What is the Greenhouse Gas Protocol? 

World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) developed the GHG Protocol to establish a comprehensive, global standardized framework to measure and manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from private and public sector operations, value chains and mitigation actions.  

Who Uses GHG Protocol? 

GHG Protocol supplies the world's most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standards and provides the accounting platform for virtually every corporate GHG reporting program in the world. 

In 2016, 92% of Fortune 500 companies responding to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) used GHG Protocol directly or indirectly through a program based on GHG Protocol. 

Recent legislative and regulatory developments are expected to rely on the GHGP for emissions disclosure: 

• EU CSRD Reporting 

• SB 253 California Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act 

• U.S. SEC Climate Disclosure Rule  

In addition, IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures released by ISSB also refers to GHG Protocol. ISSB Standards will result in a global baseline of sustainability disclosures, currently 6 jurisdictions have adopted the standards, and over 16 other jurisdictions are planning to adopt ISSB standards in the future. 

Greenhouse Gas Protocol Update 

As corporate procurement evolves, there is widespread recognition that the current GHG Protocol accounting and reporting can easily result in greatly reduced or zero reported emissions inventories and be interpreted to support a company’s claims of “using” 100% renewable energy or “creating” no net emissions. It is possible today for companies to report zero Scope 2 Market-Based Inventories without actually reducing its emissions associated with their electricity consumption or without reducing emissions to the atmosphere. 

Thus, updates to the GHG Protocol have been proposed to address those challenges. This session discussed these GHG Protocol updates, described the background, process/timeline, and focused on their impact on the nuclear energy industry. 

Opening Remarks & Moderator:

• King Lee, Head of Policy and Industry Engagement, World Nuclear Association

Panelists:

• Devon Swezey, Senior Manager, Global Energy andd Climate, Google
• Katherine Ott, Vice President, Sustainability and Climate Strategy, Constellation