If your company purchases agricultural, forestry, or bioenergy raw materials, the new GHG Protocol standard on land use change emissions and removals redefines how you must measure your climate impact. Reporting energy or transport emissions is no longer enough: the traceability of your inputs’ origin can significantly alter your inventory [1].
The Land Sector and Removals (LSR) standard establishes guidelines for accounting for emissions derived from forest conversion, soil degradation, and changes in biomass, as well as the removals associated with restoration or sustainable management [1].
At CarbonBox we have explained how biomass, credits, and biogenic carbon accounting must be addressed with technical rigor, as analyzed in “Carbon credit due diligence: the key to net zero success” and in “Challenges in the Production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels in Colombia”, where land use has direct implications for emissions accounting.
The land sector represents a significant source of global emissions, particularly in regions where agricultural expansion drives deforestation [2]. Companies that buy soy, beef, palm oil, or timber may be indirectly associated with significant emissions that must now be assessed with greater methodological rigor.
Companies will need to strengthen the traceability of their supply chains and review emission factors associated with high-risk commodities. This approach is consistent with sector guidance such as SBTi FLAG [3].
New rules for corporate inventories of land use change emissions
The standard requires clearly separating gross emissions, removals, and storage, avoiding implicit offsetting within the same inventory [1]. It also introduces criteria on permanence and reversal risk, aligned with recent climate science [2].
The debate on environmental integrity and the quality of removals has been widely documented by international bodies and technical literature [2], [4]. The new standard responds to this need to strengthen the credibility of corporate reports.
Beyond traceability, the standard places a structural issue at the center: the difference between avoided emissions, reductions, and real removals. In the AFOLU sector, a business decision can involve the immediate release of carbon stored for decades in biomass and soils, while the recovery of that carbon through restoration or sustainable management can take years or even decades to consolidate. This temporal asymmetry makes emissions and removals accounting a critical matter for climate integrity and for the credibility of corporate net zero targets [1].
Likewise, removals associated with nature-based solutions must be evaluated under strict criteria of permanence, additionality, and reversal risk. Fires, regulatory changes, or land use transformations can reverse stored carbon, directly affecting reported results. The new standard requires reporting these dynamics transparently, preventing removals from being presented as immediate equivalents to continuous emissions. This raises the technical level of corporate inventories and requires companies to adopt more prudent and scientifically robust approaches [1], [2].
Ignoring these changes can result in incomplete inventories, reputational risks, and misalignment with climate commitments. At CarbonBox we help you assess your supply chain’s exposure, adjust methodologies, and strengthen your climate strategy. Schedule your appointment by writing to info@carbonbox.app or through our corporate calendar and get ready to comply with the new rules of the game.
References
[1] GHG Protocol, Land Sector and Removals Standard, 2025. [Online]. Available at:https://ghgprotocol.org/land-sector-and-removals-standard
[2] IPCC, Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report (AR6), 2023. [Online]. Available at:https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/
[3] Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), FLAG Guidance, 2022. [Online]. Available at:https://sciencebasedtargets.org/sectors/forest-land-and-agriculture
[4] FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, 2020. [Online]. Available at:https://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/2020