Standards and reporting
ISO 14064
ISO 14064 helps teams define greenhouse gas inventories, project statements and verification work, provided the correct part and edition are identified.
What is ISO 14064?
Start with the statement being prepared, because the organisation, project and verification parts answer different questions organisation inventory project accounting verification and validation.
Module 01 / 04
Organisation
Describe an entity-level inventory.
Module 02 / 04
Project
Identify a specific reduction or removal activity.
Module 03 / 04
Review
Specify the statement and criteria for examination.
Module 04 / 04
Audience
Record who will use the result.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
ISO 14064-1 addresses organisation-level quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals, including inventory design, development, management, reporting and verification ISO’s public abstract.
ISO 14064-2 concerns project-level reductions or removal enhancements, while ISO 14064-3 concerns verification and validation of organisation, project and product GHG statements Part 2 scope Part 3 scope.
The sustainability reporting standards hub helps place that statement beside other reporting outputs without treating the standard’s name as a complete reporting brief.
Which parts belong in the brief?
| Decision | Working record | Review question |
|---|---|---|
| Inventory | ISO 14064-1:2018 | Is the statement about the organisation? |
| Project | ISO 14064-2:2019 | Is a reduction or removal being assessed against a project basis? |
| Verification or validation | ISO 14064-3:2019 | Which statement and criteria are in scope? |
| Supporting guidance | ISO/TS 14064-4:2025 and ISO 14064-5:2026 | Is application or remote-activity guidance relevant? |
Which edition should the team use?
ISO lists Part 1’s 2018 edition as current while also showing it is to be revised, and the successor remains a working draft published record revision record.
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Published
Record the edition actually applied.
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Development
Keep draft material separately labelled.
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Contract
Agree the criteria in the engagement brief.
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Change
Assess new publications before replacing a method.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
Current and under revision are compatible statuses, so the presence of a revision project does not itself replace the published 2018 edition ISO status.
On the source record reviewed for this guide, ISO/WD 14064-1.2 is under development at working-draft stage rather than a published replacement ISO revision project.
When a customer sends an older checklist, ask whether its edition wording is intentional instead of silently converting every question to a draft specification.
How does it differ from nearby standards?
Choose the document by the object being assessed rather than by a similar number.
| Decision | Working record | Review question |
|---|---|---|
| Product footprint | ISO 14067 | A product study is distinct from an organisation inventory. |
| Verification body | ISO 14065 | The body’s requirements are distinct from the client’s calculation. |
| Team competence | ISO 14066 | Competence concerns the team and independent reviewers. |
| Corporate inventory | GHG Protocol Corporate Standard | A separate framework needs an explicit reporting-basis decision. |
How should an inventory boundary be explained?
ISO’s application guidance addresses organisational and reporting boundaries, methods and uncertainty rather than only a final emissions total ISO/TS 14064-4.
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Entities
List the organisations and facilities considered.
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Approach
Explain the consolidation decision.
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Sources
Show which direct and indirect activities are included.
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Limitations
Record incomplete evidence and uncertainty.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
Part 4’s public description refers to control or equity-share approaches for organisational boundaries and identification of direct and indirect emissions for reporting boundaries boundary guidance.
Our suggested working register connects each included facility to its activity sources, period and decision owner, with a separate explanation for exclusions.
Use carbon accounting for the wider calculation workflow and ISO 14064 software when testing how these decisions survive import, review and export.
What does an original boundary case reveal?
Fictional Northbank Components is preparing an organisation inventory, and its team finds a purchased workshop missing from the first source list.
| Decision | Working record | Review question |
|---|---|---|
| Original file | Workshop A: 42 tonnes; Workshop B: 28 tonnes | The initial working subtotal is 70 tonnes. |
| Omitted activity | Workshop C: 10 tonnes on the same assumed basis | The reviewed illustration becomes 80 tonnes. |
| Separate initiative | A project forecast of 6 tonnes avoided | Do not subtract a forecast from the inventory total. |
| Decision record | Document why Workshop C belongs in this period | Preserve evidence rather than just changing the chart. |
How can the team make the case reviewable?
Northbank’s useful deliverable is an explainable inventory package rather than an unexplained 80-tonne headline.
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Activity
Identify the underlying measured or estimated quantity.
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Method
Preserve the calculation basis and factor version.
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Exception
Explain missing sources and corrections.
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Approval
Record the accepted statement version.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
For this fictional case, the team retains the three site schedules and a reconciliation showing that 42 plus 28 plus 10 equals 80 tonnes.
The correction log records when the workshop omission was discovered and why the revised population was accepted before the report was released.
Our editorial handover also distinguishes a missing measurement from a measured zero and identifies who can resolve each unresolved source before approval.
What should the handover contain?
These suggested records let a reviewer trace the statement without implying every row is a quoted ISO clause.
| Decision | Working record | Review question |
|---|---|---|
| Basis note | Purpose, period, organisation and edition | Can the recipient identify the intended statement? |
| Source register | Activity evidence and source decisions | Can an omitted facility be detected? |
| Calculation record | Inputs, methods, versions and corrections | Can a sampled result be reproduced? |
| Released statement | Approved version and limitations | Does the claim match what was reviewed? |
What does verification add?
Part 3 concerns verification and validation of GHG statements, while ISO 14065 concerns the bodies performing that work statement work body requirements.
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Statement
Identify the exact information under examination.
