Will our RECs and green tariffs still count under the revised GHG Protocol Scope 2 rules?

Today, yes, and nothing new is final. After the consultation of 20 October 2025 to 31 January 2026, the GHG Protocol's board backed developing two market-based methods: Method 1 with hourly matching, deliverability and incrementality, and Method 2 keeping the 2015 rules until a date not yet set.

Where the revision stands

• 20 October 2025 to 31 January 2026: public consultation on hourly matching and deliverability.
• April 2026: the Independent Standards Board said it would set the direction first.
• July 2026: a majority of the board supported two market-based methods with different requirements and claims.
• Late July to early September 2026: the Scope 2 working group gave feedback by survey.
• September 2026: the board set a direction of travel for the working group to refine.
• Q2 2027: consolidated public consultation planned; Q4 2028: joint GHG Protocol-ISO Corporate Standard planned.

The direction of travel, as drafted

• Method 1: hourly matching, deliverability and incrementality, meaning newer plants.
• Method 2: the current market-based method from the 2015 Scope 2 Guidance.
• Until a date still to be set, companies may use Method 2 and should use Method 1, and must say which they use.
• After that date, market-based reporting would use Method 1 where data meeting the quality criteria exists.
• Whether reporting market-based at all is required (shall, should or may) is still open.

Where non-qualifying purchases may go

The board noted that electricity purchases not reported in the market-based statement could be reported in a GHG impact statement or as key indicators, under the multi-statement framework being built for actions and market instruments.

What to do now

1. Keep reporting location-based and market-based Scope 2 under the 2015 Guidance, and say so.
2. For each REC or green tariff, record generator, state, technology, commissioning date and generation months.
3. Ask for hourly or 15-minute generation data in new PPAs, and keep your own interval meter data.
4. If your buyer works under SBTi's Net-Zero Standard V2.0, its own instrument rules apply on top, including a 15-year generator age limit.

Example: one factory under both methods

• Consumption: 2,000 MWh a year; RECs retired: 2,000 MWh
• Method 2 (2015 rules): 100% of use covered on an annual basis
• Method 1, if adopted as drafted: solar RECs match only daytime hours, say 1,100 MWh, so 1,100 / 2,000 = 55% covered
• Disclosure: the report would state which method it uses

Example company. Method 1 details, including deliverability for India, are not settled.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reports location-based Scope 2 from your bills and market-based Scope 2 from the certificate or contract data you provide, under today's 2015 Guidance. It will follow the revised rules once they are final; it does not set or validate targets.

• What the GHG Protocol revision changes
• Scope 2 revision and Indian RECs
• Signing a renewable contract now
• Scope 3 supplier evidence

Sources: GHG Protocol, Scope 2 market-based method update: from 2025-2026 public consultation to current status (16 October 2026), GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance (2015)

Last reviewed 2026-11-01. The Scope 2 working group met in October 2026 and a consolidated consultation is planned for Q2 2027; re-check the status page each quarter.