Frequently Asked Questions

The Global Heat Reduction Initiative (GHR) is a new initiative by SCS Global Services that aims to catalyze efforts to drive down excess heat trapped in the atmosphere in the crucial near-term. We provide full climate accounting, including CO₂ and climate super pollutants such as methane, N₂O, SLCPs, and albedo. We enable organizations to make verified claims not only to progress against net-zero commitments but also to global heat reduction through our registry, footprint, and advisory services.

Roughly half of global warming is caused by super pollutants, including methane, nitrous oxide (N₂O), black carbon, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Super pollutants have a much stronger warming effect than CO₂ over shorter time scales, and they cause drastic health and environmental harm. However, conventional climate accounting measures pollutants over a 100-year timeframe (GWP-100), which undervalues and overlooks the most potent near-term atmospheric heat drivers.

While reducing and removing Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) emissions is critical, we must complement these efforts with reducing super pollutants in the crucial next decade to avoid irreversible environmental “tipping points.” In fact, by reducing these pollutants alone, we can avoid 0.6°C of global warming by 2050. In that same timeframe, CO₂ reductions alone, which make their biggest impact in the long-term, would yield 0.1°C in avoided warming.

Our climate accounting protocol accounts for all climate drivers, not just CO₂ and other well-mixed greenhouse gases. It includes climate super pollutants and other non-emission factors such as albedo (earth’s reflectivity) that directly affect heat. The Protocol also accounts for any time frame, not just the conventional 100-year horizon (GWP-100), to reflect the urgency of global warming.

The scientific basis of GHR is the Radiative Forcing Protocol, which was published in 2023 and created as a practical application of the newest consensus findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It was peer reviewed by the Scientific Advisory Panel of the UNEP-convened Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), chaired by Dr. Drew Shindell, professor of the Earth Science at Duke University and leading expert on short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs). Learn more about the science here.

Traditionally, Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) has served as the base reference against which we measure the potency of other greenhouse gases, expressed as their carbon dioxide equivalency, or CO₂e.

Provided uniquely by GHR, the “+” in CO₂e+ represents actionable data that reveals atmospheric heat impact, not just over the conventional 100-year time period (GWP-100), but over any time period. With CO₂e+ data, clients can make more informed and targeted mitigation investments (such as abatement, insetting, or offsetting) that slow the rate of warming in the near-term. Because GHR measures it, corporations and other organizations can now manage it.

The GHR registry is the first of its kind to support currently undervalued and overlooked heat reduction projects that mitigate super pollutants and other potent heat drivers in the crucial next 10-20 years. Our registry issues verified “heat reduction credits” that are inclusive of common carbon accounting (tCO₂e,100yr impact) and near-term impact such as GWP-20.

It also quantifies and verifies co-benefits (aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals) via life-cycle assessments, and it uses a secure and traceable platform tied to major global exchanges.

Learn more about our registry here.

We support projects by enabling premium pricing for mitigation of the most powerful heat drivers, as well as project differentiation in a crowded marketplace.

We support purchasers by providing the necessary data to make verified claims and contributions to near-term heat reduction. Plus, purchasers get more impact for every dollar, since all climate drivers are included in our approach.

Learn more about our registry here.

Based on the new GHR Footprint Verification Standard, our footprint offers an unprecedented level of actionable data, enabling organizations to add value to existing GHG footprints by accounting for all climate change drivers and actual global heat impacts. It provides critical data to drive mitigation investments where they matter most, and it reduces risk and increases integrity of claims with quantified environmental and health co-benefits and trade-offs.

Learn more about our footprint here.

Any organization that wants to assess its full climate impact or make verified heat reduction claims can benefit from our footprint. This includes private companies, government entities, NGOs, cities, and any other entity that has a scope of emissions or activities that affect the climate. Our services can be applicable organization-wide, or by region, facility, product, or initiative.

Learn more about our footprint here.

The Global Heat Reduction Initiative is an initiative by SCS Global Services, which has 40 years of footprinting and verification experience, including our award-winning GHG inventory validation and verification team.

Learn more about our footprint here.

We also offer advisory services for businesses, governments, and NGOs on mitigation planning and project design, as well as heat impact assessments for public and private investments. We are always looking for partners and advocates to join us as we work to reduce super pollutants as a bridge to long-term decarbonization.

Learn more about our advisory services here.

The Global Heat Reduction Initiative is an initiative by SCS Global Services, a pioneer in sustainability standards and third-party environmental certification. SCS Global Services is the first and only company to bring to market the latest peer-reviewed climate science directly related to atmospheric heat. SCS Global Services provides the products and services that enable organizations to implement the Global Heat Reduction Initiative, such as the registry, footprint, and advisory services.

Note: SCS Global Services operates a Validation and Verification Body (VVB) that provides carbon offset validation and verification services to projects under Forests, Land-Use, Energy, Industry, Agriculture, Blue Carbon, and more. Although the Global Heat Reduction Registry is part of SCS Global Services (SCSGS), we work exclusively with third-party independent VVBs approved by the Registry to perform validation and verification services for projects under the Registry. The Registry does not employ VVB services by SCSGS due to potential conflicts of interest.