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ISO 14065 standard - new tool for international efforts to address greenhouse gas emissions

2007-04-17

ISO has launched ISO 14065:2007, a new addition to its toolbox of standards for addressing climate change and supporting emissions trading schemes.

In March 2006, ISO launched its greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and verification standards ISO 14064:2006.

The complementary new standard, ISO 14065:2007, Greenhouse gases – Requirements for greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies for use in accreditation or other forms of recognition, published on 15 April 2007, details requirements for GHG validation or verification bodies for use in accreditation or other forms of recognition.

While ISO 14064 provides requirements for organizations or persons to quantify and verify GHG emissions, ISO 14065 specifies accreditation requirements for organizations that validate or verify resulting GHG emission assertions or claims.

GHG validation or verification bodies are responsible for completing an objective assessment of GHG assertions and providing a formal written declaration which provides assurance on the statements contained in the assertion.

The aim of GHG validation or verification is to give confidence to parties that rely upon a GHG assertion or claim, for example regulators or investors, that the bodies providing the declarations are competent to do so, and have systems in place to manage impartiality and to provide the required level of assurance on a consistent basis.

ISO 14065 provides requirements for bodies that undertake GHG validation or verification using ISO 14064 or other relevant standards or specifications. The objectives of the ISO 14064 and ISO 14065 standards are to:

• develop flexible, regime-neutral tools for use in voluntary or regulatory GHG schemes;
• promote and harmonize best practice;
• support the environmental integrity of GHG assertions;
• assist organizations to manage GHG-related opportunities and risks, and
• support the development of GHG programmes and markets.

ISO 14065 was developed by a working group of some 70 international experts from 30 countries and several liaison organizations, including the International Accreditation Forum. In addition, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has observer status. The working group combined expertise from ISO’s Committee on Conformity Assessment (CASCO) and technical committee ISO/TC 207, Environmental management.

ISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden commented: “The participants at the 2007 World Economic Forum in Davos agreed that climate change constitutes by far the greatest threat to the world economy. ISO 14064 and ISO 14065 are good examples of ISO’s ongoing efforts to develop and promote practical tools that contribute to the sustainable development of the planet.”

ISO 14065:2007, Greenhouse gases – Requirements for greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies for use in accreditation or other forms of recognition, costs 108 Swiss francs and is available from ISO national member institutes (see the complete list with contact details) and ISO Central Secretariat.

The ISO 14064 standards are the latest additions to the ISO 14000 family of International Standards for environmental management. The ISO 14000 family includes ISO 14001 which provides the requirements for environmental management systems. At the end of 2004, 90 569 certificates of conformity to ISO 14001 had been issued to organizations in 127 countries. Other ISO 14000 standards and documents address the following: the inclusion of environmental aspects in product standards, environmental auditing, environmental assessment of sites and organizations, environmental labels and declarations, environmental performance evaluation and life cycle assessment.

See also:

• the article Launching of ISO 1464 for greenhouse gas accounting and verification (PDF) from ISO Management System magazine, March-April 2006.
• ISO Seminar on Greenhouse Gas Quantification, Reporting and Verification based on ISO 14064 and ISO 14065 -3-4 May 2007, São Paulo, Brazil