What is ‘Greenhouse Gas Protocol’?

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is a standardised accounting framework, developed by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, that helps governments and businesses understand, quantify and manage greenhouse gas emissions. Its best-known outputs are the Corporate Standard and the Scope 1, 2 and 3 emission categories, and it is the basis for much of today's corporate carbon reporting.

Why the others fail:

• B describes a financing mechanism, like the Green Climate Fund, not an accounting tool.
• C describes a treaty-type commitment, like the Kyoto Protocol. No such agreement sets a common target date of 2022, and the Paris Agreement works through nationally determined contributions, not fixed levels set for all members.
• D is wrong on two counts. REDD+ is a UNFCCC framework for reducing emissions from forests, and it is not a World Bank hosted initiative, though the Bank runs some REDD+ funds.

Core concept: measurement and reporting of emissions, which feeds into ESG disclosure and climate finance. This is a Mains angle on corporate climate accountability.

Trap: confusing a measurement tool with a financing mechanism or a treaty, since all three appear in climate governance discussions.