The Rulebook for Corporate Carbon Accounting
The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol is the world’s most widely used and respected standard for accounting for and reporting greenhouse gas emissions. Developed through a partnership between the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), it provides a comprehensive framework that allows companies and organizations to measure their climate impact in a way that is credible, consistent, and comparable across industries.
In essence, the GHG Protocol is to carbon accounting what the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are to financial accounting. It provides the rulebook and methodologies that ensure everyone is measuring and reporting in the same way.
The Foundation of Modern Sustainability Reporting
The most significant contribution of the GHG Protocol is its establishment of the three-scope framework for categorizing emissions:
- Scope 1: Direct emissions from owned or controlled sources.
- Scope 2: Indirect emissions from the purchase of electricity, steam, heating, or cooling.
- Scope 3: All other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain.
This framework is the foundation of virtually all modern corporate sustainability and ESG Scorecard reporting. When a major film studio like Disney or Netflix publishes its annual environmental impact report and details its carbon footprint, it is using the GHG Protocol’s standards to conduct its inventory. Adopting this protocol is the first essential step for any production or studio that is serious about understanding its environmental impact, setting meaningful reduction targets, and transparently communicating its progress to the public and investors.