GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard 2026
The Land Sector and Removals Standard is the GHG Protocol’s supplement for land emissions, land use and CO2 removals. It sits on top of the Corporate Standard and the Scope 3 Standard, and it has 32 requirements. Version 1 covers agriculture and CO2 removal technologies. It does not cover forestry.
This page is based on Version 1.1 of the Standard and Version 1.0 of the Guidance, both published in June 2026. Requirement numbers below are the Standard’s own, so you can check any line against the PDF.
The GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard sets how companies account for land emissions, land use and CO2 removals. Reporting removals is optional, but removals must meet traceability, data and permanence rules. It takes effect on 1 January 2027 and does not cover forestry.
What the Standard Is
The Standard is a supplement. A company that uses it must also meet every requirement of the Corporate Standard and the Scope 3 Standard (Requirement 3). It replaces earlier GHG Protocol land and removals guidance, such as the Agricultural Guidance.
It is an inventory standard. It tracks a company’s annual emissions, removals and related metrics. It is not a project accounting method, and it does not certify or verify GHG credits. For those, the GHG Protocol points to the Project Protocol.
The set has three documents: the Standard holds the requirements, the Guidance explains how to meet them with examples and calculations, and an Executive Summary gives the overview.
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Who Has to Follow It
Requirement 1 applies the Standard to a company reporting a GHG Protocol corporate inventory if either of these is true:
- It has significant land sector activities in its operations or value chain.
- It chooses to report CO2 removals or CO2 capture with geologic storage this year, or has done so before.
A company with land sector activities that does not follow the Standard must disclose and justify why those activities are not significant. The Standard’s examples of the intended audience include companies that buy, process or sell significant amounts of food, fiber or feed, companies that supply agricultural producers, and companies managing land to store more carbon.
What Version 1 Covers
| Covered | Not covered |
|---|---|
| Agriculture: land use change, land management, land use and land carbon leakage | Forestry. Forest land owners and forest product value chains have no comprehensive requirements yet |
| Biogenic products, including bioenergy and biomaterials | Non-productive land uses, except proximate and adjacent lands under Requirement 7 |
| CO2 removal technologies and CO2 capture with geologic storage | Project accounting, and GHG credit certification or verification |
| Biomass carbon on productive agricultural land, including agroforestry and silvopasture | Storage in ocean or freshwater pools, and non-CO2 removals, as removals in the physical inventory (these are reported separately if at all) |
The GHG Protocol’s Independent Standards Board did not reach a decision on forest carbon accounting. Future versions may add forestry and non-productive lands. Version 1 still covers emissions from converting natural forest to plantation forest, and production emissions from activities on forest land.
Versions and Dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2020–2025 | Developed through the GHG Protocol’s multi-stakeholder process, including pilot testing |
| 1 October 2025 | Date of approval |
| January 2026 | Version 1.0 of the Standard published |
| 30 June 2026 | Version 1.1 of the Standard published, with Version 1.0 of the Guidance |
| 1 January 2027 | Effective date |
| 2030 | Date by which the Standard will be reviewed |
Version 1.1 made corrections and clarifications, not new substantive rules. The clarifications cover which carbon pools count under Requirement 14, how biogenic food, feed and waste are treated under Requirement 17, and how Requirement 14 applies to land management removals.
Required Accounting Categories
Requirement 4 sets the categories. Each is reported separately, by scope, and for scope 3 by category.
