Rationale for the merger
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) and ISO will consolidate their respective corporate carbon accounting frameworks into one co-branded global standard. This brings together GHGP's Scope 1, Scope 2, Scope 3, and Actions and Market Instruments (AMI) standards with ISO's 14064-1 standard.
The move follows a strategic partnership announced last year between the two organizations and delivers on a mandate set out at COP30 in Belém, where the conference presidency tasked GHG Protocol and ISO with leading the harmonization of global greenhouse gas accounting.
An integrated public consultation on the future corporate standards is planned for Q2 2027, giving stakeholders a single coordinated process to provide input.
Companies reporting greenhouse gas emissions face overlapping requirements from multiple jurisdictions, and voluntary standards. GHGP's Corporate Standard and ISO 14064-1 are the two most widely used frameworks globally, but they differ in terminology, and in some cases methodology.
For multinational businesses, this fragmentation means duplicated effort: reporting the same emissions data in different formats to satisfy different frameworks. For regulators and investors, it means inconsistent data that is difficult to compare across companies and markets.
Tim Mohin, CEO of GHG Protocol, stated that a consolidated standard will "simplify reporting, reduce duplication, and provide greater consistency across markets and jurisdictions," allowing companies to "spend more time reducing emissions."
What is changing
Scope 1 and Scope 2.
The existing GHGP Corporate Standard and ISO 14064-1 will be replaced by a single methodology for measuring direct emissions (Scope 1) and energy-related indirect emissions (Scope 2). GHGP also received nearly 1,100 responses from 56 countries to its proposed Scope 2 revision and is exploring multiple reporting approaches to reflect different theories of change around how companies should account for renewable energy purchases.
Scope 3.
The GHGP Corporate Value Chain Standard (Scope 3) will also be incorporated. This is where most of the complexity sits for renewable fuel producers, as Scope 3 covers the full upstream and downstream value chain.
Actions and Market Instruments (AMI).
This is a newer GHGP standard covering how companies should account for mitigation actions, renewable energy certificates, carbon credits, and other market instruments. Preliminary feedback from the Request for Information shows strong support for a "multi-statement" reporting approach, where companies would report three distinct components: physical emissions from their operations and value chains, market-based emissions tied to commodity certificates and contractual agreements, and a GHG impact statement capturing the emissions impact of their actions and investment decisions.
What it means for renewable fuel producers
Corporate buyers of renewable fuels (airlines purchasing SAF, fleet operators purchasing renewable diesel, utilities blending ethanol) use GHG Protocol to report their emissions. A unified standard means your customers will be measuring and reporting the emissions benefit of your product using a single consistent methodology.
The merger of GHGP and ISO methodologies could affect how lifecycle carbon intensity is measured at the corporate level. If the consolidated standard aligns more closely with ISO's approach or introduces new calculation requirements, producers may need to adjust how they present their carbon intensity data to corporate buyers.
The inclusion of the AMI standard in the consolidation means that how companies account for RINs, LCFS credits, and renewable energy certificates is being actively reviewed. Any changes to how these instruments are treated in corporate reporting could affect demand signals from buyers.
Producers who operate across multiple jurisdictions currently navigate different reporting expectations in different markets. A single global framework reduces that burden.
What it means for corporate buyers
Corporate buyers who purchase renewable fuels to reduce their reported Scope 1 or Scope 3 emissions will have a globally consistent methodology for claiming those reductions. This removes ambiguity that has historically complicated the business case for switching to renewable fuels.
The market-based versus location-based accounting debate for Scope 2 remains unresolved. How the consolidated standard handles this will directly affect whether and how companies can claim emissions reductions from purchasing renewable electricity or renewable natural gas.
A unified standard makes corporate emissions data more comparable. Investors will be able to benchmark companies more effectively, increasing pressure on high emitters and rewarding those with credible decarbonization strategies.
3 things to watch
The Q2 2027 public consultation. This will be the first opportunity for industry stakeholders to influence the final methodology.
Scope 2 resolution. How the consolidated standard resolves the market-based versus location-based debate will have significant implications for RNG producers whose corporate customers currently rely on market-based accounting to claim emissions reductions.
AMI treatment of compliance credits. Any changes to how RINs, LCFS credits, and similar market instruments are reported under the new framework could affect how corporate buyers account for renewable fuel purchases in their emissions disclosures.
