Question map
What is 'Greenhouse Gas Protocol'?
Explanation
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) is the most widely used international accounting tool used by government and business leaders to understand, quantify, and manage greenhouse gas emissions.[1] GHG Protocol standards and guidance enable companies, cities and national governments to measure, manage and report their greenhouse gas emissions.[2] The initiative is developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).[4]
Option B is incorrect as the GHG Protocol is not a UN initiative offering financial incentives. Option C is incorrect because it is not an inter-governmental agreement ratified by UN member countries with emission reduction targets by 2022. Option D is incorrect as the GHG Protocol is not a REDD+ initiative hosted by the World Bank; it is a standardized accounting framework developed by WRI and WBCSD.
Sources- [1] https://libguides.mit.edu/c.php?g=176274&p=1160277
- [2] https://unosd.un.org/sites/unosd.un.org/files/session_10_mr._wee_kean_fong_wri.pdf
- [3] https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099601406212237480/pdf/IDU1a33e626c104b3142cb1a4b6196e230b605c5.pdf
- [4] https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099601406212237480/pdf/IDU1a33e626c104b3142cb1a4b6196e230b605c5.pdf
PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
Guest previewThis question is a classic 'Option Masquerade'. While the correct answer (A) comes from specialized reports (WRI/WBCSD), the wrong options (B, C, D) describe standard syllabus topics (CDM, Kyoto/Paris, REDD+). If you mastered the standard books, you could eliminate B, C, and D to arrive at A without ever reading the specific definition of the GHG Protocol.
This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.
- Statement 1: Is the Greenhouse Gas Protocol an international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify, and manage greenhouse gas emissions?
- Statement 2: Is the Greenhouse Gas Protocol an initiative of the United Nations that offers financial incentives to developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adopt eco-friendly technologies?
- Statement 3: Is the Greenhouse Gas Protocol an inter-governmental agreement ratified by all United Nations member countries that mandates specified greenhouse gas emission reductions by the year 2022?
- Statement 4: Is the Greenhouse Gas Protocol one of the multilateral REDD+ initiatives hosted by the World Bank?
- Directly labels the GHG Protocol as 'the most widely used international accounting tool'.
- Specifically says it is used by government and business leaders to 'understand, quantify, and manage greenhouse gas emissions.'
- States GHG Protocol standards enable companies, cities and national governments to measure, manage and report their greenhouse gas emissions.
- Describes GHG Protocol as providing the world's most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standards, supporting the 'international accounting tool' characterization.
Describes the IPCC's National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme (NGGIP) which provides methods for estimating national inventories and guidance used by Parties to the UNFCCC.
A student could infer that international guidance exists for consistent accounting and then check whether the GHG Protocol serves a similar function for governments and businesses.
States the IPCC is responsible for developing inventory methods, including methods to quantify and manage uncertainties in GHG estimates.
One could use this pattern (international bodies producing accounting methods) to hypothesize that other standardized tools (like the GHG Protocol) would be used by leaders to quantify/manage emissions and then verify the Protocol's target audiences.
Explains that emissions are expressed in carbon-dioxide equivalents for trading and that trading systems require measurable units of GHG emissions.
A student can reason that standardized accounting tools are needed to produce comparable CO2e figures for markets and policy, and then look up whether the GHG Protocol provides such standardized metrics for businesses and governments.
Notes the Kyoto Protocol set quantitative commitments and continued market mechanisms (CDM, JI, IET), implying a need for consistent measurement and reporting of emissions.
From the existence of quantified commitments and market mechanisms one can infer the practical necessity of accounting frameworks and then investigate whether the GHG Protocol is one of those frameworks used by actors to meet/report commitments.
Defines Quantified Emissions Limitation and Reduction Commitments (QELROs) as legally binding targets under Kyoto, illustrating that international targets create demand for emission accounting.
A student could use the logic that binding targets require standardized accounting and then seek evidence whether the GHG Protocol fills that role for government and business leaders.
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This statement analysis shows book citations, web sources and indirect clues. The first statement (S1) is open for preview.
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This statement analysis shows book citations, web sources and indirect clues. The first statement (S1) is open for preview.
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