Update (September 2026): GHG Protocol and ISO announced on 29 July 2026 that the Corporate Standard, Scope 2 Guidance, Scope 3 Standard and market-instruments work will be consolidated with ISO 14064-1 into a single co-branded standard: integrated consultation Q2 2027, final publication end-2028. The Scope 2 revision continues separately with a second consultation in 2026 and final text expected in 2027.
• Scope 1 GHG emissions are direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. Note that one company’s Scope 1 (direct) emissions are Scope 3 (indirect) emissions for a company or consumer who is in the first company’s value chain.
• Scope 2 GHG emissions are indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy.
• Scope 3 GHG emissions are all indirect emissions (not included in Scope 2) that occur in the value chain of the reporting company, including both upstream and downstream emissions. The GHG Protocol’s Scope 3 schema contains 15 stages, eight of which are upstream, seven downstream.
The GHG Protocol was established by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for
Sustainable Development (WBCSD) over 20 years ago as demand for an international standard for corporate GHG accounting and reporting emerged in the late 1990s.
