ISO has a number of standards that play an essential role in climate action, helping to monitor climate change, quantify greenhouse gas emissions and promote good practices in environmental management.
The ISO 14000 family of standards for environmental management systems provides practical tools for organizations to manage the impact of their activities on the environment. This suite of standards, which includes one of ISO’s most widely used standards – ISO 14001, Environmental management systems – Requirements with guidance for use, covers overall frameworks, audits, communications, labelling, life-cycle analysis and methods to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Aligned with the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and compatible with most GHG programmes, the ISO 14064 series provides specifications for the quantification, monitoring and validation/verification of greenhouse gas emissions, while ISO 14067 specifies the principles, requirements and guidelines for quantifying and reporting the carbon footprint of products. Other standards in this area include ISO 14080, which gives organizations a framework to develop consistent, comparable and improved methodologies in the fight against climate change, and ISO Guide 84, Guidelines for addressing climate change in standards, which is aimed at those involved in standards development.
Launched at COP27, the Net Zero Guidelines tackle a major road block for a world where greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to the minimum and balanced by removals: the fragmented net zero governance landscape. Competing approaches and concepts for "Net Zero" sow confusion. The Guidelines provide a common reference for collective efforts, offering a global basis for harmonizing, understanding, and planning for net zero for actors at the state, regional, city and organizational level.
The Net Zero Guidelines establish a common path for the definition of “net zero” and related terms (greenhouse gas removals, offsetting, value chain, etc.), and for clarifying the differences in scope between direct emissions, indirect emissions from purchased energy, and other indirect emissions arising from an organization’s activities. The Net Zero Guidelines provide high-level principles for all actors who want to achieve climate neutrality and actionable guidance on getting there as soon as possible, by 2050 at the very latest. The Guidelines build on the momentum of existing voluntary initiatives and increase their impact. Globally accepted “net zero” claims are easier to compare, through transparent communication, credible claims, and consistent reporting on emissions, reductions and removals.
ISO’s International Workshop Agreement (IWA) process provided the perfect platform to facilitate broad and direct participation in an open process. More than 1,200 experts from over 100 countries contributed to make the Net Zero Guidelines an effective common reference for net zero guidance.
