Abstract

Climate change is the biggest health threat to humanity, profoundly impacting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), demanding urgent attention and action. This study presents the evolution and domains of the ESG concept, along with the importance of sustainability reporting. The widely accepted standards for sustainability reporting have been enumerated. The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol has been discussed in detail, including Scope 1 (direct), Scope 2 (indirect), and Scope 3 (value chain) GHG emissions, along with Scope 4 (avoided emissions); and setting GHG targets. The SBTi criteria and recommendations for near-term and net-zero targets for GHG coverage of the seven GHGs covered by UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol, and GHG Protocol are also presented. The analysis of GHG emissions shows a significant increase since the start of the 21^st century, rising from 36.18 to 52.96 Giga tons of CO₂ equivalent (46.41%) between 2000 and 2023. In 2023, around 62.73% of global GHG emissions came from the top six contributors: China (30.10%), the USA (11.25%), India (7.8%), the EU27 (6.08%), Russia (5.05%), and Brazil (2.45%). The CAGR of GHG emissions with 1990 as the base year is negative for the EU27 (-1.25%), Japan (-0.71%), Russia (-0.42%, and the USA (-0.12%) against the global CAGR of +1.47%. Overall, emissions increased in 2023 compared to 2022 for the top contributors, except for the USA (-1.41%), the EU27 (-7.48%), and Japan (-6.01%). Further research is needed to assess progress toward climate change targets and to implement emission reduction strategies across all sectors in every country.