Glossary›Emissions accounting and measurement›GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard
Glossary term
Cluster D · D33
Tier 1 · differentiator
GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard
Definition
The Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard, published in 2011, is the GHG Protocol standard for measuring indirect value chain emissions. It establishes the fifteen Scope 3 categories, sets a minimum boundary for each, and defines the calculation methods available. It supplements the Corporate Standard rather than replacing it.
GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard (2011)
· supplement to the Corporate Standard (2004) ·
In force
On this page
In practice
Two documents, routinely treated as one, and the difference determines what an Australian reporter is actually required to apply.
Document
What it does
Corporate Standard (2004 revised edition)
The base. Defines the consolidation approaches, establishes the three scopes, and sets the accounting and reporting principles. It is the document AASB S2 paragraph 29(a)(ii) names. It treats Scope 3 as optional and gives it a single chapter with no category structure.
Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard (2011)
The supplement that made Scope 3 operable. The fifteen categories do not exist in the Corporate Standard: they were introduced here, along with the minimum boundary table, the required disclosures for Scope 3, and the method framework that underpins the activity-based versus spend-based choice.
Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions
Guidance rather than standard. It gives worked calculation methods per category. Citing it as the standard applied is a small but visible error in a basis of preparation.
The practical consequence for a captured entity: AASB S2 requires measurement in accordance with the Corporate Standard, and the Corporate Standard alone does not tell you how to build a Scope 3 figure. Anyone producing a compliant categorised Scope 3 disclosure is applying the Scope 3 Standard, whether or not the basis of preparation says so. It should say so.
The revision programme, and why it does not change your obligation yet. The GHG Protocol is rewriting this suite. Four workstreams (Corporate Standard, Scope 2, Scope 3, and Actions and Market Instruments) are being consolidated into a single Corporate Standard version 3.0, developed jointly with ISO and expected to be co-branded with it. Per the Standard Development Plan of 29 July 2026, the consolidated draft goes to public consultation in Q2 2027 and the revised standard is expected to be published in Q4 2028, delivered in parts.
Two things follow for an Australian reporter, and both are worth stating plainly because clients ask.
First, nothing changes now. The current standards remain in effect until the revised edition is published, and whether there is a transition period, and how long, has not been decided.
Second, and more important, AASB S2 paragraph 29(a)(ii) fixes its reference to the Corporate Standard (2004 revised edition) by name and year. A new GHG Protocol edition does not flow through automatically. The AASB would have to amend the standard to point at it. So when version 3.0 lands, the Australian obligation stays on the 2004 document until the AASB says otherwise, which means the gap between global best practice and Australian compliance will widen for a period, and a basis of preparation should name the edition it applied rather than citing “the GHG Protocol” generically.
What the assurer does with it
The assurer checks which standard the basis of preparation names and whether the inventory actually follows it. The tell is the category structure: an entity claiming the Corporate Standard alone but reporting fifteen categories has applied the Scope 3 Standard and should cite it.
They then test compliance with the minimum boundary for each included category, because that is where under-reporting hides. A Category 1 figure covering only direct materials, when the minimum boundary covers all purchased goods and services, is incomplete regardless of how well the materials are measured.
They accept a basis of preparation that names both standards, states the method used per category, and states the boundary applied within each. They reject a basis of preparation citing the Technical Guidance as the governing standard, a category reported with a narrower boundary than the minimum with no disclosure, and a method that changed between periods with no comparative adjustment or explanation.
Commonly confused with
The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, which is the base document and does not contain the fifteen categories. Also confused with the Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions, which is calculation guidance rather than a standard.
Timing and relief
Scope 3 may be omitted from an entity’s first annual reporting period under AASB S2 Appendix C paragraph C4(b), including financed emissions. Under paragraph C5 the entity may keep relying on that relief when presenting the relieved period as comparative information in later periods, so the relief tapers rather than simply ending. Confirmed against AASB S2 compiled to December 2025.
Sources
1
Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard, full text
GHG Protocol
2
Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard (2011)
GHG Protocol
3
Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (2004 revised edition)
GHG Protocol
4
Review status
Review required
Last reviewed
15 September 2026
Editorial pass, unsigned
Reviewer required
Carbon accounting specialist and registered company auditor
Next scheduled review
1 July 2027
Part of
Cluster D, Emissions accounting and measurement
49 terms from the head term carbon accounting down to individual Scope 3 categories and the mechanics of factors, boundaries and data quality. The largest cluster in the glossary.
Related terms
The population this standard turns into fifteen answerable questions
The split this standard defines
The process the two GHG Protocol documents govern between them
Related questions
Do we have to report Scope 3 in year one?
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No. AASB S2 gives first-time reporters relief from disclosing Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions in their first annual reporting period, and Scope 3 is required from the second year. Taking the relief in year one is normal, but the supplier data work needs to start in year one anyway.
How do we work out which Scope 3 categories are material for us?
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You screen all fifteen GHG Protocol categories, estimate each roughly off accounts payable spend, and document why you included or excluded each one. The screen is the deliverable as much as the answer, because the practitioner will test the reasoning behind an exclusion at least as hard as the numbers behind an inclusion. Expect the answer to be concentrated in a handful of categories.
What is the difference between spend-based and activity-based, and which does the auditor prefer?
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Activity-based uses physical quantities such as litres or kilowatt hours, while spend-based applies a factor to dollars spent. Activity-based is more accurate and easier to evidence. An assurance practitioner has no preference in principle: they test whether the method you chose is appropriate, disclosed, and applied consistently.
Where this sits commercially
Carbonhalo names every GHG Protocol document actually applied, including the 2011 supplement, so the basis of preparation matches the inventory the assurer opens.
Other terms in this cluster
GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard