The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is pleased to announce that the Bezos Earth Fund has awarded USD $9.25 million to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol), which is co-convened by the World Resources Institute and WBCSD. The partnership will allow GHG Protocol to upgrade and clarify its existing standards, create new guidance, and provide further technical services to businesses. This work will support GHG Protocol users’ implementation of greenhouse gas emissions accounting and reporting standards.
The GHG Protocol establishes comprehensive global standardized frameworks, tools and resources to measure and manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from private and public sector operations, value chains and mitigation actions. It is currently the world’s most widely used GHG accounting standard. The GHGP Corporate Standard provides the accounting platform for virtually every corporate GHG reporting program in the world. Over 92% of Fortune 500 companies that report emissions data to CDP do so according to the GHG Protocol accounting standards.
In November 2022, the GHG Protocol launched a set of surveys on its Corporate Accounting Reporting Standard, Scope 2 Guidance, Scope 3 Standard and Scope 3 Calculation Guidance to better understand users’ challenges with implementing the standards. The global stakeholder survey process will inform future revisions to existing standards or development of additional guidance and sets the stage for the next two years of GHG Protocol’s work. By soliciting feedback from users on pain points, as well as users’ suggestions for revisions, GHG Protocol is working to better serve practitioners on the ground.
See related article: Bezos Earth Fund Invests $34 Million to Help Deliver Climate-Friendly Food and Improve Corporate Climate Accountability
Dr Andrew Steer, President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund, noted that “The global demand for greenhouse gas accounting and disclosure is skyrocketing and must be scaled and modernized to deliver needed standards, tools, and training.” He added: “Trust in these systems is paramount, and this investment in two critical corporate climate and accountability disclosure initiatives will help enable companies to take urgent climate action.”
“For over twenty years, GHG Protocol has played a foundational role in the greenhouse gas emissions and accounting ecosystem. Its standards have come to underpin virtually every corporate GHG reporting program,” said Ani Dasgupta, President & CEO of World Resources Institute. “This generous award from the Earth Fund comes at a critical inflection point as the GHG Protocol updates its standards and guidance, supports the eco-system that is based on it, and significantly ramps up support to thousands of businesses looking to make credible progress on climate commitments. Without a common set of definitions and measurements, it will be impossible to make sustained progress in critical emission reduction goals.”
Dominic Waughray, Executive Vice President at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, said: “Business plays a critical role in accelerating decarbonization. High integrity standards which are aligned with the latest climate science and reflect user needs are key to enable targeted action and measurement of progress, hence creating accountability. We are delighted to be continuing our collaboration with WRI on this next phase of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, building on the strong foundations we have already created together.”