Have you ever wondered how businesses and organizations around the world are measuring and reporting their greenhouse gas emissions? The answer is through the GHG Protocol, an international standard that has become a guiding principle for emissions accounting activities. With the GHG Protocol, companies, governments and organizations can better understand their impact on the environment, thereby developing effective strategies to reduce emissions and contribute to sustainable development goals. So specifically What is GHG Protocol?, let's find out with GREEN IN in the article below!
What is GHG Protocol?
The GHG Protocol is a set of global standards and guidelines developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). The core purpose of the GHG Protocol is to provide a unified and transparent framework for organizations to calculate, manage, and report their greenhouse gas emissions.
This protocol not only helps businesses understand “carbon footprint” but also serves as the foundation for many sustainability certification and reporting systems around the world. By using a common standard, the GHG Protocol ensures that emissions reporting is done in a consistent, comparable, and reliable manner.
History and development of GHG Protocol
The GHG Protocol emerged from a collaboration between WRI and WBCSD in the late 1990s. Recognizing that there was no common standard for GHG inventories, the two organizations set out to develop a globally applicable framework.
- 1997: WRI and WBCSD formally initiate partnership.
- 2001: The first version of the Enterprise Standard is published, creating a foundation for measuring emissions at the company level.
- Later years: The protocol is constantly being updated and expanded, including new areas such as value chain emissions (Scope 3) and developing standards for cities, policies and products.
The development of the GHG Protocol is a testament to the growing awareness of the importance of environmental protection among organizations. Accordingly, many governments, industry associations and NGOs have built national emission programs based on the GHG Protocol.
The Importance of the GHG Protocol
The GHG Protocol plays a pivotal role in the current global climate change landscape. It offers a range of practical benefits, from helping businesses manage more effectively to supporting humanity's shared climate goals.
- Effective emissions management: Based on the principle that “what can be measured can be managed and improved”, the GHG Protocol provides organizations with a tool to quantify their emissions. From there, they can identify the largest sources of emissions and develop appropriate mitigation strategies.
- Contribute to global goals: The protocol helps businesses and countries understand their emissions and set specific emission reduction targets. This is especially important in implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement, where countries pledged to limit global temperature increases. Vietnam has also committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
- Transparent and trustworthy: Reporting emissions according to the GHG Protocol increases transparency and credibility for organizations. This not only satisfies the requirements of investors and customers, but also creates a competitive advantage in the market.
Key Standards of the GHG Protocol
To meet the needs of its users, the GHG Protocol provides a comprehensive set of standards, including:
- The Corporate Standard: Guidance for companies to calculate and report emissions at the enterprise level.
- The Corporate Value Chain Scope 3 Standard: Focus on measuring indirect emissions across the entire value chain.
- GHG Protocol for Cities: Helping cities measure and report their emissions at a community scale.
- The Product Standard: Assess the total life cycle emissions of a product.
These standards ensure that whether it is a multinational corporation, a city or an individual product, emissions inventories can be carried out systematically and consistently.
Three scopes of greenhouse gas emissions (Scopes)
One of the biggest contributions of the GHG Protocol is its clear categorization of emissions into three scopes, making it easier for organizations to identify and manage their emission sources.
Scope 1 - Direct emissions
These are emissions from sources directly owned or controlled by the organization, such as:
- Burning fuel on site (boilers, generators)
- Emissions from company-owned vehicles
- Refrigerant gas leak
Scope 2 - Indirect emissions from purchased energy
This includes indirect emissions from the production of electricity, steam, heat or refrigeration that a company purchases and uses. Although the emissions do not occur at a company's facility, they are directly related to its operations.
