GHGP Land Sector & Removals Guidance: why it matters for NZ businesses

The GHG Protocol has released its Land Sector and Removals (LSR) Guidance, completing the practical framework for implementing the LSR Standard published earlier this year.

For New Zealand organisations where land-based activities and supply chains are often significant, this marks an important shift from high-level principles to detailed implementation, shaping how land-based emissions and carbon removals could be accounted for from 2027 onwards.

Importantly, there is no need to act now. As with all leading practice developments, Toitū is reviewing the Guidance to understand how it should inform future updates to our Climate Impact Programme and Advisory services — ensuring it is both practical and meaningful for New Zealand organisations.

What just changed?

The Guidance provides the detailed “how-to” for implementing the recently finalised LSR Standard. This is a significant milestone. The Standard (released in January 2026) set the accounting requirements; the Guidance now provides the practical methodologies, calculation approaches, and case studies to support implementation.

Together, they introduce the first global framework for consistently accounting for land-based emissions and carbon removals — covering land use change, land management, biogenic emissions, and CO₂ removals across value chains.

Why this Guidance matters

It matters because until now, the accounting of land-based emissions and removals have been poorly standardised and often excluded or inconsistently reported, despite representing a significant share of global and national emissions.

This release reflects a broader push to close that gap and increase the credibility of reporting and unlock greater decarbonisation opportunities.

Toitū’s timeline

As with all lead practice discourse, Toitū is currently reviewing the Guidance in detail, alongside the Standard, with a focus on:

• Practical implementation for our clients
• Alignment with existing Toitū programmes and methodologies
• Implications for New Zealand-specific contexts and data availability

In future, New Zealand organisations that may seek to align to elements of the new Guidance include those:

• In agriculture, forestry, food and beverage, and primary industries,
• With land-intensive supply chains (e.g. packaging, retail, construction),
• Investing in or relying on carbon removals (nature-based or technological),
• Sourcing agricultural commodities or land-derived materials.

We will keep clients informed as our detailed review process progresses.

What to do next

Importantly, for Climate Impact Programme clients there is no need to act now. As with all leading practice developments, Toitū is reviewing the Guidance to understand how it should inform future updates to our Climate Impact Programme and Advisory services — ensuring it is both practical and meaningful for New Zealand organisations.

For clients interested in understanding how the new Guidance relates to you, we have Advisory services available now. Reach out to your dedicated Programme Lead or our Client Support Team at support@toitu.co.nz, or call 0800 366 275 (option 2) to discuss your options.