GHG Essential Resources

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have become a focal point in the global effort to combat climate change.

With the increasing urgency to address environmental impacts, various frameworks and standards have been established to guide organizations in reducing their carbon footprints. Among these, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) stands out as a critical mechanism for driving corporate action towards aligning with the Paris Agreement’s goals. SBTi provides companies with a clearly defined pathway to reduce emissions in line with what climate science deems necessary to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and ideally to 1.5°C.

This literature overview examines GHG emissions, focusing on the role and impact of SBTi targets and other related standards. It explores the scientific foundations of GHG measurement, the methodologies employed in setting and achieving reduction targets, and the broader landscape of environmental standards and regulations.

• GREENHOUSE GAS PROTOCOL (https://ghgprotocol.org/)
  The GHG Protocol is an organization that plays a pivotal role in establishing comprehensive global standardized frameworks to measure and manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from private and public sector operations, value chains, and mitigation actions.

• • • A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard
      (PDF Download: https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/standards/ghg-protocol-revised.pdf)
      The standard is used to determine a corporation’s carbon footprint. It describes the three types of GHG accounting (entity, project, product), emission categories (Scope 1, 2, and 3), accounting and reporting principles, setting organizational and operational boundaries, calculating GHG emissions, calculation methods for Scope 2 (market/location-based), and the two roll-up approaches.

• • • Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard
      (PDF download: https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/standards/Corporate-Value-Chain-Accounting-Reporing-Standard_041613_2.pdf)
      The standard “provides requirements and guidance for companies and other organizations to prepare and publicly report a GHG emissions inventory that includes indirect emissions resulting from value chain activities.

• • • Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions
      (PDF download: https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/2023-03/Scope3_Calculation_Guidance_0%5B1%5D.pdf)
      The standard companions the Corporate Value Chain Accounting and Reporting Standard and gives companies practical methods to determine the 15 different Scope 3 emission categories.

• • • Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard
      (PDF download: https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/standards/Product-Life-Cycle-Accounting-Reporting-Standard_041613.pdf)
      The standard describes the method to determine the carbon footprint of a product or service. It is a subset of a full Life Cycle Assessment and focuses on Greenhouse Gases only.
    • Land Sector and Removal Guidance
      (PDF download: https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/2024-07/Project-Overview-3-July-2024_0.pdf)
      The guidance explains how companies should account for and report GHG emissions and removals from land management, land use change, biogenic products, carbon dioxide removal technologies, and related activities in GHG inventories, building on the Corporate Standard and Scope 3 Standard.

• ISO 14040 (https://www.iso.org/standard/37456.html)
  The standard describes the principles and framework for life cycle assessment (LCA). It includes the method of defining the goal and scope of the LCA, the life cycle inventory analysis (LCI) phase, the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) phase, the life cycle interpretation phase, and other aspects.

• Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) (https://sciencebasedtargets.org/)
  SBTi is a corporate climate action organization that enables companies and financial institutions worldwide to play their part in combating the climate crisis. It issues standards to define climate targets for corporations and sectors and validates individual targets.

• • • The Corporate Net-Zero Standard
      (PDF download: https://sciencebasedtargets.org/resources/files/Net-Zero-Standard.pdf)
      The standard provides the guidance and tools companies need to set science-based net-zero targets.

• • • Forest, Land and Agriculture Science-Based Target-Setting Guidance
      (PDF download: https://sciencebasedtargets.org/resources/files/SBTiFLAGGuidance.pdf)
      The guidance describes the criteria and recommendations for target setting and provides detailed guidance on using the FLAG Tool. It contains guidance on how to set targets for FLAG-related emissions across different scopes and for different end users.

• Ecoinvent (https://ecoinvent.org/)
  Promotes environmental data to support informed sustainability decisions. Its global database provides life cycle inventory (LCI) data for conducting LCA studies. It contains information on the inputs, outputs, and environmental impacts associated with various processes and activities across different industries.

• Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) (https://www.epa.gov/egrid)
  Data Sources from EPA’s Clean Air Power Sector Program, including emissions, emission rates, generation, heat input, resource mix, and many other attributes. eGRID is typically used for greenhouse gas registries and inventories, carbon footprints, consumer information disclosure, emission inventories, and standards, power market changes, and avoided emission estimates.

• Climate Disclosure Project (CDP) (https://www.cdp.net/en)
  The not-for-profit charity runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states, and regions to manage their environmental impacts. It collects emission reports and targets and ranks them.