ISO and GHG Protocol merge carbon accounting standards

ISO and the GHG Protocol are merging their carbon accounting standards into a single framework. This matters because the sector currently operates under competing methodologies – ISO 14064 and the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard – creating confusion for organisations attempting to measure scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions consistently.

The fragmentation has real cost. Companies report the same emissions differently depending which standard they follow, making comparisons unreliable and giving ammunition to greenwashing critics. Investors and regulators struggle to assess like-for-like claims. Science-based targets depend on clean data; messy baselines corrupt the entire chain.

A unified standard could reduce verification friction and lower compliance burden for large organisations already reporting under multiple frameworks. But unification creates winners and losers. Organisations currently benefiting from looser ISO methodology may face stricter measurement under a GHG Protocol-influenced hybrid. Small and mid-market firms worry about added cost if the merged framework demands more granular data collection.

The timeline and governance model remain unclear. Will adoption be mandatory or voluntary? Which standard's philosophy dominates – GHG Protocol's stakeholder-led consensus approach or ISO's more formal, heavyweight process? And critically: will the merged standard actually reduce greenwashing, or simply create a more credible wrapper for weak claims?

If executed poorly, unification becomes window-dressing: a single standard that still permits the dodging and category-shifting that undermines credibility now. The real test is whether merged methodology closes loopholes or just harmonises them.

ISO, GHG Protocol to Launch a Single Unified Carbon Accounting Standard

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