Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions explained: a guide for Indian companies
What Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions mean under the GHG Protocol, how location-based and market-based Scope 2 differ, the 15 Scope 3 categories, and what Indian companies and MSME suppliers are being asked for.
Is the GHG Protocol changing?
Yes. As of October 2026 a major revision is under way:
- Scope 2: a public consultation ran from 20 October 2025 to 31 January 2026 (extended from 19 December 2025). The proposal keeps dual reporting but adds hourly matching and deliverability requirements for market-based claims, with exemption thresholds, a legacy clause for existing contracts and phased implementation. GHG Protocol said a second Scope 2 consultation was expected in 2026.
- Scope 3: the technical working group has shared draft proposals, for example in a Phase 1 progress update in March 2026. These are drafts, not rules.
- Joining with ISO: on 29 July 2026, GHG Protocol and ISO announced that the Corporate Standard, Scope 2 Guidance, Scope 3 Standard, the Actions and Market Instruments work and ISO 14064-1 will be combined into one harmonised corporate standard. Public consultation is planned for Q2 2027 and publication for Q4 2028.
Until a new standard is published, the 2004, 2011 and 2015 documents remain the ones to follow.
Sources: GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (revised edition, 2004); GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance (2015); GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard (2011); GHG Protocol: public consultations page; GHG Protocol: release opening Scope 2 and electricity-sector consequential consultations; GHG Protocol: key standard development updates FAQ (29 July 2026); GHG Protocol: Scope 3 Standard Revisions Phase 1 Progress Update (March 2026, draft); SEBI: Format of BRSR Core, Annexure I (July 2023); SEBI circular SEBI/HO/CFD/CFD-PoD-1/P/CIR/2025/42 (28 March 2025); Central Electricity Authority, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector, User Guide Version 22.0 (August 2026)
This article was prepared with AI assistance and checked by the GreenEye team against the sources shown in each section.
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