Get the Inside Scoop on GHG Protocol’s New Land Sector & Removals Standard

By Christina Carlton, Sustainability & Climate Analyst, G&A Institute

The GHG Protocol has published its Land Sector and Removals Standard, marking an important evolution in corporate climate accounting.  While the Standard doesn’t expand reporting for everyone, it meaningfully raises expectations around granularity, data quality, and technical justification for companies that own or use land for their business activities.

The Standard also signals a wider shift in sustainability reporting that moves away from high-level or narrative disclosures toward more defensible, auditable accounting. This shift is taking greater hold as assurance, target scrutiny, and investor expectations increase.

Below, we highlight the big takeaways from the new Standard, and what expectations companies may face from their stakeholders.

Implementation Timeline

Published on January 30, 2026, the new Standard will take effect January 1, 2027. Many frameworks (including SBTi and CDP) are expected to incorporate this Standard as a foundational reference for corporate reporting and target verification in the coming years. As a result, companies with land-sector exposure should expect increased alignment and scrutiny across their inventories, targets, and disclosures.

Who the Standard Applies to

The target audience for the Standard are companies that own or control land, purchase or sell products produced on agricultural lands, or companies with significant land use or agricultural activity in their supply chain. It also applies to other companies interested in accounting for and reporting on removals of carbon dioxide (CO₂), including land-based and technological CO₂ removals.

What the Standard Intends to Do

The Land Sector and Removals Standard is intended to fill the gaps between previous supplemental guidance and the GHG Protocol’s Corporate Standard and Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard. In short it:

• Formalizes and consolidates previous guidance for land-related emissions and removals(activities that take CO₂ out of the atmosphere and store it durably)
• Expands corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting to include specific guidance for when and how companies should account for biogenic and technological removals and storage of CO₂
• Sets clear guidance on boundaries, traceability, and data quality for companies to account for and disclose land-use change and emissions, carbon removals, and carbon storage activities

What the Standard Includes

The new Standard is comprehensive and addresses many previously debated issues head-on. Specifically, it includes:

1. A wider scope for GHG accounting obligations. For companies with land-related activities in their own operations or in their value chain, the following metrics are expected to be reported alongside corporate GHG inventories: land-use change (including leakage) emissions, agricultural land management emissions, and biogenic product emissions.

Important Context: Reporting on leakage is the subject of extensive debate, as  historically it has been accounted for only inconsistently. (Leakage refers to indirect land-use changes driven by company activities.) By explicitly addressing leakage, the Standard increases methodological rigor, but also introduces new data and modeling challenges that companies will need to manage carefully.

2. Structured principles for reporting on removals and storage accounting. The Standard establishes clear criteria for reporting carbon removals from land management, technological carbon removals, geological carbon storage, and product-based carbon storage. These principles are designed to improve transparency, avoid double-counting, and support future assurance.
3. Specific guidance for taking action beyond the GHG inventory. Completing a GHG inventory is a critical part of managing climate impacts, but it is only meaningful if action follows. The new Standard includes dedicated sections to help companies evaluate the impact of their emissions reduction initiatives, set targets and track progress, and apply GHG credits. It also addresses how to obtain third-party assurance and how to report the GHG inventory, with the aim of increasing the reliability and comparability of GHG disclosures.

What the Standard Does NOT Do

1. Reporting with this new Standard does not mean that carbon removals reduce total emissions. As the Standard makes clear, even where removals meet strict accounting criteria, they are not permitted to be netted against emissions totals. In other words, carbon removals within Scopes 1 and 3 still need to be accounted for as separate line items and do not result in a reduction of Scope 1 or 3 emissions.

Important Context: Only carbon removals with permanent carbon storage and that meet other data quality and traceability requirements are permitted to be accounted for as removals.

2. The Standard does not include carbon accounting for forestry, although this topic is related. Future iterations of the Land Sector and Removals Standard may address this subject.

Next Steps for Companies with Land or Agricultural Activity

For companies with significant land or agricultural activity in their own operations or value chain, now is the time to prepare for these new reporting expectations. G&A’s team of experts recommend the following steps:

1. Assess applicability. Determine if your activities (or significant value chain activities) fall within the categories of land use, agriculture, or carbon removals – including activities that result in biogenic product emissions or carbon storage
2. Pinpoint gaps. Review your current accounting practices against the new reporting requirements and flag any shortfalls
3. Refine processes. Ensure your data collection and reporting systems are traceable and meet the requirements for inventory boundaries and removals quantification (if applicable)
4. Align targets. If necessary, update internal targets and disclosures to reflect the Standard’s definitions and principles

Conclusion: A Turning Point in GHG Accounting

The launch of the Land Sector and Removals Standard signals a major maturation of corporate greenhouse gas accounting. By providing clear, structured rules for land emissions, removals, and storage, the Standard brings comparability and credibility to areas that have long been under-defined in corporate inventories. As expectations around assurance, target integrity, and investor scrutiny continue to rise, this Standard will play a central role in determining which land-sector claims withstand external review.

Need help understanding how the Land Sector and Removals Standard may apply to your organization? Reach out to G&A’s team of experts.

ABOUT CHRISTINA CARLTON
Senior Sustainability & Climate Analyst, G&A Institute

Christina Carlton is a Senior Sustainability & Climate Analyst at Governance & Accountability Institute. She supports both sustainability and climate engagements, and her work bridges sustainability planning and reporting with targeted climate initiatives, helping companies enhance their ESG performance and integrate resilience into their overall sustainability frameworks.