Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol)
Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) is a global initiative that develops standards and guidance for greenhouse gas accounting and reporting. Established in 1998 by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), it was created to provide a consistent international framework for measuring and disclosing greenhouse gas emissions. It is widely regarded as the world's leading greenhouse gas accounting framework and is used by businesses, governments, cities and other organizations to support climate-related decision-making and reporting.
GHG Protocol operates through a multi-stakeholder governance structure that includes a Steering Committee, an Independent Standards Board and Technical Working Groups made up of experts from business, government, academia and civil society. The initiative is jointly convened by WRI and WBCSD, which oversee the development, maintenance and implementation of its standards and guidance. International cooperation is central to its work, with stakeholders from around the world participating in standards development and revision processes.
GHG Protocol is also known for establishing the widely used Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 framework for classifying greenhouse gas emissions. Scope 1 refers to direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by an organization, Scope 2 to emissions associated with purchased energy, and Scope 3 to other indirect emissions occurring across the value chain. Building on this framework, GHG Protocol has developed standards and guidance covering corporate emissions, value chains, products, projects, cities and climate policies. Its best-known publications include the Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, which provides the foundation for organizational greenhouse gas reporting, and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard, which provides detailed guidance for reporting emissions across the value chain.
GHG Protocol standards underpin many corporate climate reporting programs, emissions inventories and sustainability disclosure frameworks used around the world. They are used by a large majority of major publicly traded companies that report greenhouse gas emissions..In 2025, GHG Protocol and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) announced a strategic partnership to harmonize their greenhouse gas accounting frameworks and jointly develop future standards.
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