Key Voluntary and Regulatory Frameworks

The greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting and disclosure landscape is an evolving space where frameworks, regulations, policies, and guidance work together to increase transparency and accelerate emissions reductions. See the following sections for the key frameworks driving climate action. These serve as examples and are not meant to be comprehensive of all frameworks driving corporate climate action. For the most recent updates, please see the respective links to learn more.

Voluntary GHG Management Reporting Frameworks and Disclosure

• The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) Corporate Standard provides requirements and guidance for companies and other organizations preparing a corporate-level GHG emissions inventory. The resource center’s guidance aligns with the GHG Protocol standards and guidance.
  • GHG Protocol Corporate Standard
  • GHG Protocol Guidance
• The Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) provides best practices for setting net-zero targets and defining corporate emissions reductions. For more guidance on target setting, see the Center’s Target Setting page.
• Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) runs the global disclosure system for thousands of investors, companies, cities, states, and regions to manage their environmental impacts. CDP annually compiles information submitted during the annual reporting process and scores companies and cities based on their responses. Reporting organizations’ responses and scores are available on the CDP website.
• The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has two standards that have been adopted by various jurisdictions globally as part of mandated sustainability disclosures. Both incorporate the recommendations that were developed by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.
  • IFRS S1 (General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information) sets out overarching requirements for a company to disclose information about sustainability-related risks and opportunities.
  • IFRS S2 (Climate-related Disclosures) builds on IFRS S1 and sets out supplementary requirements that relate specifically to climate-related risks and opportunities. The standard requires an organization to disclose information about climate-related risks (physical and transition) and opportunities that could reasonably be expected to affect the entity’s cash flows, and its access to finance or cost of capital over the short, medium or long term.

Regulatory GHG Management Frameworks

• The U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) final rule, The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors requires certain companies to disclose, as part of financial reporting: material climate-related risks, GHG emissions, and any climate-related targets or goals. To facilitate investors' assessment of certain climate-related risks, the final rule requires disclosure of scope 1 and/or scope 2 GHG emissions on a phased-in basis by certain larger companies when those emissions are material; the filing of an attestation report covering the required disclosure of such companies’ scope 1 and/or scope 2 emissions, also on a phased-in basis; and disclosure of the financial statement effects of severe weather events and other natural conditions including, for example, costs and losses. View a fact sheet about the final rule. (pdf) (On April 4, the SEC paused the implementation of its climate disclosure rule.)
• The proposed rule, Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate-Related Financial Risk, would require federal contractors receiving more than $50 million in annual contracts to publicly disclose annual scope 1, scope 2 and relevant categories of scope 3 GHG emissions, as well as climate-related financial risks through CDP and set science-based emissions reduction targets. Contractors receiving $7.5M - $50M would be required to report scope 1 and 2 emissions.
• The State of California has two climate-related disclosure rules:
  • Senate Bill 253 (Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act) requires the state board, on or before January 1, 2025, to develop and adopt regulations requiring entities that do business in California with total annual revenues of $1 billion or more to disclose their direct (scope 1), indirect (scope 2) and value chain (scope 3) GHG emissions. Although the law has been enacted, the regulations are not yet fully developed, so specifics on requirements are yet to be determined.
  • Senate Bill 261 (Greenhouse gases: climate-related financial risk) requires that on or before January 1, 2026, entities that do business in California with total annual revenues of $500 million or more disclose climate-related financial risks pursuant to the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations and measures taken to mitigate/adapt to these risks. The disclosure report must be prepared and published biannually on the entity’s publicly available website. Although the law has been enacted, the regulations are not yet fully developed, so specifics on requirements are yet to be determined.