Public Statement to the ISB & Steering Committee of the GHG Protocol
Regarding Scope 2 Guidance Revisions
April 22, 2026
As the GHGP reviews public comments to their proposed Scope 2 revisions, we urge the Secretariat, Independent Standards Board, and Steering Committee to make hourly- and strict-deliverability-matching in the Market Based Method (MBM) optional, but not mandatory, by following a “may” rather than a required “shall” approach.
Since its publication in 2015, the GHGP Scope 2 Guidance has played a critical role in enabling over 250 gigawatts of clean energy projects around the world, delivering new carbon-free electricity (CFE) to grids, avoiding hundreds of millions of tons of carbon emissions, and catalyzing billions of dollars in economic investment.
We share the ambition to further accelerate CFE deployment and believe that achieving global greenhouse gas reduction goals depends on robust, voluntary demand for CFE. As this crucial guidance undergoes its first significant update in a decade, we are extremely concerned that the proposed revisions to market-based accounting which would require voluntary buyers to match CFE purchases to individual company load on an hourly and physically deliverable basis could:
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Result in limited benefits to carbon accounting accuracy [1,2]
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Drive inefficiencies in private-sector action slowing system-wide decarbonization [2,3,4,5,6,7]
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Discourage voluntary clean energy procurement, potentially dramatically [8,9,10,11]
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Increase electricity prices for individuals and companies [4,6,11,12,13]
To drive critical climate progress, it's imperative that we get this revision right. We strongly urge the GHGP to improve upon the existing guidance, but not stymie critical electricity decarbonization investments by mandating a change that fundamentally threatens participation in this voluntary market, which acts as the linchpin in decarbonization across nearly all sectors of the economy. The revised guidance must encourage more clean energy procurement and enable more impactful corporate action, not unintentionally discourage it.
Signed,
66 signatories, representing 33,500+ organizations, headquartered in 16 countries, operating in 220 countries & territories (every corner of the globe), with $4.7+ Trillion in annual revenues, employing 49+ Million people, and responsible for procuring, facilitating, and/or producing over 300 GW of carbon-free electricity projects.
Energy Buyers and Membership Groups:
1. Akamai Technologies
2. Amazon
3. American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
4. American Hotel and Lodging Association
5. Apple
6. AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG
7. BOE Technology Group Company Limited
8. BYD
9. CableLabs
10. CalBroadband
11. California Retailers Association
12. Corning Incorporated
13. Dollar Tree
14. eBay Inc.
15. FedEx Corporation
16. General Motors (GM)
17. GoerTek Inc.
18. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
19. Hemlock Semiconductor (HSC)
20. Hon Hai
21. LENS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD
22. Luxshare
23. LyondellBasell
24. Mars
25. Patagonia
26. Oatly
27. PTC, Inc.
28. Retail Industry Leaders Association
29. Salesforce
30. Sabey Data Centers
31. Steel Dynamics, Inc.
32. Sunwoda Electronic Co.,Ltd
33. Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP)
34. Trane Technologies
GHG Accounting & Markets Experts, Modelers, and NGOs:
35. 3Degrees, Inc
36. ACORE
37. Baringa
38. Ceres
39. EKOEnergy
40. Energy and Environmental Economics (E3)
41. Ever.green
42. Green Strategies, Inc.
43. REsurety
44. Schneider Electric
45. Stevens Institute of Technology
46. Sustainability Roundtable, Inc.
47. Tabors Caramanis Rudkevich (TCR)
48. TimberRock
49. Trio
50. WattTime
Clean Energy Developers, Financiers, Associations, and Partners:
51. ACCIONA Energia
52. Alcazar Energy
53. American Clean Power
54. Asociación de Generación Renovable (AGR)
55. Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE)
56. Clean Capital
57. CleanMax
58. Clearloop
59. Fortum
60. HASI
61. ib vogt
62. Sol Systems, LLC
63. Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)
64. Statkraft
65. Vattenfall
66. Zettawatts
[1] Greenhouse Gas Management Institute, Limitations of Hourly Matching Claims for Scope 2 Reporting, May 30, 2025. https://ghginstitute.org/2025/05/30/hourly-matching-limitations-for-scope-2-reporting/
[2] Hogan, Bill, Harvard University, Scope 2: Physical Power Usage Accounting Is Fictional, Pricing And Marginal Impact Accounting Are Real, December 12, 2025. https://whogan.scholars.harvard.edu/sites/g/files/omnuum4216/files/2025-12/Hogan_GHCP_121225.pdf
[3] Open Letter: Expert Consensus on Carbon Impact. May 19, 2025. https://expertconsensusoncarbonimpact.com/
[4] TCR, A Comparison of Strategies for Tackling Corporate Scope 2 Carbon Emissions, June 2023. https://tcr-us.com/paths-to-carbon-neutrality-tcr-white-paper.html
[5] E3, Consequential Impacts of Voluntary Clean Energy Procurement, July 2024. https://www.ethree.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/E3_VoluntaryCorporateProcurement_HourlyEmissions_June-2024.pdf
[6] McKinsey & Co, Rethinking your company’s clean power strategy, February 12, 2025. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/electric-power-and-natural-gas/our-insights/rethinking-your-companys-clean-power-strategy
[7] Johns Hopkins School of Engineering & REsurety, Carbon Impact of Intra-Regional Transmission Congestion, February 27, 2026. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949790625002733
[8] Clean Energy Buyers Association, Open Letter to GHGP ISB, May 2025. https://cebuyers.org/blog/ceba-calls-for-immediate-changes-to-greenhouse-gas-protocols-scope-2-revision-process/
[9] Brander, Matthew, University of Edinburgh Business School, Six Things Wrong with the GHG Protocol’s Proposals for Market Based Scope 2 Accounting, November 10, 2025. https://www.bccas.business-school.ed.ac.uk/sites/cbccs/files/2025-11/Six-things-wrong-with-the-GHG-Protocols-proposals-for-market-based-scope-2.pdf
[10] Resources for the Future, How Will Changes to the GHG Protocol Affect Long-Term Contracts?, December 10, 2025. https://www.resources.org/common-resources/how-will-changes-to-the-greenhouse-gas-protocol-affect-long-term-contracts/
[11] WattTime, Evaluating the Impacts, Costs, and Consequences of Proposed Scope 2 GHG Emissions Reporting Standards, August 12, 2025. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5375940
[12] The Electricity Journal, TCR, Cost and emissions impact of voluntary clean energy procurement strategies, April, 2024. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040619024000186?via%3Dihub
[13] The Brattle Group, Expert Testimony before MN PUC, March 19, 2025. https://www.brattle.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Expert-Testimony-of-Dr.-Kathleen-Spees-and-Dr.-Long-Lam-before-the-Minnesota-Public-Utilities-Commission.pdf