In 1994, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its first Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Since then, the IPCC Guidelines have been updated by hundreds of the world’s top experts on greenhouse gas emissions in 1996, 2000, and 2006. These technical guidelines provide the foundation for greenhouse gas accounting under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol. All other greenhouse gas accounting protocols rely in some form on the methodologies developed for and included in the IPCC Guidelines.

In 1998, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) formed the GHG Protocol Initiative to address this growing need. Today, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol is the international accounting tool most widely used by businesses and governments to understand, quantify, and manage GHG emissions. The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard provides the accounting framework for nearly every GHG standard and program worldwide, and for thousands of GHG inventories prepared by individual companies.

In 2002, three hundred of the world’s largest investors, representing roughly three trillion dollars of investment, launched the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a program encouraging corporations to disclose their carbon footprint.

These and other such programs are predicated on GHG emissions… their measurement, reporting, management and reduction. The integrity of these programs, indeed the entire concept of a GHG emissions inventory and monitoring system, revolves around accuracy. The accuracy of baseline studies, credible emissions measurements, and solid monitoring systems are at the heart of any global mitigation strategy. The sharper and more unassailable these components are, the more robust and powerful the program.

In 2007, the Greenhouse Gas Experts Network and ClimateCHECK came together to form the GHG Management Institute. The Institute, and are creating a suite of courses and professional programs that will address the need for GHG experts and managers.