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Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard for the financial industry

The Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) is an industry-led initiative. It was created in 2015 by Dutch financial institutions, extended to North America in 2018, and scaled up globally in 2019. PCAF helps financial institutions assess and disclose greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from their loans and investments through carbon accounting.

Responding to industry demand for a global, standardized GHG accounting and reporting approach, PCAF developed the Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Financial Industry (the Standard).

Key points

The Standard, developed by the PCAF Global Core Team, provides detailed methodological guidance to measure and disclose GHG emissions associated with six asset classes. As the Standard and PCAF evolve, additional asset classes and case studies will be added to the Standard.
Using this Standard equips financial institutions with harmonized, robust methods to measure financed emissions, a metric that enables them to:

  • Assess climate-related risks in line with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
  • Set science-based targets (SBTs) using the sectoral decarbonization approach developed by the Science Based Targets initiative.
  • Report to stakeholders like the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
  • Inform climate strategies and actions to develop innovative financial products that support the transition toward a net-zero emissions economy.