Will Hourly Matching Become the New Norm? GHG Protocol Scope 2 Draft Review Highlights the Need for Early Corporate Planning

Since GHG Protocol launched its standards update initiative in 2023, it officially released its first draft revision—the GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance Update Draft—on October 20, 2025, and opened it for global public consultation. To help companies stay ahead, BCSD Taiwan organized a workshop on December 8, inviting member companies to review the major directions of the upcoming Scope 2 updates and assess the potential impacts on their current and future renewable energy and electricity procurement strategies.

The core principle of this revision is to move toward more granular and accurate emission factors. Location precision takes precedence over time precision—for example, “annual regional emission factors” are considered more accurate than “hourly national emission factors.”

Figure 1: Mt. Stonegate Green Asset Ltd. Managing Director Jules CHUANG details the key revisions of the newly updated S2 standards, urging the corporate sector to actively provide feedback to ensure the new norms are highly practical and relevant.

Although the overall Scope 2 reporting structure remains unchanged, both the location-based method (LBM) and market-based method (MBM) will undergo strengthened data quality requirements and management updates. Significant adjustments will be introduced in two key areas: spatial boundaries and temporal granularity. The updated Scope 2 framework is expected to adopt the following data quality hierarchy:

• Spatial boundaries (from most to least accurate): Local boundary > Operating grid boundary > Grid-wide or national boundary

• Temporal granularity (from most to least accurate): Hourly> Monthly > Annual

The impact of these updates extends far beyond RE100 or SBTi members and will apply directly to all companies using ISO 14064-1. On September 9, GHG Protocol and ISO jointly announced their plan to launch a combined standard to prevent duplicated efforts in corporate decarbonization claims, data reporting, and disclosure processes.

Figure 2: BCSD Taiwan Chief Secretary Tony Mo emphasized that the current revision will have interlocking effects on enterprises utilizing the ISO system. He announced the future plan for the two systems to release a Joint Standard.

During the breakout discussions, participants exchanged views on whether the Legacy Clause should continue to apply after the release of the new S2 draft. Most groups agreed that the clause is essential for protecting existing renewable energy procurement contracts. Many companies also expressed confidence and a positive attitude toward the gradual enhancement of data quality requirements.

However, concerns remained regarding “temporal granularity.” In Taiwan, for instance, natural resources are limited, and increasing renewable energy supply alone is already a major challenge—not to mention the added difficulty of achieving hourly matching.

Regarding spatial boundaries and temporal granularity, companies in Taiwan raised a common question: How much additional manpower, time, and resources will be required? While the technical feasibility is gradually improving, conditions vary significantly across regions outside Taiwan. In many places, progress may be constrained by basic infrastructure, government policy, and the liberalization status of local electricity markets, posing substantial difficulties for on-the-ground implementation.

Figure 3: Participants engaging in group discussions to deliberate the challenges and advantages for corporate practices concerning the potential inclusion of existing clauses in the new standards.

If you were unable to attend this session, we welcome you to join our next in-person forum. On January 14, 2026, we will host experts from Japan's Renewable Energy Institute in Taiwan to share insights on the S2 draft and the implications of the new SBTi updates for companies. For more information and registration, please visit:

https://www.mtstonegate.com/post/2026-taiwan-decarbonization-forum