Cradle-to-grave product GHG inventory
Measurement answer
What this metric measures
Net cradle-to-grave greenhouse gas inventory result for a product, reported in CO2e per unit of analysis.
Specification
Metric specification
- Result format
- Single value
- Unit
- mass of CO2e per unit of analysis — source-defined reporting unit
- Reporting basis
- Inventory period
- Aggregation
- Sum of attributable greenhouse gas emissions and removals across included cradle-to-grave life-cycle stages, characterized to CO2e using the disclosed GWP source and date.
- Pillar
- Environmental
- Topic
- Product life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions
- Controlled domain
- Products and life-cycle assessment
- Entity type
- Metric
Reporting boundary
Cradle-to-grave product life-cycle boundary
Verified source occurrences
Framework coverage
This is one canonical metric. The bindings below show every verified framework occurrence without creating duplicate metric pages. Edition, disclosure, role, and relationship remain source-specific.
- Measurement AuthoritySource evidence
GHG Protocol
- Publisher
- GHG Protocol
- Edition
- September 2011 publication
- Requirement
- Not Specified
- Relationship
- Defines Measurement
- Mapping outcome
- Direct Evidence
- Source locator
- page 77, section 9.3.8
- Measurement Authority10250168ad24c8bca55f
GHG Protocol
- Publisher
- GHG Protocol
- Edition
- September 2011 publication
- Requirement
- Not Specified
- Relationship
- Maps Source Identity
- Mapping outcome
- Published
- Source locator
- page 77, section 9.3.8
Value structure
Dimensions and units
- Unit
- mass of CO2e per unit of analysis — source-defined reporting unit
- Reporting basis
- Inventory period
Unit meaning: Values use mass of CO2e per unit of analysis under the disclosed GHG Protocol Product Standard method, product boundary and reporting period.
Published dimensions
- product
- unit of analysis
- functional unit or reference flow
- life-cycle stage
- boundary type
- greenhouse gas
- biogenic status
- direction (emission or removal)
- inventory period
- GWP source and date
- allocation method
- recycling method
- land-use-change method
Calculation method
Formula information
- Status
- Specified
- Formula type
- Sum
Formula
Product GHG inventory = Σ(characterized attributable GHG emissions) + Σ(characterized attributable GHG removals) across included cradle-to-grave life-cycle stages.Apply the source-defined GHG Protocol Product Standard method only within the disclosed product, unit-of-analysis and life-cycle boundary. The evidence identifies a cradle-to-grave GHG inventory reported in mass of CO2 equivalents. This is an explicitly reportable product inventory outcome when reported per unit of analysis with its boundary and method disclosures.
Variables
| Symbol | Variable | Definition | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
E_i | characterized attributable GHG emissions | Attributed greenhouse gas emissions for included inventory items or life-cycle stages after characterization to CO2e. | mass of CO2e per unit of analysis |
R_j | characterized attributable GHG removals | Attributed greenhouse gas removals for included inventory items or life-cycle stages after characterization to CO2e; removals retain their signed inventory treatment. | mass of CO2e per unit of analysis |
Verified sources
Evidence and status sources
Sustopedia checked each record-specific claim directly against primary publisher material. Labels distinguish current measurement authority from future compatibility and corroborative, legal, edition, or method status context. Corroborative evidence can support a stated limitation but cannot establish the core measurement by itself.
Measurement evidence
- Measurement evidenceChecked 28 August 2026
Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard
- Publisher
- GHG Protocol
- Edition
- September 2011 publication
- Locator
- page 77, section 9.3.8
Supports: The official GHG Protocol Product Standard source supports the identity, boundary and method basis of “Cradle-to-grave product GHG inventory”.
Open official source
Use with context
Interpretation boundaries
Method disclosures required
Source-edition basis: Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard, September 2011 publication.
- Product and unit of analysis, functional unit, or reference flow
- Included and excluded life-cycle stages and cradle-to-grave boundary
- Inventory period
- Greenhouse gases included and GWP source and date
- Biogenic and non-biogenic emission/removal treatment
- Allocation and recycling method
- Direct land-use-change method, where applicable
- Treatment of excluded offsets, avoided emissions, delayed-emission weighting, indirect land-use change, and indirect market effects
Record-specific limitations
- The result is an attributional product inventory result and must not be represented as corporate Scope 1, Scope 2, or Scope 3 emissions.
- Offsets, avoided emissions, delayed-emission weighting, indirect land-use change, and indirect market effects are outside the inventory result and must not be netted into it.
- Comparability depends on consistent product definition, unit of analysis, life-cycle boundary, GWP characterization, allocation, recycling, and land-use-change methods.
Interpret this metric with the stated reporting boundary, period convention, value shape, and unit. Results prepared with different boundaries or conventions may not be directly comparable.
Measurement evidence supports the core record-specific claims described above. Corroborative evidence can support limitations, while compatibility and status sources provide their separately labelled context. None of these cards by itself determines an organisation's legal applicability, filing readiness, assurance status, or compliance conclusion.