Information Model
Download PDFThe conceptual structure for exchanging GHG Protocol-aligned corporate carbon footprints.
New here? Start with the White Paper for why this model exists. For field-level types, required/optional status, permitted values and validation rules, see the Data Model, the implementable version of this conceptual model.
This information model supports corporate greenhouse gas footprints aligned with the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard including all associated guidance as of February 2026 and is designed to be compatible with any software and reporting standard or framework that handles GHG-compliant organisational GHG footprints. Note that the model is designed to be flexible - it can be used for handling complete end-of-year reporting or for single lines of specific emissions data between compliant systems, with equal facility. The structure is designed to be stable and extensible, ensuring backwards and forwards compatibility with any GHG Protocol-compliant toolset.
Note: This draft defines the conceptual data structure and required logical fields. Specific field names, data types, enumerations, and proposed implementation syntax is defined in the v1 data model specification.
This structure is designed to support the transmission of the following data, at a high level:
The structure consists of two core objects:
Emissions Report (the container)
Emissions Line (repeatable line items within a report)
Note: Emissions of biogenic origin are reported within Scopes 1-3 as applicable and are distinguished using the Emission origin field. Land-related emissions and removals are reported explicitly using the Accounting type and related metadata fields (e.g. gross CO₂ fluxes, removals, and reversals).
An Emissions Report represents a company’s greenhouse gas footprint for a defined reporting period.
Report Identifier
Company name: Legal or trading name of the reporting entity.
Sector (Classification System & Value - optional): Standardised sector classification (e.g. GHG Protocol sector, NACE, SIC, or equivalent; multiple supported).
Company Identifier (Classification System & Value - optional): Standardised company classification (e.g. LEI, DUNS number, or internal ID).
Primary location: Location of the reporting entity, expressed as a UN/LOCODE (minimum country; state/region extension supported).
Reporting period start date
Reporting period end date
Total net emissions - location-based (kgCO₂e): Net aggregate of emissions and removals for the reporting period, with gross emissions, removals, and reversals available at line level (always reported). This total excludes market-based electricity if provided.
Total net emissions - market-based (kgCO₂e): Net aggregate of emissions and removals for the reporting period, with gross emissions, removals, and reversals available at line level (if market-based Scope 2 electricity reported). This total excludes location-based electricity..
Emissions GWP basis (time horizon)
Report status: One of:
An Emissions Line represents a single quantified source or category of emissions within a report. A report contains one or more lines, and lines can be summed, or grouped by scope, category or other fields, to produce totals and subtotals as required.
Each Emissions Report contains one or more Emissions Lines.
Report Identifier: Associates the emissions line with the report it belongs to
Scope: One of:
Category
Subcategory (optional)
Line status: Completeness of the emission line. Assurance status is recorded at report level. One of:
Emissions quantity (kgCO₂e)
Emission origin
Accounting type: One of (codified):
Location of emission: Country or region where emissions physically occurred, expressed as a UN/LOCODE (minimum country; state/region extension supported).
Facility associated with emission (optional): Facility where emissions physically occurred
Emission factor (optional)
Data quality (optional): Codified indicator describing the nature and quality of the data used. Values to be defined in the Data Model and aligned to existing GHG Protocol guidance. Expected to cover technology, period, geography, completeness and reliability per the GHG Protocol.
Data quality information (optional): Free-text field for additional data quality context the sender wishes to convey that is not captured by the codified field above (e.g. narrative on estimation approach, source provenance, or known limitations). Provided at the sender's discretion; not intended to be machine-comparable. Examples include CO₂-only vs CO₂e estimates; Category-specific qualifiers (e.g. radiative forcing uplift applied for aviation, estimation methodology used for Scope 3.1/3.2); underlying quality of activity data (e.g. complete, extrapolated or estimated).
Optional: Gas breakdown (repeatable)
Gas CO₂e contribution (kgCO₂e): Portion of the total emissions quantity attributable to this gas.
Gas (multiple can be included)
Gas quantity: Quantity of the gas emitted in its native unit (e.g. tonnes CH₄).
Emission origin
Where gas breakdown is provided, the sum of gas-level CO₂e contributions shall equal the Emissions quantity.
Activity description: Free-text or controlled description of the emitting activity.
Lifecycle stage (LCA stage): Where applicable (e.g. upstream, use phase, end-of-life).
Activity data value: Quantitative activity input used to calculate emissions.
Activity data unit: Unit corresponding to the activity data value.
Land boundary / traceability level (optional): Codified indicator of the boundary used for land-related lines (e.g. global / jurisdiction / sourcing region / land management unit), where applicable.
Storage duration / permanence (optional): Expected duration category for storage associated with removals/carbon storage claims, where applicable.
Monitoring / reversal treatment (optional): Codified indicator of monitoring approach and how reversals are handled (including if monitoring ceases), where applicable.
Incomplete data is first-class: Reports and lines explicitly support partial coverage and quality signalling.
Accounting-aligned, framework-agnostic: The model reflects GHG Protocol accounting concepts without embedding reporting or disclosure rules.
Interoperable by default: All fields are designed to be machine-readable and reusable across systems (specifics of fields names to come).
Extensible: Future categories (e.g. forestry coverage) and additional metadata can be added without breaking existing implementations.
This model defines what is exchanged and how, not what must be reported, which will typically be a sub-set of the data defined in the final data model, nor whether it is exchanged or with what data permissions, which must be handled separately by the sender and receiver of data.
It is intended to support:
Software-to-software data exchange
Scope 3 data sharing between organisations
Reuse across reporting, finance, procurement, and analytics systems
Roll-up into existing reporting frameworks and standards
This model is intentionally multi-dimensional. It separates the core accounting axes defined by the GHG Protocol into distinct, non-overlapping fields to ensure interoperability, extensibility, and mathematical consistency.
The primary dimensions are:
Scope - organisational boundary classification (Scope 1, 2, 3).
Category / Subcategory - source classification within a scope.
Accounting type - inventory treatment (Emission, Removal, Gross CO₂ flux, Reversal).
Emissions quantity (kgCO₂e) - aggregated climate impact value for the line.
Emission origin - fossil, biogenic, or mixed distinction (where relevant).
Gas breakdown (optional) - constituent gas-level resolution.
Each dimension answers a different accounting question:
Where does it sit in the organisational boundary? Scope
What type of activity generated it? Category
How is it treated in inventory terms? Accounting type
What is its total climate impact? Emissions quantity
What is the carbon origin? Emission origin
What gases comprise it? Gas breakdown
By separating these dimensions:
No single field carries multiple semantic meanings.
Land sector guidance integrates without redefining scope.
Biogenic treatment does not require scope reclassification.
Gas-level precision is supported but not required.
Aggregated CO₂e reporting remains simple and valid.
The model therefore supports both:
Minimal corporate disclosures (e.g corporate CO₂e annual reports, single CO₂e values per category), and
High-resolution inventories (gas-resolved, origin-resolved, land-boundary-aware datasets).
This dimensional separation is designed to allow software systems to exchange emissions data without loss of meaning, while supporting any existing GHG Protocol-compliant tools and reporting frameworks.
See the Data Model for this structure implemented as a validated schema.