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Definition

ISO 14067 product carbon footprints

ISO 14067 sets requirements and guidance for quantifying and reporting a product carbon footprint or partial footprint in CO2e using life cycle assessment principles.

What are ISO 14067 product carbon footprints?

ISO 14067:2018 applies ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 life cycle assessment principles to a product carbon footprint (PCF). It covers a full or partial PCF in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), but only for climate change. ISO lists the 2018 edition as current after confirming it in 2024, but marks it for revision and shows ISO/WD 14067.2 under development.

Why do ISO 14067 product carbon footprints matter to you?

A customer may ask for a product-level result and the method behind it. Check whether the request names ISO 14067, a product-category rule, a boundary, or a required unit. Unilever's public Supplier Climate Programme materials, for example, ask key suppliers to be capable of providing PCFs for materials it buys, but the exact method still comes from your request.

How does ISO 14067 work?

Start with the product, why you need the footprint, the unit, the period and the life-cycle stages covered. List the included processes and the quantities behind them. Apply documented emission factors, explain how you divide emissions from processes shared by several products, then total emissions and removals in CO2e. A cradle-to-gate result stops when the product leaves the factory gate and is a partial PCF. Keep offsets separate from the quantified result.

What mistakes should you avoid?

  • Claiming ISO 14067 conformity without the product unit, boundary and calculation records.
  • Deducting offsets from the PCF.
  • Treating a climate-only result as proof of lower overall environmental impact.

Is ISO 14067 the same as PAS 2050?

No. PAS 2050:2011 is BSI's current specification for life-cycle GHG emissions of goods and services. Some requests and product-category rules still name it. Follow the named edition rather than treating PAS 2050 and ISO 14067 as interchangeable.

What should you send when a customer asks for an ISO 14067 footprint?

Send the product ID, unit, boundary, period, process map, input records, factor sources, allocation, exclusions, uncertainty, result, and review or verification status.

Example

Suppose a machinery maker in Germany receives a clearly hypothetical request for a cradle-to-gate ISO 14067 PCF for 40 identical industrial gearboxes sold as intermediate components. Because their final use is not known, the study uses one finished gearbox as the declared unit and identifies the result as a partial PCF.

The included stages total 10,800 kg CO2e for materials, 800 kg for inbound transport, 2,000 kg for machining and assembly, and 400 kg for packaging. The total is 14,000 kg CO2e for 40 gearboxes, so the checkable result is 14,000 / 40 = 350 kg CO2e per gearbox. Even if the company owns offsets equal to 2,000 kg CO2e, it does not reduce the result to 300 kg CO2e per gearbox. It keeps the offsets separate and provides the source quantities, emission factors, boundary, allocation choices and any applicable product-category rule.

Where it comes up

ISO 14067 quantification and reporting of a full or partial product carbon footprintISO 14067:2018 official abstract and current-edition status (checked 2026-08-20)Official sourcePAS 2050 system boundary, GHG sources, data requirements and calculationPAS 2050:2011, Section 1 Scope (checked 2026-08-20)Official sourceUnilever supplier capability to provide product carbon footprints for materials boughtUnilever Climate Transition Action Plan, Supplier Climate Programme, page 19 (checked 2026-08-20)

Related terms

Product carbon footprint (PCF)

A product carbon footprint (PCF) is the greenhouse gas emissions assigned to one product across a stated life-cycle boundary and expressed per declared or functional unit.

ISO 14040

ISO 14040 sets the principles and four-phase framework for life cycle assessment, covering goal and scope, inventory, impact assessment, interpretation, reporting, critical review and limitations without prescribing detailed calculation methods.

ISO 14044

ISO 14044 sets the requirements and guidance that make an LCA's method choices, calculations, interpretation, reporting and review traceable to its stated purpose.

GHG Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard

The GHG Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard sets requirements for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and removals attributable to one product across its defined life cycle, in CO2e per unit of analysis.

Sources

Last verified 2026-08-20

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ISO 14067 product carbon footprints Definition | Keslio