Making Land Emissions Count for Business: GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard

The GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard Explained

The land and agriculture sector, encompassing agriculture, land-use change and related supply chains, contributes a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions and offers some of the most promising opportunities for emissions reduction. Unlike fossil fuel emissions, which are generally more straightforward to measure, agricultural emissions are often highly uncertain due to complex biological processes, regional variability, limited data availability and changing conditions over time.

Land and agriculture emissions are frequently overlooked in corporate greenhouse gas reporting. While businesses generally account for emissions from operations and supply chains, the impacts of land-use change and agricultural activities are often excluded due to uncertainty, data gaps and inconsistent reporting practices. A major challenge has been the absence of a clear and standardised methodology for incorporating agricultural and land-based emissions into corporate inventories.

The GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard (LSR Standard), released on 30 January 2026 and effective from 1 January 2027, addresses this challenge by providing clear guidance for accounting for:

• Land-use change emissions arising from land conversion or deforestation.
• Land management emissions such as soil cultivation, fertiliser use and livestock grazing.
• Biogenic product emissions, including methane from livestock and carbon dioxide from crops.
• Carbon removals, capture and storage in trees, soils, wetlands, geological reservoirs and other removal technologies.

Who Is This Relevant For?

Agriculture and land-use impacts are deeply embedded across global supply chains, making the Standard relevant not only to primary producers but also to organisations that source land-derived products.

The Standard is particularly relevant for organisations that:

• Own or manage large areas of land, such as agricultural producers or land developers.
• Produce, process, sell or purchase significant volumes of food, fibre, feed, bioenergy or other agricultural products.
• Supply products or services to agricultural producers.
• Manage land to increase carbon storage in soils or biomass.

The Standard does not currently include forestry.

What Organisations Should Know

Many organisations may not fully understand the extent of land-based emissions across their operations and supply chains. For example, businesses sourcing livestock products may focus only on livestock emissions, while overlooking emissions associated with feed production and land management. Similarly, organisations operating water reservoirs or hydropower infrastructure may overlook emissions linked to land-use change associated with dam construction and operation.

The Standard expands expectations for Scope 1 and Scope 3 reporting, introduces new accounting concepts and requires more detailed and accurate data collection.

Organisations must be able to identify the spatial boundary associated with land-based products, such as sourcing regions, land management units or harvested areas, with an appropriate level of traceability to support credible emissions and removals reporting. Organisations are also required to report land occupation and emissions arising from ongoing land management activities, including fertiliser use, livestock methane emissions and soil degradation.

The Standard also clarifies accounting approaches for land conversion emissions, carbon leakage and natural or technological removals, although removals reporting remains optional and subject to strict data quality and traceability requirements.

As reporting requirements increase, the Standard may also influence procurement strategies, encouraging organisations to prioritise suppliers with strong traceability, responsible land management practices and lower land-use change risks.

Preparing for Compliance

With the Standard taking effect in 2027, affected organisations should begin preparing during 2026 by:

• Establishing clear organisational and supply chain boundaries.
• Engaging suppliers to improve data quality and reporting capability.
• Integrating land-use change and land management emissions into corporate greenhouse gas inventories.
• Piloting carbon removals accounting approaches, where relevant.

The LSR Standard represents a significant milestone in climate accounting, providing organisations with a globally recognised framework for measuring and reporting complex land-based emissions.

Reducing agricultural emissions and increasing land-based carbon storage are central to Australia’s Net Zero ambitions, and the Standard will help organisations better manage emissions, track progress and support long-term decarbonisation pathways.

If your organisation or supply chain operates within the land and agriculture sector and you would like support understanding how land-based emissions may affect your greenhouse gas inventory and mitigation strategy, please contact us at info@pangolin.com.au.