GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard: What It Changes for Corporate Inventories

Key Takeaways

• The GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals (LSR) Standard, published in June 2026, introduces the first comprehensive framework for reporting land-based emissions and carbon removals in corporate inventories
• Removals are treated separately from emission reductions — companies cannot net removals against emissions in their Scope 1/2/3 totals without clear disclosure
• Biogenic carbon flows (emissions and removals from biological sources) must now be tracked alongside fossil carbon, with distinct reporting categories
• The standard aligns with SBTi V2.0 FLAG targets, creating a consistent framework for companies in land-intensive sectors
• UK agriculture accounts for approximately 10% of national GHG emissions, making the LSR Standard particularly relevant for food, forestry, and land management companies

Why the LSR Standard Matters

Until now, the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and Scope 3 Standard provided limited guidance on how to account for land-use change emissions, biogenic carbon, and carbon removals. Companies with significant agricultural supply chains, forestry operations, or land holdings had to improvise, leading to inconsistent and often incomparable reporting.

The LSR Standard addresses this gap by providing clear rules for:

• How to account for CO₂ removals from biological sequestration (forests, soil carbon, biomass growth)
• How to report emissions from land-use change (deforestation, peatland degradation, conversion of grassland)
• How to handle biogenic carbon in products (timber, biofuels, bio-based materials)
• How removals interact with emission reduction targets and net zero claims

Key Changes to Corporate Inventories

1. Separate Reporting of Removals

The most significant change is the requirement to report carbon removals separately from emission reductions. Companies must disclose:

• Gross emissions: Total GHG emissions across Scopes 1, 2, and 3, excluding any removals
• Removals: CO₂ removed from the atmosphere through biological sequestration on land the company owns, manages, or sources from
• Net emissions: Gross emissions minus removals, disclosed separately and not as the primary headline figure

This prevents companies from burying emission increases behind removal claims and ensures transparency about the scale and nature of their climate impact.

2. Biogenic vs Fossil Carbon Distinction

The LSR Standard requires companies to distinguish between:

• Fossil CO₂: Emissions from combustion or processing of fossil fuels and fossil carbon sources
• Biogenic CO₂: Emissions and removals from biological sources — land-use change, biomass burning, soil carbon changes, and biological sequestration
• Land-use change emissions: A specific category of biogenic emissions from converting one land type to another (e.g., forest to cropland)

Previously, many companies either excluded biogenic carbon entirely or combined it with fossil carbon in a way that obscured the underlying picture.

3. Scope 1/2/3 Implications

The LSR Standard modifies how land-sector activities appear across the GHG Protocol scopes:

• Scope 1: Now includes biogenic emissions and removals from company-owned or managed land. A forestry company’s Scope 1 inventory must include both CO₂ sequestered by growing trees and CO₂ released through harvesting, fire, or decomposition
• Scope 3 Category 1 (Purchased goods): Expanded to include land-use change emissions embedded in purchased agricultural commodities (soy, palm oil, beef, timber)
• Scope 3 Category 5 (Waste): Clarified treatment of biogenic waste decomposition in landfill (methane from organic waste)
• New category guidance: Specific methods for calculating emissions from crop production, livestock, forestry, and land management activities

Alignment with SBTi FLAG Targets

The LSR Standard was developed in coordination with the SBTi Forest, Land, and Agriculture (FLAG) target-setting guidance, now fully integrated into SBTi V2.0. Companies required to set FLAG targets under SBTi can use the LSR Standard as their inventory methodology, ensuring consistency between what they measure and what they target.

FLAG targets apply to companies where land-related emissions represent a significant portion of their total footprint — typically food and beverage, agriculture, forestry, paper and packaging, and tobacco companies. The LSR Standard provides the measurement foundation; SBTi FLAG provides the target-setting framework.

UK Context: Agriculture and Land Use

UK agriculture contributes approximately 10% of national GHG emissions, primarily through:

• Methane from livestock (enteric fermentation and manure management)
• Nitrous oxide from fertiliser application and soil management
• CO₂ from peatland degradation (the UK has significant peat resources, particularly in Scotland and Northern Ireland)
• Land-use change (though deforestation rates are low, peatland drainage and grassland conversion continue)

UK food retailers, processors, and agricultural businesses will need to integrate LSR Standard methodology into their Scope 3 inventories to comply with both UK SRS and SBTi requirements.

Practical Guidance on Data Collection

Collecting land-sector emissions data is inherently more complex than energy or transport data. Key approaches include:

• Farm-level data: Where possible, collect activity data (hectares, livestock numbers, fertiliser quantities, yield data) directly from farming operations
• Commodity-specific emission factors: Use published factors for specific commodities and sourcing regions (e.g., Brazilian soy vs Argentine soy has different land-use change risk profiles)
• Certification and traceability: Leverage existing supply chain certification programmes (RSPO for palm oil, FSC for timber, Rainforest Alliance for cocoa) as data proxies
• Remote sensing: Satellite data can verify land-use change claims in supply chains, particularly for deforestation-linked commodities
• Country-level defaults: Where supply chain-specific data is unavailable, use FAO country-level emission factors as conservative defaults

What You Should Do Now

• Assess applicability: Does your company own or manage land? Do you source agricultural commodities in Scope 3? If yes, the LSR Standard applies to you
• Map your land-sector exposure: Identify which Scope 1 and Scope 3 categories are affected by the new biogenic carbon reporting requirements
• Review your inventory methodology: Update your GHG inventory approach to distinguish biogenic from fossil carbon and report removals separately
• Align with SBTi FLAG: If you are setting or revalidating SBTi targets, use the LSR Standard as your inventory methodology for FLAG target categories
• Invest in supply chain data: Start engaging suppliers of land-intensive commodities to collect more granular emissions data
• Update reporting systems: Ensure your carbon accounting software can handle the additional categories and distinctions required by the LSR Standard

Need Help with Land Sector Carbon Accounting?

Our carbon accounting advisory team helps companies implement the GHG Protocol LSR Standard, build land-sector inventories, and align with SBTi FLAG target requirements.

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