Overview

Establishes principles and general requirements applicable to all types of product-related environmental statements and environmental statement programmes, including self-declared claims, ecolabels, EPDs and footprint communications.

ISO 14020:2022 establishes principles and specifies general requirements applicable to all types of product-related environmental statements and to environmental statement programmes. It is the foundation document of the ISO 14020 family. The 2022 edition replaced ISO 14020:2000, Environmental labels and declarations — General principles, and the change of title is substantive: the scope broadened from labels and declarations to environmental statements and programmes, and the document moved from stating principles alone to specifying general requirements.

What counts as an environmental statement. Under the 2022 edition, environmental statements result from environmental statement programmes and include self-declared environmental claims, ecolabels, environmental product declarations (EPDs) and footprint communications. This brings carbon and other footprint claims explicitly within the family's scope — a recognition of how product environmental communication has changed since 2000.

The family of standards. ISO 14020 is intended to be used in conjunction with the other standards in the family, each of which adds terms, definitions, principles and requirements relevant to its specific scope. ISO 14021 covers self-declared environmental claims, sometimes described as Type II. ISO 14024 covers ecolabelling by third-party programmes, Type I. ISO 14025 covers environmental product declarations, Type III, which are based on life cycle assessment data and verified against product category rules. ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 provide the life cycle assessment methodology on which quantified declarations depend.

Core principles. The recurring themes across the family, established here, are that environmental statements must be accurate, verifiable, relevant and not misleading; that they must be based on a sound scientific and, where appropriate, life cycle-informed methodology; that the information and methodology behind a statement must be available to interested parties; that statements must not create unnecessary trade barriers; and that they must be kept current as products and methods change. Programmes that issue statements must operate transparently and allow for consultation with interested parties.

Why it matters commercially. Regulators in several jurisdictions have tightened rules on environmental marketing claims, and the ISO 14020 family is the reference most commonly cited by procurement teams, retailers and regulators for what a defensible claim looks like. Using it does not by itself make a claim lawful in any given market, but claims that fail its principles — vagueness, unverifiable assertions, selective boundaries — are exactly the claims that attract greenwashing scrutiny.

Certification. ISO 14020 is not a management system standard and there is no organizational certification against it. Individual product claims may be verified or certified under specific programmes, most formally under ISO 14024 ecolabelling schemes and ISO 14025 EPD programmes. Organizations wanting a certifiable environmental management system use ISO 14001.

Purpose

To establish the principles and general requirements that apply to all product-related environmental statements and to the programmes that produce them, so that environmental claims are accurate, verifiable, relevant and not misleading.

Key Benefits

• Common principles underpinning all types of product environmental claims
• Current 2022 edition covering EPDs and footprint communications, not just labels
• Reference point for defensible environmental marketing claims
• Supports credibility of claims with regulators, retailers and procurement teams
• Foundation for using ISO 14021, ISO 14024 and ISO 14025 correctly
• Helps organizations avoid vague or unsubstantiated greenwashing claims

Key Requirements

• Ensure environmental statements are accurate, verifiable, relevant and not misleading
• Base statements on sound scientific methodology, with life cycle considerations where appropriate
• Make the methodology and supporting information available to interested parties
• Avoid creating unnecessary obstacles to international trade
• Keep statements current as products, processes and methods change
• Operate environmental statement programmes transparently
• Provide for consultation with interested parties in programme development
• Use the relevant family standard for the specific statement type (ISO 14021, 14024 or 14025)

Who Needs This Standard?

Product marketing and sustainability teams making environmental claims, ecolabel and EPD programme operators, retailers setting supplier claim requirements, procurement teams evaluating supplier claims, and regulators and consumer protection bodies assessing environmental marketing.

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