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Criteria
Agree the basis used to assess it.
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Provider
Check the actual role and relevant scope.
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Conclusion
Read the delivered opinion and limitations.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
Preparing an inventory and commissioning its examination are separate decisions, so a consultant’s completed workbook should not be described as an independent conclusion.
Check the verifier’s actual accreditation scope against the intended work UKAS programme.
ISO 14065 is a sector application of ISO/IEC 17029, and ISO 14066 addresses competence requirements for verification teams and independent reviewers body framework team framework.
Use sustainability assurance to prepare the engagement questions and keep a claim about the GHG statement separate from assurance over a whole sustainability report.
Which claims need careful wording?
A clear claim names what was prepared or reviewed and avoids extending its meaning beyond the evidence.
| Decision | Working record | Review question |
|---|---|---|
| Prepared inventory | Name the reporting basis and period | Do not imply a separate verification conclusion. |
| Verified statement | Name the statement, provider and engagement | Do not extend the result to unrelated disclosures. |
| Remote evidence | Explain the agreed activities and limitations | Do not promise that every visit can be omitted. |
| ISO reference | Identify the document and edition | Do not say that ISO certified the company. |
Does ISO 14064 replace reporting duties?
ISO describes the series as programme neutral and says applicable programme requirements are additional programme neutrality.
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Recipient
Identify the actual reporting request.
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Basis
Check its required methods and definitions.
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Bridge
Reconcile the inventory to that output.
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Claim
State only the coverage demonstrated.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
An ISO-based inventory does not by its name establish that every separate customer, procurement or statutory disclosure has been completed additional programme requirements.
The GHG Protocol guide explains a separate corporate accounting framework, while carbon reporting requirements in the UK identifies distinct reporting outputs.
For Northbank, the manager sends the approved inventory and its limitations to the reporting owner, who decides which additional checks the recipient’s request needs.
What should a consultancy brief ask for?
Commission defined deliverables and decision ownership rather than an unspecified promise of compliance.
| Decision | Working record | Review question |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation scope | Inventory or project, period and entities | Who accepts boundary decisions? |
| Evidence work | Source review, estimates and reconciliation | Which missing information remains the client’s responsibility? |
| Review interface | Statement and files for the selected reviewer | Is independent work separately commissioned? |
| Closure | Approved outputs and open matters | What may the client accurately say afterwards? |
How should the next cycle build on this work?
An inventory becomes easier to review when changes to its population and methods are visible rather than overwritten.
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Opening
Carry forward the approved basis.
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Changes
Identify acquisitions, disposals and source changes.
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Versions
Retain the old calculation and revised file.
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Review
Resolve which changes affect the new statement.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
Northbank gives the next owner the released 80-tonne statement and the correction history, preventing the earlier 70-tonne draft from becoming the comparison by accident.
The team also flags the separate six-tonne project forecast so future reporting does not confuse a prediction, an achieved project result and a change in the organisation’s total.
Part 4 expressly includes guidance on transparency about boundaries, methodologies and uncertainty, which supports keeping those explanations alongside the numbers application guidance.
A short annual review of the edition register is useful because Part 1 remains current while a replacement is under development current edition revision status.
How should the team organise the work?
This editorial sequence supports preparation and review; it is not an ISO conformity checklist.
- 101
Define the statement
Agree purpose, recipient, organisation or project and reporting period. - 202
Check editions
Record published criteria and separate any working draft. - 303
Map the population
List facilities, activities and boundary decisions. - 404
Collect evidence
Assign owners to activity records and missing information. - 505
Calculate visibly
Retain inputs, methods, factor versions and uncertainty explanations. - 606
Reconcile changes
Explain corrections and separate project forecasts from inventory totals. - 707
Prepare review
Agree the statement and engagement with the selected reviewer. - 808
Approve claims
Match report wording to the work and conclusion actually delivered. - 909
Preserve the release
Hand over the approved statement, evidence index and next-cycle decisions.
Frequently asked
Questions people ask
What is ISO 14064-1?
It addresses organisation-level greenhouse gas inventory quantification and reporting, including inventory design and management.
How is Part 2 different?
Part 2 addresses project-level reductions and removal enhancements, including baseline scenarios and monitoring.
Is the series limited to three parts?
No, ISO also publishes application guidance in ISO/TS 14064-4:2025 and remote-activity guidance in ISO 14064-5:2026.
Has the 2018 edition been replaced?
ISO lists it as current and under revision, with the successor still a working draft in the record reviewed here.
Does ISO certify the inventory?
ISO develops standards and does not itself perform certification or issue certificates.
Is this the same as a product footprint?
ISO 14067 addresses product carbon-footprint quantification, while Part 1 addresses the organisation inventory.
Sources
Primary sources
Primary provisions and official owner guidance checked on 26 October 2026; historical and draft resources are labelled in the guide.
- ISOISO 14064-1:2018: organisation inventories
- ISOISO 14064-2:2019: projects
- ISOISO 14064-3:2019: verification and validation
- ISOISO/TS 14064-4:2025: application guidance
- ISOISO 14064-5:2026: remote activities
- ISOISO 14065:2020: verification bodies
- ISOISO 14066:2023: team competence
- ISOISO 14067:2018: product carbon footprints
- ISOISO/WD 14064-1.2: revision project
- ISOCertification and ISO’s role
- UKASValidation and verification accreditation
- GHG ProtocolCorporate Accounting and Reporting Standard