| Category | What goes in it | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Fossil fuel and industrial emissions | Scope 1, 2 and 3 | Required |
| Land emissions | Land use change, land management net biogenic CO2, land management production emissions, and biogenic product emissions where required | Required |
| Land use and land carbon leakage | Agricultural land occupation in hectares; leakage when triggered (Requirements 12 and 13) | Required; leakage when applicable |
| Gross CO2 fluxes | Biogenic product CO2, TCDR-based product CO2, gross CO2 from geologic storage. Reported apart from emissions | Required when relevant |
| Reversals | Losses of previously reported removals from pools no longer in the boundary | Required when applicable |
| Removals | Land management CO2 removals and removals with geologic storage | Recommended if relevant; optional to report |
| Product carbon storage | Carbon held in products. Not a removal | Optional |
Boundaries and Traceability
The scope 1 spatial boundary is the land the company owns or controls under its chosen consolidation approach (Requirement 5). The scope 3 spatial boundary depends on what the company can trace. From least to most precise, the options run from global and jurisdiction to sourcing region, land management unit and harvested area.
To use a sourcing region, land management unit or harvested area, a company needs physical traceability to it (Requirement 8), through certification or audited internal systems using a stated chain of custody model. The same spatial boundary must be used for emissions, removals and other land metrics for a given volume of product, and the same allocation method across those metrics (Requirement 9).
Land Use Change
Requirement 10 covers CO2, CH4 and N2O caused by land use change. CO2 is based on the total stock decrease across above-ground and below-ground biomass, dead organic matter and soil carbon.
The assessment period is 20 years for annual crops and other products with a cycle of 20 years or less, counting back from and including the reporting year. For longer cycles, the cycle length is used. Emissions are spread over the period by linear amortization, unless a company discloses and justifies another method in the cases the Standard allows.
If land use change later produces removals, the company first accounts for the gross emissions of the conversion. It may then account for the later land management removals separately, under the removals rules.
Land Management Emissions
Two subcategories apply to all land sector companies. Land management net biogenic CO2 emissions (Requirement 14) are annual or annualized net land carbon stock losses, measured with stock-change methods on all agricultural land in the boundary. Land management production emissions (Requirement 16) cover CH4 and N2O from livestock, N2O and non-biogenic CO2 from soil management, CH4 and N2O from biomass burning and fires, and other sources the Requirement lists.
On scope 3, net carbon stock changes are counted on all attributable productive lands in the sourcing region or jurisdiction, or on all productive lands in the land management unit or harvested area. A company cannot pick only the fields that gained carbon.
Biogenic Products and Bioenergy
Requirement 17 is one of the bigger changes for companies burning biofuels or biomass. Biogenic product CO2 must be accounted for in scope 1, 2 and 3, by point of oxidation. Where it is reported depends on the evidence:
| If the company… | Then biogenic product CO2 goes in… |
|---|---|
| Reports all life cycle emissions of the product, including land use change and the net land carbon stock changes of sourcing lands, and reports land use and any leakage | Gross CO2 fluxes, separate from emissions |
| Does not meet those criteria | Land emissions, inside the physical inventory |
The company should also know where the product came from, at least to country of origin. Biogenic CH4 and N2O always stay in the inventory. Upstream emissions go in scope 3 category 3 for bioenergy feedstocks and category 1 for biomaterials. Food, feed and biogenic waste have their own rule: their biogenic CO2 goes under gross CO2 fluxes, and CO2 from food and feed intended for consumption may be excluded.
Reporting Removals: the Five Tests
Reporting removals is optional. A company that does report them must meet all of these.
| Requirement | What it asks |
|---|---|
| 19 Accounting | Removals are annual or annualized net carbon stock changes, measured by stock change. All life cycle emissions of the pathway are counted. Scope 1 and each scope 3 category are reported apart from emissions, and land-based storage apart from geologic storage |
| 20 Traceability | Scope 3 removals need traceability through the full pathway, to the sink and to the pools where the carbon is stored |
| 21 Data quality | Empirical data specific to the sinks and pools, plus a quantitative uncertainty estimate showing the value does not overestimate removals |
| 22 Allocation | No double counting with other companies at the same or similar tiers of the value chain, and no more than 100 percent of the removals allocated |
| 23 Permanence | Ongoing storage monitoring under a periodic plan, and losses reported in the year they occur |
Permanence means monitoring
The Standard does not grade removals into permanence classes. Its test is whether the storage is monitored. If carbon is lost, the company reports it in that year: as net CO2 emissions if the pool is still in its boundary, or as reversals if it is not. If the company loses the ability to monitor, or the plan is not renewed, it must assume the previously reported removals were emitted.
Land management removals
On productive agricultural land, Requirement 19.LMR counts net land carbon stock gains on all agricultural land in the scope 1 boundary. Scope 3 land management removals can only use a sourcing region, land management unit or harvested area boundary. All carbon stock changes on productive agricultural land count as anthropogenic, so losses from fires, storms and other natural disturbances are included too.
Requirement 21.LMR adds a sampling rule: resample at least every five years with consistent methods, to estimate stock changes or to calibrate model-based or remote-sensing approaches.
Geologic Storage
The geologic storage chapter applies to removals with geologic storage, such as direct air capture or bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and to CO2 capture with geologic storage. Requirement 19.GS counts life cycle emissions across the whole pathway. With enhanced oil or gas recovery, the downstream emissions of the extracted hydrocarbons count too.
Where no single company owns both the sink and the pool, the companies involved need a contract setting out rights, obligations and who reports the scope 1 removal. One tonne cannot be reported in scope 1 by more than one company. Scope 3 claims need physical traceability to the capture operator and the injection site operator (Requirement 20.GS). Monitoring and loss reporting mirror Requirement 23, under Requirement 23.GS.
Product Carbon Storage
Carbon held in products is not a removal. A company may report it separately under Part 2.3 of the Standard, and any product storage target must stay separate from emissions, removals and net targets (Requirement 27).
Targets and GHG Credits
Chapter 18 draws a line that matters for anyone buying credits: credits are quantified differently from inventory emissions and removals, and a company retiring credits cannot subtract them from its GHG inventory. Credits can count toward compensation or contribution targets, and they can supplement scope targets, but they are not removals in the inventory.
| Rule | What it means |
|---|---|
| Requirement 27 | Emissions targets are set independently of any removals. Removal targets are optional and separate, and need a reversals accounting policy |
| Requirement 28 | A base year or period, with a recalculation policy and a significance threshold |
| Requirement 29 | Credits must meet the quality criteria: additionality, credible baseline, monitoring, permanence, leakage mitigation, unique issuance and claiming, independent validation and verification, program governance, and sustainable development benefits and safeguards |
| Requirement 30 | If credits were issued in a company’s operations or value chain and used as offsets or compensation, the company keeps its physical inventory unchanged, calculates adjusted values separately, and uses the adjusted values for target progress |
Additionality is a credit test here. It is not one of the tests for reporting a removal in the inventory. The Standard also says its permanence principle for inventories is distinct from the permanence principle for credits.
Reporting and Assurance
Requirement 31 requires a disaggregated report by category, subcategory, scope and gas. A company may add aggregate totals under Requirement 32, but those sit apart from the physical inventory. Gross CO2 fluxes cannot be added to emissions in the physical inventory.
Third-party assurance is recommended, not required by the Standard, though regulators or programs may require it. Companies must disclose whether the inventory was assured.
SBTi, CSRD and GWP Values
SBTi. The Standard does not set SBTi rules. Its Guidance notes that the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard (version 1) allows removals credits only to neutralize residual emissions. See our SBTi Net-Zero page and FLAG page for SBTi’s own criteria.
CSRD. ESRS E1 has its own disclosure on removals and carbon credits. Using this Standard does not by itself meet it, so check both.
GWP values. Requirement 3 says to apply 100-year IPCC values and report their source, and that companies should use values from the most recent Assessment Report. That is a recommendation for the most recent report, currently AR6, not a rule that only AR6 is allowed.
Common Misreadings
Removals in the physical inventory are net carbon stock changes. Gross removals are an optional extra under gross CO2 fluxes. What the Standard does require is that removals are reported separately from emissions.
They do not. Credits are disclosed separately, and the buyer cannot subtract them from its inventory.
Version 1 does not apply to forestry. Forest-related items are limited to those listed in the scope section above.
Reporting removals is optional. Land emissions are the required part for land sector companies.
Only if the Requirement 17 criteria are met. Otherwise biogenic product emissions go in land emissions, inside the inventory.
Worked Example
These numbers are invented to show the structure. A food company reports for 2027.
| Line | tCO2e | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Fossil fuel and industrial emissions, all scopes | 500,000 | Emissions |
| Land use change, scope 3 category 1, amortized over 20 years | 120,000 | Land emissions |
| Land management production emissions, scope 3 category 1 | 230,000 | Land emissions |
| Net soil carbon gain on traced supplier land, meeting Requirements 19–23 | 25,000 | Removals, reported separately |
| Biochar credits bought and retired | 10,000 | Disclosed as credits, outside the inventory |
Emissions are 850,000 tCO2e. The 25,000 of removals sit on their own line, and the 10,000 of credits change neither number. If the supplier’s soil carbon was also sold as credits to someone else, the company would keep its physical inventory as is, and take those tonnes out of its adjusted values when tracking target progress (Requirement 30).
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Frequently Asked Questions
A supplement to the GHG Protocol Corporate and Scope 3 Standards. It sets requirements for land emissions, land use and CO2 removals. Version 1.1 was published on 30 June 2026 and takes effect on 1 January 2027.
Companies reporting a GHG Protocol inventory that have significant land sector activities in their operations or value chain, or that choose to report CO2 removals or CO2 capture with geologic storage. Companies with land activities that do not follow it must disclose and justify why those activities are not significant.
No. Version 1 applies to agriculture and CO2 removal technologies. It does not provide comprehensive requirements for forest owners or forest product value chains, and future versions may add them.
No, it is optional. If a company reports removals it must meet the requirements in Part 2.2: stock-change accounting, traceability, data quality, allocation and permanence.
Removals are reported separately from emissions, by scope. A company may show aggregate totals under Requirement 32, but those sit apart from the physical inventory.
Through monitoring. Removals can be reported only with ongoing storage monitoring. Losses are reported in the year they occur, and if monitoring stops the company assumes the carbon was emitted. The Standard does not set permanence classes.
No. Credits are quantified differently, disclosed separately, and cannot be subtracted from the inventory by the company retiring them. Requirement 29 sets the quality criteria credits must meet.
Under gross CO2 fluxes, separate from emissions, if the company reports the product’s life cycle emissions, land use and any leakage. Otherwise it goes in land emissions, inside the inventory. CH4 and N2O stay in the inventory either way.
100-year IPCC values, with the source reported. Companies should use the most recent IPCC Assessment Report.
Sources and References
Primary documents
- WRI & WBCSD, Land Sector and Removals Standard, Version 1.1: Agriculture and CO2 removal technologies, 30 June 2026.
- WRI & WBCSD, Land Sector and Removals Guidance, Version 1.0, June 2026.
- GHG Protocol, Summary of Changes from the LSR Standard v1.0 to v1.1, June 2026.
- WRI & WBCSD, Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, revised edition, and Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard.
- GHG Protocol, IPCC Global Warming Potential Values, Version 2.0, August 2024.
Related GreenCalculus pages
- GHG Protocol Corporate Standard
- GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard
- GHG Protocol for Project Accounting
- SBTi FLAG Guidance
- CSRD / ESRS E1
- FLAG Emissions Calculator
- FLAG Emissions Methodology
What changed in this revision
6 November 2026. Rewritten from the Standard’s text, Version 1.1. The earlier page described permanence tiers, four removal pathways, an eight-part attribution test and credit treatment that the Standard does not contain, and it covered forestry, which Version 1 excludes. Those sections are gone. Requirement numbers now point to the primary text.