Corporate climate target-setting and accounting frameworks determine what “count” towards a company’s greenhouse gas emission reduction target-setting, mitigation actions, and inventory accounting reporting. Over the past decade, these corporate climate frameworks—namely, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) and Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)—have created the foundation for voluntary clean energy and climate markets in which multinational corporations participate to reduce emissions across their value chains and support the decarbonization of shared energy systems. Every year, these markets inject billions of dollars in corporate support for clean energy projects across the world.
However, these frameworks have historically maintained notable blind spots. They have lacked incentives for companies to support clean energy in markets where companies do not have physical operations (and associated “Scope 2” emissions) and for companies to decarbonize their value chain partners’ electricity-based emissions. These blind spots have limited the uptake of innovative, high-impact clean energy solutions like Peace Renewable Energy Credits (P-RECs) that help expand energy access for communities in under-electrified markets and also deliver greater avoided emissions impact compared to conventional solutions.
The external consultation processes currently underway for both GHGP and SBTi, along with the introduction of new guidance from the Task Force for Corporate Action Transparency (TCAT), create an opportunity to strengthen incentives for high-impact solutions like P-RECs. Luckily—based on new incentives and greater flexibility that SBTi, GHGP, and TCAT include in their draft guidance and may soon introduce following the completion of their consultation processes—the overall direction of travel is positive in terms of expanding incentives for companies to make P-RECs part of their strategy. This is because P-RECs may soon “count” in more places across these three frameworks.
EPP has developed guidance explaining how companies may soon be able to use P-RECs to make progress toward their respective target-setting, mitigation action, and inventory reporting beyond conventional “Scope 2” geographic matching in market-based accounting. This guidance reflects the latest draft versions of SBTi’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard, GHGP’s Scope 2 Guidance, and TCAT’s Mitigation Action Accounting & Reporting Guidance (MAARG) that were published in Fall 2025. EPP developed this guidance as an interim measure to inform corporate procurement decisions as these consultation processes continue to unfold and until they conclude.
The top four new opportunities that EPP has identified for companies to potentially begin integrating P-RECs into their clean energy and emission reduction strategy (beyond conventional Scope 2 geographic matching for market-based accounting) include:
For SBTi, use P-RECs to demonstrate progress towards Ongoing Emission Responsibility (OER) “Recognized” or “Leadership” status, given how P-RECs offer an ex-post mitigation approach that maximizes climate outcomes, financing gaps, social and environmental co-benefits, and climate equity.
For SBTi, use P-RECs to make progress toward Scope 3 (value chain) targets because they support the scale-up of low-carbon alternatives and support volume alignment targets.
For GHGP, use P-RECs as a solution to address needs across African power pools, given how African power pools may soon gain recognition as single market regions and how this introduces new market boundary flexibility across a given power pool region.
For TCAT, use P-RECs in the Inventory Substitution Accounting Method and cite P-RECs in Contractual Inventory Statements to substantiate the associated claims.
For more detailed information, download EPP’s Guidance on Potential New Corporate Incentives for P-RECs: Where P-RECs May Soon “Count” across Corporate Climate Frameworks.
Companies may want to consider beginning to procure P-RECs and apply the resulting claims in their GHG emission reduction target-related, mitigation action, and/or inventory reporting before these draft rules are finalized to establish leadership, inform the consultation processes, and support high-impact projects sooner rather than later.
EPP will publish updated guidance once the final versions of SBTi, GHGP, and TCAT become available over approximately the next year.
To learn more, contact EPP’s Director of Market Development, Doug Miller, at dmiller@energypeacepartners.com.