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Private Standards in the Climate Regime: The Greenhouse Gas Protocol

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  • Green Jessica F

    (Case Western Reserve University)

Abstract

This paper seeks to explain the success of two NGOs in creating standards for calculating and reporting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the level of an entire company. These emissions accounting standards, called the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, have been widely adopted by multinational firms, emissions reporting registries, and even an emissions trading scheme. The paper traces the widespread adoption of the standards, and then offers an explanation for this successful instance of private regulation. It presents a supply and demand model of private entrepreneurial authority-where private actors project authority without delegation by states. The two NGOs were successful rule-makers because they were able meet a demand for three benefits to potential users of the standard: reduced transaction costs, first-mover advantage, and an opportunity to burnish their reputation as environmental leaders. The paper also explains the supply of private authority-that is, why we see entrepreneurial authority rather than delegation by states. The disagreement among developed countries on the appropriate role for emissions trading in the climate regime delayed action on developing firm-level accounting methodologies. Moreover, the relative weakness of the focal institution in the climate regime-the climate change Secretariat-meant that there was no obvious international organization to take up the task of creating new measurement tools.

Suggested Citation

  • Green Jessica F, 2010. "Private Standards in the Climate Regime: The Greenhouse Gas Protocol," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-39, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:buspol:v:12:y:2010:i:3:n:3
    DOI: 10.2202/1469-3569.1318
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    Cited by:

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    6. Rainer Kasperzak & Marko Kureljusic & Lucas Reisch & Simon Thies, 2023. "Accounting for Carbon Emissions—Current State of Sustainability Reporting Practice under the GHG Protocol," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-17, January.
    7. Hoogerbrugge, Coen & van de Kaa, Geerten & Chappin, Emile, 2023. "Adoption of quality standards for corporate greenhouse gas inventories: The importance of other stakeholders," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
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    9. Jessica F Green, 2017. "Policy entrepreneurship in climate governance: Toward a comparative approach," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(8), pages 1471-1482, December.
    10. João Paulo Cândia Veiga & Fausto Makishi & Murilo Alves Zacareli & Thiago Augusto Hiromitsu Terada, 2016. "Corporate Leadership, Multilevel Enforcement and Biodiversity Regulation," Journal of Business, LAR Center Press, vol. 1(3), pages 43-53, July.
    11. Meenakshi Sharma & Rajesh Kaushal & Prashant Kaushik & Seeram Ramakrishna, 2021. "Carbon Farming: Prospects and Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-15, October.
    12. Markus Lederer, 2012. "Market making via regulation: The role of the state in carbon markets," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(4), pages 524-544, December.
    13. Samuel Tang & David Demeritt, 2018. "Climate Change and Mandatory Carbon Reporting: Impacts on Business Process and Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 437-455, May.
    14. Thiemann Matthias, 2014. "The impact of meta-standardization upon standards convergence: the case of the international accounting standard for off-balance-sheet financing," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 16(1), pages 79-112, April.
    15. Jessica F. Green, 2017. "The strength of weakness: pseudo-clubs in the climate regime," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 41-52, September.
    16. Julian Baehr & Florian Zenglein & Guido Sonnemann & Markus Lederer & Liselotte Schebek, 2024. "Back in the Driver’s Seat: How New EU Greenhouse-Gas Reporting Schemes Challenge Corporate Accounting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-20, April.
    17. Mayer Frederick & Gereffi Gary, 2010. "Regulation and Economic Globalization: Prospects and Limits of Private Governance," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-27, October.
    18. Jason Thistlethwaite & Matthew Paterson, 2016. "Private governance and accounting for sustainability networks," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(7), pages 1197-1221, November.

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