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Policy

Navigating the LSRS: A Technical Review

In January 2026, the GHG Protocol released the Land Sector and Removals Standard. For the first time, land-based emissions and removals are reported with the same rigour companies apply to their financial accounts.

Our technical review sets out what LSRS requires for audit-ready reporting - from Tier 3 methods to quantified uncertainty - and what it means for food, retail and apparel brands.


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Inside our technical review

We’ve read the 2026 Standard closely so science and sustainability teams don’t have to start from scratch. This guide sets out what the LSRS actually requires for an audit-ready land-sector inventory.

It covers:

  • Why Tier 3 is now the bar. Tier 1 and Tier 2 global defaults are no longer permitted for removals - and how the Standard treats model-based approaches when they’re grounded in real evidence.

  • How uncertainty must be quantified. The requirement to put numbers on uncertainty - standard deviations, confidence intervals - so removals are never overstated.

  • What traceability now means. The demands of Scope 3 biogenic accounting, and the need to report back to the specific land unit.

  • The scientific safeguards. Independent calibration and validation, and why they matter for telling real change from a wet or dry year.

Before 2027

The Standard takes full effect on 1 January 2027, which makes 2026 the year to get ready with an aligned methodology and audit-ready data.