ISO 14068-1: Greenhouse Gas Management and Related Activities - Carbon Neutrality

It’s no secret that global warming is widely regarded as one of the world’s most pressing issues, with everyone from the United Nations to local governments rolling out measures to help mitigate climate change and ensure that we are doing all we can to play our part.

Previously, the renowned carbon neutrality standard, PAS 2060, was the only recognised framework for providing an established and credible carbon neutral verification service. Since then, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has developed an ISO standard to supersede PAS 2060 in the future.

The ISO is a non-governmental international organisation which, through its members, develops international standards to provide guidance and solutions to many challenges people and organisations face. It has a membership of 167 national standards bodies that contribute their knowledge and experience to ensure these international standards are relevant and appropriate.

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Helps you with

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Build better environmental policy
Invest in meaningful carbon offsets
Increase environmental transparency
Establish a responsible brand image
Strengthen customer loyalty
Boost resource efficiency and lower spending
Meet the supplier requirements of sustainable brands
Comply with current and future environmental regulations

What is ISO 14068-1?

The ISO has released the first part of their ISO 14068 series, ISO 14068-1: Carbon Neutrality. The standard provides a framework for achieving and demonstrating carbon neutrality, with an emphasised priority on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The wider series of ISO 14068 is titled ‘Climate Change Action, Transitioning to Net Zero’. It is expected that through additional parts in the series, ISO 14068 will bring further guidance and requirements on roadmaps in reaching net zero emissions.

The standard is broken down into 13 clauses, as well as its introduction and annexes sections.

Scope
Normative references
Terms, definitions and abbreviated terms
Principles
Approach
Commitment to carbon neutrality
Selection of the subject and its boundary
Quantification of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and GHG removals
Carbon neutrality management plan
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and GHG removal enhancements
Offsetting the carbon footprint
Carbon neutrality report
Carbon neutrality claims

Steps to Verification

NQA will conduct the third-party party verification in accordance with ISO 14064-3.

Stage 1 (Pre-Verification)
The pre-verification determines the client’s readiness for a full verification. Additionally, it is used to understand the entity’s characteristics, activities, and processes that drive GHG emissions; this enables the development of a risk-based verification plan to be implemented at Stage 2.

Stage 2 (Verification)
The purpose of this assessment is to carry out the full review of your GHG Inventory under ISO 14064-1. This includes an assessment of your methods for data capture, analysis, conversion, and reporting. Typically, Stage 2 involves NQA visiting your location(s) for site visits.

Independent Review (Post-Verification)
The purpose of this assessment is to do a secondary review of the workings of all parties at the verification stage and to provide further assurance and integrity. This is informative only, and no client presence is required.

How NQA Can Help

A verification body should provide value for your money. At NQA, we provide independent verification and can help guide you through the process to understand the requirements. We can also support your journey to carbon neutrality through training and skills development.

To learn more about PAS 2080 verification services, contact our team today!