Harmonisation of ISO and GHG-P standards must raise the quality bar

The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG-P) announced a partnership on 9 September 2025 to merge and align their greenhouse gas accounting frameworks. The collaboration focuses on three core areas: corporate footprints, product footprints, and project-level GHG accounting. While the authors welcome the potential for a unified global framework to reduce fragmentation and reporting burdens, they warn that harmonisation must not lead to the dilution of standards. Specifically, they argue that carbon credits must not be treated as substitutes for direct emission reductions and that scope 3 accounting must not be artificially lowered through certificate trading. The authors also emphasize that the governance of the new standards must be transparent and inclusive to prevent the overrepresentation of large corporate interests, suggesting a model that combines ISO's regulatory recognition with GHG-P's transparency and stakeholder breadth.

• On 9 September 2025, ISO and the GHG-P announced a strategic partnership to create a unified global framework for emissions quantification and reporting by aligning and merging parts of their accounting frameworks.
• The harmonisation effort targets three specific areas: corporate footprint standards, product footprint standards, and project level GHG accounting standards. This includes the ISO 1406X family and the GHG-P’s Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, its scope 2 and scope 3 guidances, and the Product Life Cycle standard, though the GHG-P Land Sector and Removals Guidance is excluded.
• There is a risk that the unification process could dilute climate ambition, particularly if carbon credits are used as substitutes for actual emission reductions or if certificate trading is used to artificially lower scope 3 emissions.
• The two organisations have differing governance models: GHG-P focuses on balanced stakeholder representation and public access to minutes, while ISO operates through national standard bodies and liaisons, which the authors claim often overrepresents the interests of larger companies due to their greater resources.

APA

Faecks, B., & Lyngseth, T. (2025). Harmonisation of ISO and GHG-P standards must raise the quality bar. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2025/09/09/harmonisation-of-iso-and-ghg-p-standards-must-raise-the-quality-bar/

Chicago

Faecks, Benja, and Thea Lyngseth. Harmonisation of ISO and GHG-P standards must raise the quality bar. Carbon Market Watch, 2025. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2025/09/09/harmonisation-of-iso-and-ghg-p-standards-must-raise-the-quality-bar/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Faecks |first1=Benja |last2=Lyngseth |first2=Thea |title=Harmonisation of ISO and GHG-P standards must raise the quality bar |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=9 September 2025 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2025/09/09/harmonisation-of-iso-and-ghg-p-standards-must-raise-the-quality-bar/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{faecks2025harmonisation, author = {Faecks, Benja and Lyngseth, Thea}, title = {{Harmonisation of ISO and GHG-P standards must raise the quality bar}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2025/09/09/harmonisation-of-iso-and-ghg-p-standards-must-raise-the-quality-bar/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }