On 30 January 2026, GHG Protocol Steering Committee Chair Geraldine Matchett issued a letter framing 2026 as a turning point for carbon accounting (“Letter“). Her message in the Letter is pragmatic: GHG emissions must fall faster and at greater scale, and that requires data that is accurate, consistent, credible, and comparable  – otherwise capital cannot flow efficiently and accountability remains weak. The Letter is available at this link.

The Letter highlights the strain organizations face: evolving regulation, intensifying investor scrutiny, and stressed supply chains, all while the accounting landscape remains crowded with overlapping standards and metrics. This duplication raises costs of businesses and slows their action, thus posing the risk of further fragmentation persists. Matchett argues that a harmonized carbon accounting system is not a technical nice-to-have but a prerequisite for decarbonization, because it creates clarity, trust, and investment readiness. The Letter emphasizes decarbonization as a value-chain challenge – Scope 3 is where major transformation opportunities sit, and product-level carbon accounting is positioned as essential to scaling demand for low-carbon products through credible, comparable information.

For 2026, the Letter points to tangible deliverables: continued development of updated Scope 2 Guidance following the closure of a public consultation, advancement of the new Land Sector and Removals Standard (LSRS), and a stronger focus on developing a joint product-level standard with ISO, with stakeholders invited to apply to join the Joint Working Group. The closing theme in the Letter is accentuation of collaboration: alignment should translate into real-world emissions reductions, not added friction.

The GHG Protocol (Greenhouse Gas Protocol) is the world’s most widely used, comprehensive global framework for measuring, managing, and reporting greenhouse gas emissions. Developed by WBCSD, a mother association of Czech BCSD, and WRI. GHG Protocol enables businesses, cities, and governments to track emissions across operations and value chains, essential for climate action.