inventories (the “Required GHGs Amendment”), issued in 2013.
The GHG Protocol for Project Accounting (the “Project Protocol”), issued in 2005.
Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard (the “Product Standard”), issued in 2011.

The Corporate Standard provides a framework for companies and other types of organizations preparing a GHG emission inventory. For example, it establishes a base year of GHG emissions with which to compare current reported inventory and activity. Specifically, it addresses the accounting for and reporting of the seven GHGs currently covered by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)/Kyoto Protocol: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).1 Its stated objectives are as follows:

“To help companies prepare a GHG inventory that represents a true and fair account of their emissions, through the use of standardized approaches and principles.”
“To simplify and reduce the costs of compiling a GHG inventory.”
“To provide business with information that can be used to build an effective strategy to manage and reduce GHG emissions.”
“To provide information that facilitates participation in voluntary and mandatory GHG programs” (i.e., reporting regimes).
“To increase consistency and transparency in GHG accounting and reporting among various companies and GHG programs.”

As the Corporate Standard notes, a common standard can help business and nonbusiness entities alike. For businesses, a common standard provides a universal reporting framework for preparing GHG inventory statements that can be used both internally and externally. For other entities, as stated in the Corporate Standard, a common standard “improves the consistency, transparency, and understandability of reported information, making it easier to track and compare progress over time.”

The Scope 2 Guidance notes that it “acts as an amendment to the Corporate Standard, providing updated requirements and best practices [as of the issuance date of the Scope 2 Guidance] on scope 2 accounting and reporting.” In addition, the Scope 2 Guidance states that it “introduces accounting and reporting requirements related to scope 2 that replace and add to those in the Corporate Standard.” It emphasizes that “[t]o prepare an inventory in conformance with the Corporate Standard, companies shall follow all [of the additional] requirements” in the Scope 2 Guidance.

As its full title indicates, the Scope 3 Standard is a supplement to the Corporate Standard. The Scope 3 Standard explains that it “complements and builds upon the Corporate Standard to promote additional completeness and consistency in the way companies account for and report on indirect emissions from value chain activities.” Supplementing the Scope 3 Standard is the Scope 3 Technical Guidance, which discusses how to calculate emissions for each of the Scope 3 categories.

Changing Lanes

On January 16, 2025, Geraldine Matchett and Ovais Sarmad, the chair and vice chair, respectively, of the GHG Protocol organization’s Steering Committee (SC), issued a letter (the “January 2025 letter”) highlighting recent developments associated with updating the GHG Protocol standards and related guidance, including the following:

Formation of the SC — In a September 19, 2024, news release (the “September 2024 news release”), the GHG Protocol organization announced the members of its new SC; previously, in a June 25, 2024, news release, it had announced its selection of the SC’s chair and vice chair. As described in the September 2024 news release, “[t]he SC will be the primary governing body of [the GHG Protocol organization], providing strategic guidance on the overarching goals and direction of [the GHG Protocol organization] and ensuring proper adherence to standard development and revision procedures.”
Formation of the Independent Standards Board (ISB) — In the September 2024 news release, the GHG Protocol organization also announced the members of its new ISB; previously, in a January 9, 2024, news release, it had announced its selection of Alexander Bassen to serve as chair of the ISB. As described in the January 2025 letter, the ISB is “a second new governance body [that] oversees the [GHG Protocol organization’s] standard development and revisions process.” According to the September 2024 news release, “the ISB has the mandate to review and approve GHG Protocol standards, guidance, and other normative documentation.”
Technical working group (TWG) meetings — On November 30, 2023, the GHG Protocol organization issued a call for stakeholders to apply for membership in TWGs that were being formed to develop proposed updates to the GHG Protocol standards and related guidance for the ISB’s consideration. Four TWGs (including subgroups thereof), each of which was established to address a specific topic (the Corporate Standard, Scope 2, Scope 3, or actions and market instruments), began convening in the fall of 2024 and held 24 meetings in aggregate that year. A fifth TWG, on forest carbon accounting, was formed in February 2025. As of this Roadmap’s issuance in June 2025, the ISB and SC have approved the Standard Development Plans of each of the first four TWGs. Each of the approved sets of Standard Development Plans includes (1) the scope of work for the corresponding TWG’s workstream and (2) a standards development and revision timeline that extends from 2025 through 2027 (or 2028, in the case of the Actions and Market Instruments TWG).

In addition, the January 2025 letter notes that the GHG Protocol organization has updated its mission and vision statements to read as follows:

Mission — “[T]o develop the most credible, accessible, and widely used greenhouse gas accounting and reporting standards and to proactively facilitate their global adoption and implementation.”
Vision — “[T]hat all private and public entities account for their GHG emissions, enabling an acceleration in reductions in line with the global warming limits required by climate science.”