GHG Protocol
The GHG Protocol is the most widely used international standard for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions, defining the Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions categories used across most corporate carbon accounting and disclosure frameworks.
Definition
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) is a set of internationally recognised standards, developed by the World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development, for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions. It's the methodological foundation that most corporate carbon accounting — and most regulatory frameworks, including CSRD — is built on.
The GHG Protocol's most widely referenced contribution is its three-scope emissions categorisation: Scope 1 (direct emissions), Scope 2 (indirect emissions from purchased energy), and Scope 3 (all other value-chain emissions). It also defines calculation methodologies, organisational boundary-setting approaches, and reporting principles intended to make emissions figures comparable across organisations and over time.
Why It Matters
Because most regulatory and voluntary disclosure frameworks reference the GHG Protocol's scope definitions directly, understanding it is a prerequisite for producing carbon figures that will actually satisfy compliance requirements like CSRD, rather than figures calculated on an ad hoc basis that need to be redone later.
How ecolyptus Helps
ecolyptus's carbon reporting follows GHG Protocol scope definitions and methodology directly, so emissions data produced on the platform maps cleanly onto CSRD and other regulatory disclosure requirements without additional reclassification work.