Companies keen on measuring their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from now on have two new standards to go by. World resource institute (WRI) and the world business council for sustainable development (WBCSD), launched the green house gas protocol standards—corporate value chain (scope 3) and product life cycle standards — that will enable companies to save money, reduce risks, and gain competitive advantages.

This is the first time WRI and WBCSD have officially released the GHG protocol standards in India, though a growing number of Indian companies are already doing corporate GHG accounting.

According to the carbon disclosure project 2011 India report 57companies submitted reports and 89 percent reported their GHG emissions using the GHG corporate protocol standards or a protocol based on it.

“The new GHG protocol standards allow Indian companies to identify and target new market opportunities for low-carbon business models and products,” said  Pankaj Bhatia, director, GHG protocol, WRI. “Businesses will find that these standards provide state-of-art methods and tools that can be deployed not only to measure and manage GHG emissions, but also to track important co-benefits in the India context. This, in turn, can help Indian businesses reduce energy use and manage resources more effectively across the full value chain.”

Released internationally in October 2011, the corporate value chain and product life cycle standards were created in response to businesses that wanted to better understand and measure their climate impacts beyond their own operations. The standards were developed with input from business leaders, NGOs, academics, and policymakers around the world.

More than 2,300 participants from 55 countries contributed to the process, and 60companies road tested the new standards. Businesses that use the GHG Protocol standards will be able to create better products and improve efficiency throughout the value chain.

GHG protocol standards are the most widely used accounting tool to measure, manage and report on GHG emissions.