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    GHG Protocol

    Definition

    A family of greenhouse-gas accounting standards and guidance for corporate, value-chain and other emissions inventories.

    Editorial definition: The QHSE Standard, updated 3 October 2026 · https://qhsetech.com/glossary/ghg-protocol

    Scope: Specify which standard, boundary and version a calculation follows.

    Sources checked: . Examples are editorial illustrations.

    What the GHG Protocol standards cover and what is being revised

    The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is a set of accounting standards and guidance developed with WRI and WBCSD. Its corporate texts are the Corporate Standard, the Scope 2 Guidance and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard, and a separate Project Protocol covers mitigation projects. The Corporate Standard sets requirements and guidance for a corporate-level inventory of seven gases. A 2015 revision added the Scope 2 Guidance.

    The Corporate Standard is designed to be programme-neutral and compatible with most existing GHG programmes. It covers accounting and reporting only: it does not require emissions information to be sent to WRI or WBCSD, and it does not set how verification is done. It is not a tool for quantifying project reductions to be claimed as offsets or credits, a job for the Project Protocol. Other rules point to it. The revised ESRS climate standard asks an undertaking to consider the 2004 Corporate Standard, the 2015 Scope 2 Guidance and the 2011 Scope 3 Standard, sets financial control as the default boundary with equity share or operational control as alternatives, and says the ESRS requirements take precedence over those accounting standards, for example on reporting boundaries.

    The standards are under revision. Two public consultations, on the Scope 2 Guidance and on consequential accounting methods, ran between 20 October 2025 and 31 January 2026. A request for information on a proposed multi-statement structure, with a market-based inventory statement, an impact statement and a non-GHG indicators statement, ran from 31 March to 15 June 2026, and the summary of responses was published on 23 September 2026, with the announcement saying the next phase is being synchronised with the corporate standard suite. It reports that 84 per cent of respondents supported the multi-statement structure, and that many suggested the new statements stay optional at first. The GHG Protocol says its white paper is not a draft standard. It expects a draft of a consolidated Corporate Standard to go to public consultation in the second quarter of 2027, with the final version slated for the fourth quarter of 2028. Record the edition and date of each text used, because revised texts are still to come. This page is general information, not advice on which edition or boundary a company must use.

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    What a GHG Protocol based inventory record holds in software

    • The standards and editions applied: the Corporate Standard, the Scope 2 Guidance, the Scope 3 Standard and any calculation guidance, with their dates.
    • The boundary approach: equity share, financial control or operational control, with the reason and date.
    • The gases included and any gas or source excluded, with the reason.
    • Scope 1, 2 and 3 results, with Scope 3 by category and both Scope 2 methods where applicable.
    • Emission factor and global warming potential sources, with year and version.
    • Base year choice and a recalculation log.
    • Data quality and uncertainty notes by source.

    The GHG Protocol, ISO 14064 and a reporting rule

    The GHG Protocol is an accounting standard. It is not a reporting law and not a verification scheme. Reporting rules may point to it while setting their own requirements, as the revised ESRS do on boundaries. EN ISO 14064-1:2018 is a separate standard that the ESRS text also names as something an undertaking may consider.

    A hypothetical example: recording the edition and a second boundary

    This case is invented, so it describes no real company or inventory. A company prepares its inventory on the operational control approach. It records that it follows the Corporate Standard, the Scope 2 Guidance and the Scope 3 Standard, with the version of each. Its Scope 1 is 3,100 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Its Scope 2 is 5,300 tonnes by the location-based method and 4,800 by the market-based method, so the totals for Scopes 1 and 2 are 8,400 and 7,900 tonnes, and the report gives both.

    A customer later asks for figures on the financial control boundary used by the ESRS. The team does not edit the inventory. It creates a second, labelled boundary view that adds one entity with 300 tonnes of Scope 1, so that Scope 1 is 3,400 tonnes there, and records that the ESRS requirements take precedence where they differ. When the GHG Protocol publishes a consultation draft, the team logs it as a draft and changes nothing until a final text exists.

    Common misunderstandings about the GHG Protocol

    • The GHG Protocol is not one document. The corporate, Scope 2, Scope 3, product and project texts have different purposes and dates.
    • An inventory built on it is not automatically verified. The Corporate Standard does not set how verification is done.
    • A consultation or white paper is not a revised standard. The actions and market instruments paper is not a draft standard.
    • Following it does not override a reporting rule. The revised ESRS say their requirements prevail where they differ, for example on boundaries.
    • The Corporate Standard is not a method for offsets. It should not be used to quantify project reductions for credits.

    How the GHG Protocol relates to other glossary terms

    The GHG Protocol supplies the common accounting language that other terms rely on.

    • GHG Scope 1, 2 and 3: the structure of the three scopes the standards define.
    • Scope 2 emissions: the Guidance whose revision is under way.
    • SECR: the UK statutory report that asks for a methodology statement beside its energy and emissions figures.
    • ESRS: the EU standards that refer to the GHG Protocol while setting their own rules.

    Records and evidence that usually exist for a GHG inventory

    • Invoices, meter readings and fuel records for each source.
    • Refrigerant and process data where relevant.
    • The boundary decision and the list of entities and sites inside it.
    • Factor tables with publisher, year and edition.
    • The base year decision and recalculation log.
    • The record of which standards and editions were used for each year.

    What a software tool needs to capture for a GHG Protocol inventory

    • Standard and edition fields for each reporting period.
    • A boundary model that supports more than one view with a label.
    • Both Scope 2 methods held side by side with their factors.
    • Scope 3 categories recorded separately with data quality notes.
    • Factor and warming potential libraries with source and version.
    • A recalculation log that keeps old and new values and the reason.
    • An export that shows boundary, gases and method, not only totals.

    Catalog profiles documenting carbon inventory or GHG calculation

    Profiles are listed because their record documents a carbon calculation capability. That does not show that a product follows a particular GHG Protocol edition or carries any GHG Protocol review.

    Same rule for every product: tagged “Carbon Accounting”, “Carbon Management”, “Scope 3 Emissions”, “Scope 3” or “Emissions Reporting”, with a sourced carbon inventory or GHG calculation capability in its record, or one the vendor stated to us, labelled as vendor-stated. Documented and conditional capabilities qualify; check the linked scope before treating a module as included.

    Tekmon pays for a sponsored placement (above); its place in this list follows the same rule as every entry. How lists are ordered

    All 18 matching profiles are shown. Documentation review, not hands-on testing or a claim of compliance.

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    Frequently asked questions

    Is the GHG Protocol mandatory?

    It is a voluntary accounting standard published with WRI and WBCSD. Laws and reporting standards may refer to it and may set their own rules where they differ, as the revised ESRS do for the reporting boundary.

    Is a revised edition coming?

    The GHG Protocol expects a draft of a consolidated Corporate Standard to go to public consultation in the second quarter of 2027, with the final version slated for the fourth quarter of 2028. The Scope 2 consultation closed on 31 January 2026, and its feedback will inform the review.

    Which gases does the Corporate Standard cover?

    Seven: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulphur hexafluoride and nitrogen trifluoride.

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