Land Use GHG Accounting

What role does land use play in greenhouse gas emissions—and how do we measure it accurately?

Join Catherine Beare and Timur Lukhadi as they break down the fundamentals of land use GHG accounting. From carbon stock changes to key methodologies, this episode offers a clear and concise overview for businesses navigating sustainability reporting.

Tune in to learn the essentials.

Speakers:

• Catherine Beare- Regional Director, Business Assurance (UK & Iberia)
• Timur Iukhadi- Sustainability Consultant, Intertek Assuris

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Transcript

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00:14 --> 02:05
Speaker 1 – Catherine Beare, Regional Director - Business Assurance (UK & Iberia)
Hello and welcome to this podcast focused on land use GHG accounting.
I'm Catherine Beare, the Regional Director for Business Assurance in the UK and Iberia, and I'm delighted today to be joined by Timur Iukhadi, who is our Senior Sustainability Consultant for our Assuris business line.
Now, Timur has been a Sustainability Professional for many years and has expertise in environmental and climate change initiatives, and he has worked extensively on GHG accounting and assurance.
And today, he is going to help us to understand the essentials of land use GHG accounting.
So welcome, Timur, and thank you so much for coming to talk to me about this extremely interesting topic today.
And, of course, it's interesting because we've got so much growing pressure on companies to disclose their impacts on climate change. Land use emissions and removals are gaining more attention in general.
Now, in today's podcast, what I'm really keen for you to do is to take a high-level look at the current themes in land use, GHG accounting, and then help the audience to understand what are the practical steps that businesses can consider.
In moving forward. So let's get started.
OK-Timur. Let's start with why is land use GHG accounting increasingly important for companies, and specifically, which sectors will it be most relevant for?

00:13 --> 05:33
Speaker 2 – Timur Iukhadi, Senior Sustainability Consultant, Intertek Assuris
OK, thank you, Catherine.
I'm very excited to talk about that since it is a very relevant topic right now.
Land use emissions account for 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions, so they play quite a big role in both causing and solving climate change. On corporate level, land use GHG accounting is also becoming more important for companies, since land is both a source and a way to remove carbon from the atmosphere.
So, for instance, if a company does activities like deforestation, drain wetlands, it releases large amounts of CO2. However, on the other hand, planting trees, improving soil management, restoring ecosystems, can remove CO2 from out the atmosphere and put it into biomass, or soil or other so-called carbon stocks.
All this makes land use very important on how companies can reach their net zero targets and as more companies set their climate goals, they are expected to manage emissions not only from their own facilities, but also from their full supply chains because land use emissions happen mostly in their value chain, especially in agriculture, forestry and food production. These are Scope 3 emissions, which are often harder to measure, but they are essential to account for.
Which sectors will be most relevant for? Well, of course, agriculture, forestry companies; food and beverage companies that source ingredients like crops or livestock; consumer goods companies that use materials such as paper or call to other land-based products; retailers that sell those products.  Basically, any company that is involved in land use or land-based products will likely be affected and should prepare.
To support these efforts, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol is preparing a new guidance, which is called Land Sector and Removals Guidance. This Guidance will provide clear rules on how to measure and report land use emissions and also carbon removals, if there are some. Until now, there has been a lack of detailed standards or guidance on how to do that and so GHG Protocol aims to close this gap . It's not yet finalized. The final version is expected to be published in Q4/2025. However, once finalized, all companies that use GHG Protocol to account for their GHG emissions and have land use activities in their operations or value chains will be required to apply this new guidance. So, companies are strongly encouraged to begin preparing now.
What will it cover? It will cover: Step-by-step instructions on how to measure land use change. For instance, when forest is turned into cropland by company's activities; how to account for land management practices such as fertilizing or tilling; how to measure and report carbon removals, if a company has those operations. So, following this guidance will help companies to better meet the reporting rules, avoid greenwashing and make strong climate claims.

05:33 --> 06:15
Speaker 1 – Catherine Beare, Regional Director - Business Assurance (UK & Iberia)
I think it's a really important point you made as well about the reality of the big impacts being in the supply chain and so to your point on getting started early in trying to understand this is extremely important because we all know--well, not always--but the challenge is mostly that you can have with having to engage incorrectly, work with your supply chain, to get that information is actually quite a big deal.
Timur, what are the main challenges companies face when accounting for land use emissions and removals?