Scope 3 - Other indirect emissions in the value chain
This is the most complex scope, covering all other indirect emissions within an organisation’s value chain, from sources not directly owned or controlled. Scope 3 can account for the majority of a business’s “carbon footprint” and includes a wide range of emissions, for example:
- Raw material production
- Product transportation and distribution
- Staff work
- Waste treatment
- Use of products after sale
Measuring all three areas helps businesses gain a comprehensive view of their environmental impact, thereby developing more comprehensive and effective mitigation strategies.
Who is using the GHG Protocol?
The GHG Protocol is widely adopted by many entities globally:
- Businesses: Hundreds of thousands of companies worldwide, including 92% of the Fortune 500 in 2016, have used the GHG Protocol to report on ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) and set reduction targets.
- Government: Countries and government agencies use this protocol to develop policy and track progress on national climate commitments.
- Cities and urban areas: Urban areas adopt the GHG Protocol to manage emissions from transport and buildings.
- Investors and financial institutions: They use the GHG Protocol standards to assess the climate risk and sustainability performance of businesses.
Benefits of being recognized as “Built on GHG Protocol”
Resources, products, or services that are verified by WRI to comply with GHG Protocol standards will receive the “Built on GHG Protocol” label and receive the following benefits:
- Quality assurance: This label is a confirmation from WRI experts that the product/service has complied with the requirements of the GHG Protocol, bringing high confidence to users.
- Increase credibility and visibility: The labeled resources will be posted on the official website of GHG Protocol, reaching tens of thousands of visits per month, helping to enhance brand exposure and reputation in the market.
Compare GHG Protocol with other standards
Similarities: All three standards and platforms share a core goal: measuring, managing, and reporting greenhouse gas emissions to increase transparency and drive climate action. The GHG Protocol, ISO 14064, and CDP all help organizations identify and quantify their emissions. Furthermore, they are widely used globally, providing a common language for businesses, investors, and governments to communicate climate information.
Differences:
| Criteria | GHG-Protocol | ISO 14064 | CDP |
| Nature | Standards and guidelines. Provides detailed methodology for calculating emissions, classified into three scopes (Scope 1, 2, 3). | International Certification Standards. Establishes specific requirements for inventory, verification and validation of emissions reporting. | Reporting and Information Disclosure Platform. A system for collecting, evaluating and disseminating environmental data from companies and cities. |
| Main purpose | Provides methodology and rules for reporting greenhouse gas inventories. | Ensure the accuracy and credibility of GHG reports through independent third-party verification and certification. | Promote transparency by collecting and disseminating climate data so that it is easily accessible to stakeholders (investors, customers). |
| Scope of application | Is the basic framework that companies, governments, cities, and other organizations use to build their inventory systems. | Applicable to organizations that want to demonstrate the reliability of their emissions data. | Focus on companies and cities that are required to report by large investors or clients. |
| Role | Provides “how-to” for calculations. | Provide “proof” of the correctness of the calculation. | Provide a “publication site” for the data. |
| Relationship | As a core foundation, ISO 14064 and CDP typically require organizations to adhere to the GHG Protocol methodology for reporting. | Complementary to the GHG Protocol. ISO 14064 certifies that reports are prepared according to the GHG Protocol. | Use the GHG Protocol. CDP requires companies to use the GHG Protocol to calculate the data they publish. |
In summary, the relationship between these three factors can be visualized as follows:
- The GHG Protocol is a common language and rules for writing emissions reports.
- ISO 14064 is an independent “auditor” who checks that the report is written grammatically and accurately.
- CDP is a public forum where articles (reports) are presented for everyone to read.
Combining all three elements helps organizations not only measure emissions accurately, but also ensure authenticity and transparency of information, build trust with stakeholders and drive action for a greener environment.
Conclusion
The GHG Protocol has become the de facto standard for emissions accounting and reporting. Although it still has some limitations, it has succeeded in creating a common language, helping organizations around the world to dialogue and cooperate more effectively in the fight against climate change. Accordingly, our article above has helped you understand what the GHG Protocol is and related information. Hopefully, the article has given you the most general overview, and don't forget to read our next articles.