‘Green Asia and BDO Korea’, selected as a partner of GHG Protocol

Green Asia and BDO Korea were recently selected as official partners of Greenhouse Gas Protocol.

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is the World Resource Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) to establish the global standard applied to the measurement, reporting, and verification of greenhouse gas emissions and removals. It was established in 1998 by the WRI and WBCSD. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, along with the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi), is one of the most influential organizations to achieve a low-carbon economy, and currently provides the most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standards in the world. Carbon reduction is measured according to these standards.

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is currently in compliance with new corporate standards for accounting and reporting of land use, land use change, biogenic products and related activities in the GHG inventory. Scope 3 standards are being developed. More than 100 companies and organizations around the world, including IKEA, MicroSoft, Bayer, and Nestlé, as well as international organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the European Commission, are participating in this project to create new guidance.

Although the land sector is an important sector accounting for about 30% of global emissions, there has been no standard for MRV. As a result of the 2019 survey, more than 75% of surveyed companies acknowledged the need for new guidelines. Accordingly, the greenhouse gas protocol plans to develop the land sector and carbon removal guidance by the end of 2022 and apply it as a global standard from 2023, Gree Asia and BDO Korea respectively selected as testing partner and supporting partner.

Jeong Jong-cheol, head of ESG Center at BDO Korea, said, “This selection of a partner is a splendid feat for the first Korean company to participate in the establishment of a global standard for responding to climate change. We will establish a technical working group (TWG) composed of experts and an advisory group in which ESG management leading companies, financial institutions and public corporations participate to communicate widely.”

Ki-chul Oh, Executive Director of Green Asia, evaluated “the result of decades of efforts to prevent climate change and desertification recognized by the international community” and said, “The effect of reducing carbon emissions in the land sector through tree planting and forest creation is scientifically evaluated. If a new standard is established through verification, it will be an opportunity to activate the Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM) for acquiring and offsetting carbon credits, which has been difficult due to the ambiguous standard.” In addition, Kilbae Yoon, CEO of BDO Korea, said, “It will be very helpful for domestic companies to gain good evaluation in the international community for their NetZero plans through SBTi subscription, target setting know-how, and domestic introduction of examples from developed countries related to carbon emission reduction, which domestic companies have been sluggish.”

Green Asia is a non-profit organization established in 1998 with the purpose of contributing to the development of a safe and sustainable earth in response to international environmental problems such as climate change, desertification, and yellow dust. Forest creation projects have been promoted to prevent desertification. BDO Korea is a Korean member firm of BDO International, one of the world's 5 largest accounting firms, and is preparing for sustainability and energy saving services through a channel partner agreement with Edison Energy of the United States last year.