06:15 --> 09:05
Speaker 2 – Timur Iukhadi, Senior Sustainability Consultant, Intertek Assuris
Well, one of the biggest challenges is getting reliable and complete data. A lot of land use emissions do not happen at company owned sites. They happen upstream in the supply chain. For example, if company sells beef emissions might come from deforestation, cattle methane or feed production and these takes place on farms that a company doesn't own or control and because of this, companies often don't have visibility into these specific line areas, even if they know their direct suppliers. So, they rely on average emissions values and emission factors from global sources like IPCC guidelines.
These are called Tier 1 methods and while Tier 1 is useful for early estimates, it doesn't reflect what is really happening on the ground and can miss improvements already made by suppliers.
So, GHG Protocol guidance encourages companies to move to higher tier methods like Tier 2 or Tier 3 and this use more specific data from suppliers. They use more complex formulas, more input, for instance type of biomass and tree species and their specific metrics. They can also include tools like satellite images, farm maps or direct supplier reporting. Collecting this type of data takes more time, more budget, and often requires technical expertise.
So yeah, carbon removals bring extra difficulty as well. If a company has those activities and wants to report them such as planting trees or improving soil practices, it must show that the carbon is actually being stored, and that the storage wouldn't have happened without the company's actions—so it is additional--and that the carbon will remain stored over time—so it is permanent.
And, the guidance--this is a complex task and the GHG guidance provides clear instructions on how to do that. I really think that it will help companies to improve their practices and for some even start to do that, and this is really important to combat climate change.
Another challenge is working with many suppliers and getting reliable data from them. A single company may buy from hundreds or thousands of farms and making sure that they use consistent practices and their data can be relied upon is a large coordinational effort.

09:05 --> 09:31
Speaker 1 – Catherine Beare, Regional Director - Business Assurance (UK & Iberia)
A lot to really consider there indeed.
Now let's get practical, how can companies prepare for the upcoming Land Sector and Removals Guidance under the GHG Protocol? And, specifically, what practical steps can they take to improve their land use GHG accounting? Please.

09:31 --> 12:39
Speaker 2 – Timur Iukhadi, Senior Sustainability Consultant, Intertek Assuris
This is a really good question. As I said, GHG Protocol guidance is expected to be finalized in the end of 2025 and requirements are not active yet. However, companies can start preparing now and be ready when the rules come into effect. And, there are several steps that they can do.
The first step I would recommend is to understand where the land use is part of your operations or supply chain. This includes farming, forestry or using products made from land-based materials like wood or oil, cotton, or any other product and if any of this applies, your company will likely need to use the new guidance.
The next step is to do a gap analysis. This means comparing your current GHG reporting approach toward what the new guidance will require. Ask questions, like, are we using only average or generic data? So, Tier 1. Do we include land use change emissions like deforestation? Are we reporting carbon removals? And if so, are they supported with solid data?
After you define those gaps, focus on improving your data. Better data means better reporting. It means trust with stakeholders and users of your sustainability reports. So, for that, companies can trace products to the land area where they were produced, ask suppliers for more specific data, or use tools like satellite monitoring or digital mapping.
Another thing companies should also do is prioritize areas that contribute the most in terms of GHG emissions. These are the most material areas and where better data can make the biggest difference. In these areas, companies should try to move to Tier 2 or Tier 3 methods which are more precise and described in detail in the new guidance.
There are specific formulas that the companies can use, and step-by-step instructions on what metrics and what input data they should collect.
If reporting carbon removals companies must collect sight specific data and prove that the carbon is real and permanent, and this often means working closely with landowners or project developers and also using conservative assumptions.
Another thing is to build internal knowledge. Sustainability and procurement teams within the company need training on GHG land use issues. They need to know and understand the guidance and also IPCC guidelines, which GHG Protocol is actually based on. So, in some cases, an external expert may be needed.
Finally, companies should prepare for external review. Many companies already involve third party assurance to verify their emissions, and the guidance supports this and being ready for assurance helps build trust with investors, regulators and customers.

12:39 --> 15:02
Speaker 1 – Catherine Beare, Regional Director - Business Assurance (UK & Iberia)
Absolutely excellent. Well said.
And that is the piece that ultimately we're trying to do with the services that we provide in making sure that our customers have that confidence in the statements they make, and they can rest assured that when it comes to getting certifications or assurance that they can do so confidently. 
Timur, thank you so much for joining me today and for extremely insightful answers to all of those questions and helping us to really get our head around this topic, which is quite complex actually, but a lot of very practical next steps given to the listeners, which I'm sure they will appreciate.
But before we wrap up, here's a reminder of how Intertek can help your organization prepare for land use GHG accounting.
Firstly, we can perform a land use and removals gap assessment to identify data and methodology gaps in your current accounting practices, helping you prepare for future disclosures.
We can support you with GHG accounting by calculating your land use emissions and removals in line with the GHG Protocol and other relevant standards tailored to your business context.
And finally, we offer third-party assurance services aligned with relevant GHG assurance standards, helping ensure transparency and credibility in your land-related disclosures.
For more information, please do go and visit our website on www.Intertek.com/assuris/sustainability .
So that concludes today's podcast. Thank you for listening. And once again, thank you Timur for an excellent and set of insights.
And please do watch out for more episodes from the Assuris team to help with your sustainability journey. Thank you.

15:02 --> 15:04
Speaker 2 – Timur Iukhadi, Senior Sustainability Consultant, Intertek Assuris
Thank you, Catherine. It was my pleasure.