Greenhouse Gas Protocol
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is the world's leading standard for accounting and reporting greenhouse gas emissions, dividing them into Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3.
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) is an internationally recognised framework for accounting greenhouse gas emissions, developed jointly by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). It provides the methodological basis for company-wide measurement, calculation and reporting of the seven greenhouse gases named in the Kyoto Protocol, all expressed consistently in CO2 equivalents (CO2e). The core Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard is complemented by supplementary standards such as the Scope 2 Guidance and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard.
The GHG Protocol organises a company's emissions into three scopes. Scope 1 covers direct emissions from owned or controlled sources, such as combustion processes or company vehicles. Scope 2 captures indirect emissions from purchased energy such as electricity, heat or steam. Scope 3 covers all other indirect emissions along the upstream and downstream value chain, including purchased goods, business travel, transport and the use of sold products. The reporting boundaries are defined using consolidation approaches based on equity share or operational and financial control (the control approach).
The GHG Protocol has become highly significant for European sustainability reporting: the ESRS E1 (Climate Change) standard under the CSRD explicitly references the GHG Protocol as the recognised accounting methodology for quantifying gross greenhouse gas emissions. Science-based climate targets under the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and many climate and reporting frameworks also build on the GHG Protocol's logic. A consistent, complete and traceably documented greenhouse gas inventory prepared to this standard is therefore an essential prerequisite for audit-ready climate disclosure.
Legal Basis
GHG Protocol Corporate Standard (WRI/WBCSD); ESRS E1 (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772); CSRD (Directive (EU) 2022/2464)
Practical Example
A sustainability manager at a mid-sized machinery manufacturer has to prepare a greenhouse gas inventory for the CSRD report for the first time. She selects the control approach as the consolidation method, first capturing Scope 1 emissions from natural gas used in production and the vehicle fleet, then Scope 2 emissions from purchased electricity (both market-based and location-based), and finally identifying the relevant Scope 3 categories, above all purchased materials and the use phase of the machines sold. She converts all values into CO2 equivalents using emission factors and documents data sources and assumptions in an audit-proof manner for the later assurance review.