Climate Management 2026 – The Updates That Matter Now · Part 1 of 4

The Rules Are Being Rewritten: GHG Protocol and SBTi 2.0

While the debate around ESRS and CSRD simplification is absorbing a great deal of attention, something at least as relevant is happening in the background: the methodological foundations of climate management are being rewritten – away from rough estimates, toward robust, verifiable data.

To kick off this four-part series, we look at the two frameworks that shape practically every climate management program: the GHG Protocol as the basis of all carbon accounting, and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as the benchmark for science-based target-setting. Both are currently undergoing their most comprehensive overhaul in years – and both are pointing in the same direction.

GHG Protocol: The Biggest Overhaul in More Than Ten Years

The GHG Protocol – the methodological foundation on which practically all carbon accounting is built – is in the middle of its most comprehensive revision since the standards were first published. Two workstreams are particularly far advanced.

Hourly Matching Instead of Annual Certificates

Scope 2 is becoming significantly stricter. At the center is the planned introduction of “hourly matching”: renewable energy is to be matched to actual consumption by the hour and by region, instead of via blanket annual certificates as before. Many of today’s commonly used guarantees of origin would no longer meet this requirement.

95 Percent Coverage and a New Data Classification

Scope 3 is taking on its first concrete contours with the progress report published in March 2026. Among the most far-reaching proposals are a mandatory 95 percent coverage of reportable Scope 3 emissions and a new, differentiated classification of primary and secondary data. A new Category 16 for “facilitated emissions” – for example from financial services or licensing business – is also envisaged.

Why This Matters Now

The revision is no academic detail. Through SBTi-validated targets and regulatory frameworks such as the ESRS or ISSB-aligned standards, every change to the GHG Protocol feeds through into mandatory reporting with a time lag. Anyone investing in data structures today should set them up so that a breakdown by data quality and data origin is possible – this is becoming the standard in both scopes.

SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0: From Ambition to Implementation

On June 11, 2026, the Science Based Targets initiative published the final Version 2.0 of its flagship standard – the most comprehensive overhaul since its launch in 2021. Around 42 percent of the content is completely new. The key changes at a glance:

• Differentiation by company size and region: A new categorization (Category A/B) distinguishes between large companies from high-income countries and smaller companies or companies from lower-income regions – with noticeably different requirements, for example regarding assurance obligations and transition plans.
• Separate Scope 1 and Scope 2 targets instead of the previous combined approach.
• Target-setting on a “best-efforts” basis: Companies that miss their targets despite demonstrably serious efforts do not automatically lose their status – as long as they report transparently on obstacles and countermeasures.
• A more binding approach to residual emissions: A tiered recognition system will in future govern how and when companies may use high-quality carbon credits and other climate contributions – as a complement to, not a substitute for, real reduction.
• Mandatory Climate Transition Plan for Category A companies, including annual progress reporting and board-level accountability.
  

Why This Matters Now

With more than 11,000 companies having already set science-based targets, SBTi is no longer a niche topic. Anyone with a validated target should know their own mandatory five-year review date – it determines under which version the next target must be submitted.