Companies reporting greenhouse gas emissions could soon follow a single global framework after ISO and the GHG Protocol took a major step toward alignment. The two standard-setting organizations said they will combine their existing corporate greenhouse gas accounting frameworks into one harmonized global standard, aiming to reduce complexity and improve consistency for businesses, regulators, and investors.
The initiative builds on a strategic partnership announced last year to address the growing patchwork of emissions reporting requirements. By consolidating their approaches, the organizations intend to establish a common foundation for measuring and reporting corporate greenhouse gas emissions while easing the administrative burden associated with multiple reporting frameworks.
According to the announcement, the joint standard will merge the GHG Protocol’s guidance covering Scope 1, Scope 2, Scope 3 emissions and Actions and Market Instruments with ISO 14064-1, the international standard for greenhouse gas quantification and reporting. The organizations plan to launch a coordinated public consultation in the second quarter of 2027 before publishing the co-branded corporate standard.
ISO said the unified framework is intended to provide governments, companies, and other stakeholders with a trusted basis for greenhouse gas accounting through an open, consensus-based process. GHG Protocol added that combining the standards should improve efficiency for users, strengthen stakeholder engagement through a single consultation process, and help channel more investment toward decarbonization efforts.
GHG Protocol CEO Tim Mohin said a consolidated standard would simplify emissions reporting, reduce duplication, improve consistency across markets and jurisdictions, and allow organizations to devote more resources to cutting emissions rather than managing overlapping reporting requirements.
The announcement comes as corporate climate disclosure requirements continue to evolve globally. Investors increasingly rely on comparable emissions data to assess climate risks and transition strategies, while regulators in several jurisdictions are moving toward more standardized sustainability reporting.
A unified carbon accounting standard could reduce inconsistencies between reporting regimes, improve the quality and comparability of emissions data, and support greater interoperability across emerging global sustainability disclosure frameworks.
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