Disclosures
What is the GHG Protocol? The standard behind credible carbon numbers
The GHG Protocol defines how organisations measure emissions — scopes, boundaries and principles. Here is what it covers, in plain language.
Ask any auditor, investor or regulator how a company should measure its greenhouse gas emissions and you will hear the same answer: the GHG Protocol. It is the accounting standard behind the overwhelming majority of corporate carbon reporting worldwide, and the foundation that newer disclosure rules build on.
What it actually is
The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard is a measurement rulebook. It tells you which emissions belong in your inventory (boundaries), how to organise them (the three scopes), and the principles a credible inventory must follow: relevance, completeness, consistency, transparency and accuracy.
The three scopes, briefly
Scope 1 covers direct emissions from sources you own or control — fuel burned in your vehicles and boilers. Scope 2 covers purchased energy — the electricity, steam, heating and cooling you buy. Scope 3 covers everything else in your value chain, from suppliers and business travel to the use of what you sell, organised into fifteen defined categories.
Why it matters in practice
Because everyone measures the same way, numbers become comparable — between years, between facilities and between companies. That comparability is what turns an emissions figure from a marketing line into something a bank, customer or regulator will accept. When a disclosure framework asks for your emissions, it is asking for GHG Protocol numbers.
Getting started
You do not need to master the full standard to begin. Start with Scope 1 and 2 — the data is in your own fuel records and energy bills. Define your boundary, record which emission factor you used for every calculation, and write your method down. Those habits are what make a number defensible when someone asks how you got it.