1.3 Terms Denoting Requirements, Recommendations, and Options
The GHG Protocol uses specific terms to identify requirements,
recommendations, and options for GHG emission statement preparers as follows:
-
“Shall” — Indicates “what is required.”2
-
“Should” — Indicates “a recommendation, but not a requirement.”3
-
“May” — Indicates “an option that is permissible or allowable.”4
-
“Needs,” “can,” and “cannot” — Variously used to (1) “provide recommendations on implementing a requirement”5 or (2) “indicate when an action is or is not possible.”6
For definitions of other selected terms used in the GHG Protocol,
see Appendix B.
Footnotes
2
Quoted from the Corporate Standard, Scope 2 Guidance, Scope 3
Standard, and Product Standard. In addition, the Scope 2
Guidance and Scope 3 Standard state that they use “[t]he term
‘required’ . . . to refer to requirements,” and the Product
Standard similarly states that it uses “the term
‘required’ . . . to refer to ‘shall’
statements given elsewhere in the standard.”
3
Quoted from the Scope 2 Guidance, Scope 3 Standard, and Product
Standard. Similarly, the Scope 3 Technical Guidance states that
it “uses the term ‘should’ to indicate recommendations for
calculations.”
4
Quoted from the Scope 2 Guidance, Scope 3 Standard, and Product
Standard.
5
Quoted from the Scope 2 Guidance. Similarly, the Scope 3 Standard
and Product Standard state that they sometimes use these terms
to “provide guidance on implementing a requirement”
(emphasis added).
6
Quoted from the Scope 2 Guidance, Scope 3 Standard, and Product
Standard.