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Definition

ISO 14068-1

ISO 14068-1:2023 gives organisations and products a documented process for making carbon-neutrality claims, covering the subject boundary, footprint, reduction plan, offsetting, report, and claim.

What is ISO 14068-1?

ISO 14068-1:2023 is the published edition for achieving and demonstrating carbon neutrality for a named organisation or product, including a service, building, or event. ISO 14068, due in September 2026, is now under publication and will replace it.

Why does ISO 14068-1 matter to you?

“Are you certified to ISO 14068-1?” is incomplete. Check the organisation or product assessed, what it covers, the reporting period, and whether you received a certificate or verification opinion. A document for one site or product does not support an answer about your whole company.

How do you apply ISO 14068-1?

Clauses 6 to 9 cover the commitment, named subject, boundary, footprint, and plan. Clause 10 requires cutting emissions and increasing greenhouse gas removals within the value chain. Clause 11 covers offsetting the remainder. Clauses 12 and 13 require a matching report and claim.

What mistakes should you avoid?

  • Extending a report or opinion beyond its named subject or dates.
  • Providing credit purchase records without retirement details tied to the claim period.
  • Saying ISO certified your claim. ISO writes standards but does not audit organisations or issue certificates.

Who can assess an ISO 14068-1 claim?

An external body may issue a certificate or verification opinion under its own scheme. Record its name, document number, assessed subject, period, and standard edition. Do not call this certification by ISO.

Which documents should you provide?

Provide the Clause 12 report, footprint method, plan, reduction records, credit retirement records, and any external opinion. Check that the subject, period, figures, credits, and verifier agree.

What happened to PAS 2060?

BSI withdrew PAS 2060:2014 on 1 December 2025. BSI also says an opinion issued under PAS 2060 can support only its historical period. It does not prove a later claim against ISO 14068-1 or the forthcoming ISO 14068 edition.

Example

Hypothetical Hong Kong hotel-group check: A tender asks for proof covering four named hotels from 1 January to 31 December 2025. The Clause 12 report names three hotels for all 12 months. The external opinion names those three hotels but covers 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025.

As a document-coverage check, the report covers 3 of 4 requested hotels = 75%. The opinion overlaps 6 of 12 requested months = 50%. These percentages are not ISO conformity scores. Neither document supports the requested four-hotel, full-year statement. The group should describe the report and opinion separately and obtain an assessment matching the subject and period it plans to claim.

Where it comes up

ISO 14068-1 commitment, subject, boundary and carbon-footprint requirementsISO 14068-1:2023, Clauses 6 to 8Official sourceISO 14068-1 management plan, reduction, offsetting, report and claim requirementsISO 14068-1:2023, Clauses 9 to 13Official sourceTreatment of historical PAS 2060 verification opinions during the ISO 14068-1 transitionBSI PAS 2060 transition noticeOfficial source

Related terms

Carbon Neutrality

Carbon neutrality means measuring greenhouse gas emissions for a stated product, service or organisation and year, reducing them where possible, then counterbalancing the remainder with verified carbon credits.

Carbon Accounting

Carbon accounting is the process of defining a company’s greenhouse gas inventory, collecting activity data, applying emission factors, and reporting Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions on a consistent basis.

Carbon Credit

A carbon credit is a tradeable unit representing one metric tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent reduced or removed by a project, recorded in a registry and retired when used for a claim.

Net-Zero

Under the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard, net zero means deeply cutting greenhouse gas emissions across a company's value chain, then permanently neutralising the small amount that remains.

Sources

  • International Organization for Standardization

    ISO 14068 scope, hierarchy, September 2026 publication timing and replacement of ISO 14068-1:2023

    2026-08-20

  • BSI

    ISO 14068-1:2023 Clauses 6 to 13 and the fields required in the report and claim

    2026-08-20

  • BSI

    PAS 2060:2014 scope and withdrawal on 1 December 2025

    2026-08-20

Last verified 2026-08-20

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ISO 14068-1 Definition | Keslio