Partnership promises unified global framework for emissions reporting
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) have announced a landmark collaboration to harmonize greenhouse gas emissions standards. The partnership aims to create a unified set of co-branded standards that will bring consistency to corporate, product and project-level GHG accounting worldwide.
The announcement, made on September 9 in Geneva, signals a major shift in the carbon accounting landscape. For years, companies, regulators and investors have grappled with fragmented frameworks. ISO’s 1406X family of standards and the GHG Protocol’s widely adopted Corporate, Scope 2 and Scope 3 Standards have each been used extensively, but differences between them have often led to duplication of work, confusion and reporting inefficiencies.
“ISO is proud to announce this landmark partnership with GHG Protocol, which drives forward an ambition that enables co-creation, resulting in a harmonized portfolio of standards,” said Sergio Mujica, ISO Secretary General. “Both ISO and GHG Protocol have a shared vision to efficiently advance climate action and simplify the task for all stakeholders. This is a new era for the carbon accounting landscape and both organizations are thrilled to be working together.”
Tackling fragmentation in climate reporting
One of the persistent challenges in climate disclosure has been the coexistence of multiple frameworks. Companies operating across markets often face overlapping or even conflicting requirements for GHG measurement and disclosure. This creates reporting burdens and raises questions about data comparability.
“We are very pleased to announce this historic agreement that leverages the respective strengths of both organizations,” said Geraldine Matchett, Steering Committee Chair of GHG Protocol. “Harmonizing corporate, product and project-level GHG accounting standards is key. With users top of mind, this partnership establishes a new mechanism for long-term collaboration, demonstrating our commitment to reducing complexity in the field of international standards and allowing the development of the core frameworks needed to enable meaningful climate action across stakeholder groups.”
The new dual-logo standards will cover corporate, product and project accounting, bringing greater alignment to how emissions are measured and reported.
Implications for policy and business
Both ISO and GHG Protocol standards are deeply embedded in regulatory and voluntary systems. ISO 1406X standards are widely referenced in legislation and provide the foundation for verification frameworks in multiple sectors. GHG Protocol standards underpin reporting to global disclosure initiatives such as CDP and are used by thousands of corporations to structure their climate targets.
The integration of these standards is expected to simplify compliance for businesses while giving policymakers greater confidence in the consistency and comparability of reported data. A unified framework may also support emerging global disclosure regulations, such as the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) requirements and the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which both call for standardized approaches to emissions data.
Technical collaboration and next steps
Experts from both organizations will now work through an integrated technical process to align methodologies, definitions and calculation rules. The goal is to deliver cohesive standards that meet the needs of regulators, businesses, auditors and investors while maintaining scientific rigor.
The harmonized portfolio is intended to support robust, science-based decarbonization strategies across economies, industries and geographies. By creating a single global reference point, ISO and GHG Protocol hope to accelerate progress toward emissions reductions by reducing the complexity of measuring and verifying climate impacts.
As climate policies and corporate commitments grow more ambitious, the lack of alignment in accounting frameworks has increasingly been seen as a barrier to effective action. This partnership could mark the beginning of a new phase in global climate governance, one in which data comparability and consistency become the standard rather than the exception.
More information about ISO is available at www.iso.org. More information about GHG Protocol is available at www.ghgprotocol.org.
