# Which standard or methodology do I select in CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) question 7.2 for an Indian factory?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/cdp-7-2-which-methodology-name-to-select

Select every standard you actually used to collect activity data and calculate emissions. CDP says most companies refer to the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and encourages it where no national standard applies. If yours is not in the list, pick Other, please specify and name it.

## What the question is

A multi-select list. CDP says data users need to understand what methods were used to calculate emissions. You tick all that apply, and the list includes the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard (Revised Edition), the Scope 2 Guidance, the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard, ISO 14064-1 (from the International Organization for Standardization) and the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 Guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, among many national and sector protocols.

## What CDP says about choosing

- The large majority of companies refer to the GHG Protocol.
- The appropriateness of a calculation methodology should be decided case by case, and it is good practice for the methods and the underlying data to be externally verified.
- CDP makes no judgments on the standards used, but expects any tool to follow best practice and the accuracy and completeness principles of standards similar to the GHG Protocol.
- CDP encourages the GHG Protocol Standards where national standards are not specified, both the Corporate Standard and the Scope 3 Standard.
- If your methodology is not listed, select Other, please specify and say which.

## A practical way to tick it

- Scope 1 and 2 from bills with published factors: the Corporate Standard, plus the Scope 2 Guidance if you report Scope 2.
- You report any Scope 3 category: add the Scope 3 Standard.
- Fuel factors taken from the IPCC 2006 Guidelines: my reading is that the closest listed option is the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 guidelines, because the list does not name the 2006 edition on its own. If your report names the 2006 edition, use Other and write it exactly.
- Tick only what you used. A spreadsheet of your own is fine if it follows these standards; do not tick a standard you did not follow.

## Example: a forging unit reporting Scope 1, 2 and category 4

- Fuel: 120,000 litres of diesel x 2.645 kilograms (kg) of carbon dioxide (CO2) per litre = 317,400 kg = 317.4 tonnes. Factor source: IPCC defaults, reported in your methodology note.
- Electricity: 800,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) x 0.675 kg per kWh (Central Electricity Authority (CEA), financial year 2025-26) = 540,000 kg = 540.0 tonnes.
- Tick in 7.2: GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance, GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard, and, because the diesel factor comes from IPCC defaults, the 2019 Refinement option (or Other, please specify, if you name the 2006 edition).

Quantities are example numbers. The factors are the ones Senseible uses for financial year 2025-26.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so the litres, kilowatt hours and months are in one place to copy from. It does not enter your answers in the CDP portal, and refrigerant top-ups need your own service records.

- [GHG Protocol tools or your own spreadsheet](https://senseible.earth/answers/own-spreadsheet-or-ghg-protocol-tools)
- [Emission factor order of preference in India](https://senseible.earth/answers/emission-factor-order-of-preference-india)
- [CDP 7.3: market-based Scope 2](https://senseible.earth/answers/cdp-7-3-market-based-scope-2-indian-supplier)
- [ISO 14064 or GHG Protocol](https://senseible.earth/answers/iso-14064-vs-ghg-protocol)

Sources: [CDP, Full Corporate Questionnaire Module 7 reporting guidance (April 2025 edition)](https://cdn.cdp.net/cdp-production/cms/guidance_docs/pdfs/000/005/688/original/Full_Corporate_Questionnaire_Module_7.pdf)

Last reviewed 2026-11-06. The option list in 7.2 changes between years. Check the list in the questionnaire you were sent. The tick advice for IPCC 2006 is my reading.