Key changes in the updated land sector and removals standard

Key takeaways:

• The GHG Protocol's new Land Sector and Removals Standard provides key requirements around accounting for land sector emissions (such as land use change, land management, and biogenic products) and CO2 removals.
• This standard will be critical for companies setting science-based targets and is likely to be incorporated in emission-related regulations in the future.
• The standard takes effect January 1, 2027. Additional guidance is expected over the next 6 months to help companies implement the new requirements.

On January 30, 2026, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) released version 1.0 of the Land Sector and Removals Standard, which takes effect January 1, 2027. The standard is the output of a 5-year process that included hundreds of external reviewers, public feedback, a pilot testing phase with almost 100 companies, and several dedicated expert working groups. It represents the first set of requirements and guidance to allow companies to quantify, report, and track land emissions and CO₂ removals. Since emissions from agriculture and land use change make up almost 25% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, this standard closes a crucial gap in GHG accounting standards and gives companies a consistent and credible way to calculate these emissions.

Although this Land Sector and Removals standard (like all GHG Protocol standards) is voluntary, the Science-Based Target initiative (SBTi) already requires companies to include emissions when setting targets, so any companies setting science-based targets will need to align to these new accounting requirements. In addition, it is expected that emissions-related regulations will be updated in the future to include these emissions, making alignment with this standard critical for companies.

Who is affected by the Land Sector and Removals Standard?

Any company with land or agricultural sector activities in their operations and/or value chain, as well as any company that wants to report on CO₂ removals and capture (both nature-based and technological removals), should review the new standard and align their GHG inventory with the new accounting guidelines as soon as possible. This may include companies that:

• Own or manage significant areas of land and/or have activities resulting in land use change
• Purchase, consume, process or sell food, fiber, feed, bioenergy, or other agricultural products (resulting in biogenic emissions)
• Are suppliers to agricultural producers
• Own or control CO₂ removals or storage operations
• Purchase, consume, process or sell products that store CO₂

What types of emissions does the Land Sector and Removals Standard cover?

As discussed in our previous article on land sector emissions, there are several types of land sector emissions that companies need to consider in their GHG inventories:

• Land use change, including both deforestation and other land conversion
• Land management, including both production and net biogenic CO₂ emissions
• Biogenic products, including emissions from bioenergy combustion
• CO₂ removals from both land management and emerging CO₂ removal technologies

Notably, the initial release of this standard does not cover forestry carbon accounting. Due to ongoing debates around accounting for forestry carbon, the GHG Steering Committee decided to include this accounting in later releases of the standard.

What should companies know about the Land Sector and Removals Standard?

The new standard contains over 100 pages of detailed information. To help companies get started, our experts have captured five key takeaways from the Land Sector and Removals Standard:

1. Land sector emissions are reported separately and primarily fall into scopes 1 and 3

The GHG Protocol requires that companies separate accounting and reporting on land sector emissions, so this new accounting may not significantly impact reporting on non-land sector emissions or existing targets. Going forward, companies will need to develop new disclosures (e.g. for sustainability reports) to cover their land sector emissions. In addition, they may want to set targets on both their operational and value chain land sector emissions to publicly take ownership of these emissions and drive meaningful emission reductions.

As companies calculate land sector emissions, they should expect that emissions will fall into two categories^1.

• Scope 1 – for emission sources within their operations
• Scope 3 – for emission sources within their value chain

2. Traceability is a key consideration when setting scope 3 spatial boundaries

Companies will need to set “spatial boundaries” for their land sector emission inventory, defining what specific lands should be included. To set scope 1 boundaries, companies should use their organizational boundary. However, the GHG Protocol factors in “traceability” when defining scope 3 boundaries, noting that accounting can only be accurate if a company can trace its value chain activities to specific lands and activities. In practice, this means that the more precise a company can be about tracing its value chain activities to specific lands and activities, the smaller and more accurate a boundary they can set. This may require companies to gather better data from their value chains to set appropriate boundaries and better reflect actual emissions.

3. Reporting standards emphasize disclosure of data sources and methods

One of the key challenges around land sector emissions is the quality of the data and methods used in the calculation. In a previous article on this topic, we shared how existing datasets have a high degree of uncertainty and may not be as granular or localized as desired. The GHG Protocol plans to address some of these concerns in the supplemental guidance document planned for Q2 2026. However, for companies aligning to this standard, providing information data and methods is now a key expectation for reporting, particularly around the availability of supplier-specific data. Companies who have historically not disclosed details on their GHG calculation methodology in external reporting may need to increase efforts around data management and quality reviews to align to the new standard.

4. Biogenic product emissions accounting depends on whether lifecycle emissions and carbon land leakage are included

Biogenic product emissions come from the combustion or decomposition of products made of biomass (plant or animal material), such as bioenergy feedstocks or fiber. The standard introduces new requirements around calculating and reporting these emissions and presents two methods of reporting:

• If a company can’t account for total lifecycle emissions (including carbon stock changes of sourcing lands) and carbon land leakage, it should report the “land emissions” that result at the point of combustion or decomposition only. This accounting may result in emissions comparable to fossil fuel combustion under this standard.
• If a company can account for total lifecycle emissions and carbon land leakage, it can report under the “gross CO₂ fluxes” category and account for technological CO₂ removal-based product emissions as well. Depending on the specific product, this may result in net emissions or removals.

5. Accounting for carbon removals is more structured and defined, but remains optional

Companies are not required to account for and report on CO₂ removals. However, if companies chose to include these in their GHG inventory, this standard introduces new requirements and principles on how to do so, including guidelines around emissions included, minimum levels of traceability and data quality, permanence rules (including requirements around ongoing storage monitoring), and how to avoid double-counting. Companies who currently report or plan to report on these activities in the future should carefully review Chapters 12-15 of the new standard to ensure their accounting aligns with the new requirements.

What happens next?

Although this standard is voluntary, GHG Protocol standards are considered best practice for companies accounting for and reporting emissions, and it is expected that this standard will be integrated into many emissions-related regulations and other frameworks. In addition, for companies who have set or plan to set science-based targets, alignment with this standard will be required for target validation by SBTi.

Companies who haven’t previously considered these emissions should determine if their business activities result in any type of land sector emissions. If so, they should develop high-level estimates of these emissions to determine whether they are significant (and therefore material) (see our previous article here for more guidance on calculating emissions). Companies with material land sector emissions should plan to familiarize themselves with this standard and update their GHG accounting practices in 2026 before the standard takes full effect in 2027.

Not sure where to start? Reach out to our experts below with questions or to enlist our support in determining how the new standards may impact you.

^1. _{There may be specific cases where emissions covered by this standard fall into scope 2 (e.g. fossil fuel and industrial emissions, biogenic product emissions). However, the GHG Protocol notes that there are no scope 2 land use change or land management emissions. Instead, any land emissions in the life cycle of generating electricity, heating, cooling, or steam are reported in scope 3, category 3 (fuel- and energy-related emissions).}