A coalition of around 90 organisations from the renewable gas sector has called on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) to revise its forthcoming corporate greenhouse gas accounting standard to better recognise the climate benefits of renewable gaseous fuels.
The appeal, published during London Climate Action Week, argues that changes to the GHG Protocol’s proposed Actions and Market Instruments (AMI) standard are needed to support investment in biomethane and other renewable gaseous fuels, particularly in sectors where direct electrification remains difficult.
The joint letter has been coordinated by the World Biogas Association (WBA), the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA), Eurogas, the European Biogas Association (EBA), the American Biogas Council, the Electric Natural Gas Coalition (e-NG Coalition), Molecule Group and the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG Coalition).
The GHG Protocol is the world’s most widely used greenhouse gas accounting framework for businesses, with the coalition noting that 97% of S&P 500 companies report in accordance with its standards. As a result, changes to the framework can have significant implications for corporate decarbonisation strategies and investment decisions.
The organisations argue that the proposed AMI standard should explicitly recognise contractual purchases of renewable gaseous fuels using established certification schemes. They say this would align the standard with existing regulatory and voluntary markets while allowing companies to report the climate benefits of renewable fuels using life-cycle assessment methodologies.
According to the coalition, the absence of guidance on market-based instruments has limited financial support for commercially available low-carbon technologies by making it more difficult for companies to account for renewable gaseous fuels delivered through existing gas networks.
The signatories also argue that this has slowed decarbonisation in hard-to-abate sectors by restricting the use of established certification systems and existing gas infrastructure to deliver lower-carbon fuels.
The letter urges the GHG Protocol to ensure that the new standard is interoperable with existing regulatory and voluntary markets and incorporates an impact statement that enables transparent reporting of the environmental benefits associated with renewable gaseous fuels.
The coalition warns that failing to recognise these market-based approaches could discourage the purchase of renewable gas and reduce investment in technologies that it considers important for achieving net-zero emissions.
The intervention follows earlier representations made to the GHG Protocol by almost 250 organisations and comes as work continues on the next phase of the AMI standard, which is intended to provide companies with guidance on accounting for emissions reductions achieved through market-based instruments.
