A Rapid Review of GHG Accounting Standards

Abstract

Policies, standards, and voluntary initiatives aimed at mobilizing businesses to address the challenges of climate change resides on the foundation of greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting. The existence of multiple, yet similar, standards can create market confusion in deciding which standard to follow. We did a rapid systematic review of GHG accounting standards to find that all are derivative works of the GHG Protocol. Further, commonly used GHG accounting standards are based on three methodologies. We found that the field converges quickly and there are fewer options than expected. Due to the rapid convergence, the global community should engage with the dominant standard rather than create derivative works. However, having only one standard also creates a path dependency on a frame of thinking, potentially slowing down adoption of advances in climate science into global standards. We recommend future research in improving the standard to be fit-for-purpose for engaging the financial sector to make climate-related investments.

Keywords: GHG accounting, ESG disclosures, carbon accounting,

JEL Classification: Q54, Q56, M40