Sustainability now: Balancing GHG scope 2 ambition and practicality

10 snips

Mar 10, 2026

Colin Powell, PwC Canada’s Technical Net Zero Leader and GHG quantification expert, explains proposed Scope 2 changes and their practical implications. He discusses hourly matching challenges, data and market limitations, geographic procurement impacts, and transition complexities. Short, pragmatic guidance on what companies can do now.

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INSIGHT

Scope 2 Moves Toward Hourly And Local Precision

The proposed Scope 2 updates push for far greater temporal and geographic granularity, including hourly emission factors and matching of market instruments.
Colin Powell warns this aims to better reflect actual grid dynamics but represents a major leap from current annual factors used by most companies.

INSIGHT

Ambition Versus Feasibility Gap

PwC supports the ambition but flags implementation and data availability as central constraints for firms.
Clients report missing utility hourly data and lack of granular emission factors, making many proposed 'shall' requirements impractical.

ADVICE

Favor Frameworks Over Prescriptive Rules

Use a framework approach rather than fixed prescriptive rules; favor reasonable, supportable information without undue cost.
PwC urged an alternative disclosure aligned with IFRS S2 for market-based reporting to improve interoperability.

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The GHG Protocol’s proposed updates to its guidance on scope 2 emissions introduce significant changes, including hourly matching, revised market-based accounting rules, and more granular emissions data requirements. In this episode, we break down the key proposals, PwC’s perspective on feasibility and interoperability, and what companies should be considering as the guidance evolves.

In this episode, we discuss:

1:45 – Overview of the Scope 2 consultation and the themes of proposed updates and views
14:04 – Data availability challenges: hourly utility data gaps and lack of granular emission factors
20:08 – Geographic market restrictions and renewable procurement impacts
31:00 – International Organization for Standardization relationship, timeline shifts, and what companies can do now

For more on the GHG Protocol, see our publications:

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About our guest

Colin Powell is PwC Canada’s Technical Net Zero Leader. His work focuses on GHG quantification, life cycle assessment across many impact categories, GHG target setting, and developing decarbonization strategies. He has supported companies in quantifying over 1 billion tonnes of GHG emissions and worked previously as a consultant supporting global clients to understand their GHG emissions and how they can decarbonize. Colin sits on the GHG Protocol’s Scope 3 Technical Working Group, helping to shape the revision of the global standards used to account for GHG emissions. Colin is also a Professional Engineer (Ontario) and holds a PhD in wastewater treatment modeling.

About our host

Heather Horn is the PwC National Office Sustainability and Thought Leader, responsible for developing our communications strategy and conveying firm positions on accounting, financial reporting, and sustainability matters. In addition, she is part of PwC’s global sustainability leadership team, developing interpretive guidance and consulting with companies as they transition from voluntary to mandatory sustainability reporting. She is also the engaging host of PwC’s accounting and reporting weekly podcast and quarterly webcast series.

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