GHG Protocol Corporate Standard

The GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard is an international best practice for the global standardisation of GHG so that corporate entities can measure, quantify, and report their own emission levels, with the overarching objective of making global emissions manageable. The relevant gases, as described by the Kyoto Protocol (1997, implemented 2005) are: carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆). The protocol itself is under the management of the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard provides requirements and guidance for companies preparing a GHG emissions inventory that represents a true and fair account of their emissions through the use of standardised approaches and principles. Further objectives of the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard are to simplify and reduce the costs of compiling a GHG inventory, to provide companies with information that can be used to build an effective strategy to decarbonise and to increase consistency and transparency in GHG accounting and reporting among companies.

This standard has been developed for companies developing a GHG inventory. However, it should not be used to quantify the reductions associated with GHG mitigation projects for use as offsets or credits, as the GHG Protocol for Project Accounting provides requirements and guidance for this purpose. 

The focus of the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard is on the accounting and reporting of emissions, but the standard does not require emissions information to be reported. Additionally, while this standard is designed to develop a verifiable inventory, it does not provide a standard for how the verification process should be concluded.

GHG Protocol calculation tools

To complement the standard and guidance provided in this standard, calculations with step-by-step guidance and worksheets are available to help companies calculate GHG emissions from specific sources or industries.

The GHG Protocol provides a Corporate Standard Training Webinar where participants can gain knowledge and skills in the following categories:

1. Accounting of GHG emissions and reporting principles

2. Defining business goals and inventory design

3. Setting organisational boundaries

4. Setting operational boundaries

5. Tracking emissions over time

6. Identifying and calculating GHG emissions

7. Reporting GHG emissions

The webinar includes live sessions, webinar recordings and training materials.