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Definition

GHG removal Definition

A GHG removal is a measured net transfer of greenhouse gas from the atmosphere into monitored land or geologic storage, reported apart from emissions, reductions, and carbon credits.

What is a GHG removal?

A greenhouse gas (GHG) removal occurs when a biological or technological sink draws a gas from the atmosphere and the gas remains in a non-atmospheric pool. GHG Protocol Requirement 19 bases an inventory removal on an annual or annualised net increase in that pool, not on a capture meter or project forecast.

The GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard v1.1 takes effect on 1 January 2027. It keeps land-based storage separate from geologic storage and excludes product carbon storage from the removals line.

Why does GHG removal matter to you?

The ESRS version in force on 19 August 2026 calls this disclosure E1-7. A Commission-adopted revision, not yet in force on that date, renames it E1-9. It applies from financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027, with optional early use for 2026. If you use the revision early, identify that choice in the report. Revised E1-9 paragraph 33 asks for each project's description, removed and stored amount, non-permanence controls, leakage, and reversals across own operations and the value chain. Report carbon credits separately. See the current ESRS reporting context.

Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) Version 2.0 becomes available for target validation on 1 February 2027. Under its optional Ongoing Emissions Responsibility program, CNZS-C43 says funded mitigation outcomes cannot be deducted from the inventory. It also requires inventory removals and retired credits to be tracked separately. At the net-zero year, CNZS-C46 requires eligible removals for residual emissions and long-lived storage for long-lived emissions.

How does GHG removal work?

Define the reporting year, sink, storage pool, and inventory boundary. Measure the same pool at the start and end, then calculate closing stock minus opening stock. Record the method, confidence interval, and conservative assumptions. A removal is Scope 1 when you control both sink and pool. Scope 3 needs value-chain traceability and an allocation that prevents two companies claiming the same tonne. Report emissions from the activity under their normal scopes. Keep removals separate by scope and storage type. Monitor the pool and record a later loss as an emission or reversal in that year.

What mistakes should you avoid?

  • Calling captured fossil CO2, an avoided emission, or a reduction against a baseline a removal without proving atmospheric transfer and a net stock gain.
  • Deducting removals or purchased credits from gross Scope 1, Scope 2, or Scope 3 totals.
  • Combining land storage, geologic storage, and credits in one figure without the scope and reporting owner.
  • Reporting tonnes without a confidence interval, monitoring plan, reversal treatment, or double-counting control.

Is GHG storage the same as GHG removal?

No. Storage is the process of keeping gas or carbon in a pool. A storage site can hold fossil CO2 captured before release, which is not an atmospheric removal. To substantiate a removal, show the sink, net pool increase, storage type, monitoring period, and any loss.

Can a removal credit be reported as an inventory removal?

Buying a credit does not create a removal inside your inventory. If a project in your operations or value chain also issues credits, document who may report the underlying tonnes and prevent the same outcome being claimed through both the inventory and the credit. ESRS E1-9 and SBTi CNZS-C43 keep these records separate.

What should you provide when someone asks for removal data?

Provide the year, project location, sink, pool, own-operation or value-chain classification, scope, opening and closing stock, reported tonnes, confidence interval, activity emissions, monitoring frequency, reversals, and reporting right. List credits issued, transferred, or retired separately.

Worked example

Suppose a dairy processor in Vietnam controls a 24-hectare perennial-forage land-management unit. This is hypothetical. It remained cropland throughout the year, so there was no land-use-change event. Representative soil cores and measurements of above- and below-ground perennial biomass calibrate an annual model across all 24 hectares. Using the same pools and boundary, the model estimates 5,120 tCO2 on 1 January and 5,287 tCO2 on 31 December. The closing stock includes harvest losses and every other change during the year.

Stock-change calculation: 5,287 tCO2 closing stock - 5,120 tCO2 opening stock = 167 tCO2 estimated net gain. The stated 95% confidence interval is plus or minus 19 tCO2, or 148 to 186 tCO2. Under its documented conservative policy, the processor reports the lower bound: 167 - 19 = 148 tCO2 of Scope 1 land-management removal. It controls both the biological sink and the storage pool, has issued no credits, and records that no other company may claim these tonnes.

The activity ledger records 200 litres of diesel in company equipment and no other incremental energy, fertiliser, purchased material, or transport. Keslio's factor key fuel_diesel_litre_average_biofuel_blend_desnz_2026 is 2.58354 kg CO2e/litre, geography United Kingdom, publication year 2026, from UK DESNZ and DEFRA's UK Government GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting 2026. The calculation is 200 litres x 2.58354 kg CO2e/litre = 516.708 kg CO2e, then 516.708 / 1,000 = 0.516708 tCO2e. The UK factor is a disclosed proxy because the dataset has no Vietnam diesel factor; a formal Vietnam inventory needs a locally applicable replacement. Report 0.516708 tCO2e as a gross activity emission, not as a deduction from the 148 tCO2 removal. The processor retains the land boundary, sampling files, model version, land-control record, factor record, and monitoring plan. It updates the model annually and resamples with the same field method at least every five years.

Where you'll meet it

Revised ESRS E1-9 removal and storage project amount, non-permanence controls, leakage, reversals, and separate credit disclosureCommission-adopted C(2026) 5010 Annex I, ESRS E1-9 paragraphs 33-34 and AR 27; not in force as of 2026-08-19SBTi separation of optional OER outcomes, inventory removals, credits, and residual-emissions neutralisationCorporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 Criteria, CNZS-C43.1, C43.3-C43.4 and C46.1-C46.5Official source

Related terms

Carbon Accounting

Carbon accounting is the process of defining a company’s greenhouse gas inventory, collecting activity data, applying emission factors, and reporting Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions on a consistent basis.

Carbon Credit

A carbon credit is a tradeable unit representing one metric tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent reduced or removed by a project, recorded in a registry and retired when used for a claim.

Net-Zero

Under the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard, net zero means deeply cutting greenhouse gas emissions across a company's value chain, then permanently neutralising the small amount that remains.

Science-Based Targets

A science-based target states how quickly a company will cut greenhouse gas emissions in line with a climate pathway accepted by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), using a defined boundary, base year and target year.

Gross GHG emissions

Gross GHG emissions are Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 greenhouse gases generated during a reporting period before subtracting removals, offsets or carbon credits, reported in metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Sources

  • GHG Protocol

    Effective date; Requirements 19-23 and 31 for stock change, storage type, scope, uncertainty, allocation, monitoring, reversals, and separate reporting

    2026-08-19

  • European Commission

    C(2026) 5010 transition provisions and revised ESRS E1-9 paragraphs 32-35 and AR 27 for removals, storage, activity emissions, reversals, and carbon credits

    2026-08-19

  • Science Based Targets initiative

    Effective date and CNZS-C43, C46 separation, no-netting, residual-emissions neutralisation, durability, and double-counting rules

    2026-08-19

Last verified 2026-08-19

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GHG removal Definition | Keslio