How the GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard Will Change Real Estate Climate Reporting
Land-related emissions and carbon removals have long been treated inconsistently in corporate climate reporting. In many cases, land-use impacts were simplified, assumed neutral, or used to support climate claims without sufficient transparency.
With the release of the GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard Version 1.0, effective from January 1, 2027, that approach is changing. The new framework introduces clearer boundaries between emissions and removals, strengthens reporting requirements, and raises the bar for climate claims.
While the standard is often associated with agriculture, its implications extend far beyond that sector. Real estate is one of the most directly affected industries, because every development involves land use change, and land use change is no longer climate neutral by default.
A Structural Shift in Land Accounting
Version 1.0 focuses on agricultural land management practices and engineered COâ‚‚ removal technologies such as direct air capture. Forestry is intentionally excluded from this first release, as further methodological development is required before it can be robustly integrated into corporate inventories.
Beyond scope definitions, the standard represents a deeper shift in climate accounting logic. Land plays a dual role in the climate system: it can generate emissions through land-use change and soil disturbance, but it can also remove carbon from the atmosphere.
Until now, these impacts were often blended together. Emissions from land conversion were sometimes overlooked, while removals were presented alongside emission reductions without clear separation. In some cases, temporary carbon storage was communicated as if it delivered permanent climate benefits.
The new framework introduces a clear principle:
gross emissions must be reported in full, and removals must be disclosed separately.
Carbon removals do not reduce Scope 1, Scope 2, or Scope 3 emissions. They are reported independently, supported by transparent methodologies, and assessed based on durability and permanence.
Permanence and the Limits of Removals
A central element of the standard is permanence. Carbon stored in soils or biological systems may be released due to wildfire, drought, pests, or land-use change. Companies must therefore disclose how long carbon is expected to remain stored and how reversal risks are managed.
- Temporary storage cannot be presented as a permanent climate solution.
- The standard also distinguishes between nature-based and technology-based removals, recognizing that they differ significantly in durability and risk. This prevents removals from being treated as automatically equivalent, even when the volume of COâ‚‚ appears similar.