Overview

Requirements and guidelines for quantifying the carbon footprint of products, based on ISO 14040/14044 and limited to the climate change impact category

ISO 14067:2018 specifies principles, requirements and guidelines for the quantification and reporting of the carbon footprint of a product (CFP). It is consistent with the life cycle assessment standards ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, and addresses a single impact category: climate change. It was published in 2018 as a full International Standard, replacing the earlier technical specification ISO/TS 14067:2013, and was reviewed and confirmed as current in 2024. A revision is in the early working draft stage.

The 2018 edition deliberately narrowed its scope to quantification. The communication requirements that ISO/TS 14067:2013 contained were removed, because communicating footprint results is handled by the environmental labelling family — ISO 14020 (general principles), ISO 14021 (self-declared claims), ISO 14025 (environmental product declarations) and ISO 14026 (footprint communication).

A CFP is expressed in mass of CO₂ equivalent per functional or declared unit, using characterization factors from an authoritative source such as the IPCC assessment reports. The standard permits a partial CFP — covering selected life cycle stages, such as cradle-to-gate — provided it is clearly identified as partial and the stages covered are stated. This is what makes ISO 14067 usable for business-to-business supply chain data, where downstream use and end-of-life are unknown.

Several technical areas receive specific treatment. Biogenic carbon emissions and removals must be quantified and reported separately from fossil emissions. Emissions and removals from direct land use change and, where relevant, soil carbon change must be accounted for according to specified rules. Electricity accounting requirements address the choice between supplier-specific, residual mix and grid average data, and the conditions for using contractual instruments. Delayed emissions and temporary carbon storage are addressed, and offsetting shall not be included in the CFP result — an offset purchase does not reduce a product's carbon footprint under this standard.

The standard requires a CFP study report documenting goal and scope, the functional or declared unit, system boundary, cut-off criteria, allocation procedures, data sources and quality, characterization factors, results with biogenic and fossil contributions separated, assumptions, limitations and any critical review. Where results support comparative assertions disclosed to the public, the ISO 14044 critical review requirements apply.

ISO 14067 is not a management system standard and organizations are not certified against it. What is available is independent verification of a CFP study or declaration by a third party — commonly performed by verification bodies working to ISO 14064-3 principles and accredited under ISO 14065, or through an EPD programme operating under ISO 14025. Marketing that describes an organization as "ISO 14067 certified" is imprecise; the correct description is that a specific product footprint has been verified.

Product carbon footprints have moved from voluntary marketing into regulatory and contractual territory — for example in EU product regulation covering batteries and ecodesign requirements — which has increased demand for footprints calculated to a recognised standard and independently verified. ISO 14067 is normally used alongside ISO 14064-1 for the organizational inventory, ISO 14040/14044 for the underlying LCA method, and ISO 14025 or EN 15804 where results are published as declarations.

Purpose

To specify how the carbon footprint of a product is quantified and reported using life cycle assessment methodology, limited to the climate change impact category, so that product-level greenhouse gas results are consistent, transparent and verifiable.

Key Benefits

• Provides an internationally recognised method for quantifying product-level greenhouse gas emissions
• Built on ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, so it integrates with existing LCA practice
• Permits partial carbon footprints, making it practical for business-to-business supply chain data
• Requires biogenic and fossil carbon to be reported separately, avoiding a common source of distortion
• Sets rules for land use change, electricity accounting and delayed emissions
• Excludes offsetting from the footprint result, keeping the figure a measure of actual product emissions
• Supports independent verification of footprint results by third parties
• Feeds EPDs and footprint communications produced under ISO 14025 and ISO 14026
• Increasingly required by customers and by product regulation in the EU and elsewhere
• Identifies emission hotspots across the product life cycle to guide design and sourcing decisions

Key Requirements

• Quantify the CFP in accordance with ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 methodology for the climate change impact category
• Define the goal and scope, including the functional or declared unit and the system boundary
• State clearly whether the result is a full CFP or a partial CFP, and which life cycle stages are covered
• Use characterization factors for global warming potential from an authoritative source such as the IPCC
• Quantify and report biogenic carbon emissions and removals separately from fossil emissions
• Account for emissions and removals from direct land use change according to the standard's rules
• Apply the specified requirements for electricity accounting and use of contractual instruments
• Address delayed emissions and temporary carbon storage as specified, and report them separately
• Do not include carbon offsets or credits in the CFP result
• Apply allocation procedures consistent with ISO 14044, including for recycling and co-products
• Specify and assess data quality, and perform sensitivity analysis where material
• Produce a CFP study report covering methods, data, assumptions, limitations and results
• Apply ISO 14044 critical review requirements where results support public comparative assertions
• Use ISO 14025, ISO 14026 or ISO 14021 when communicating results, rather than ISO 14067 itself

Who Needs This Standard?

Manufacturers and brand owners quantifying product emissions for customers or regulation, suppliers asked for cradle-to-gate footprint data, food, beverage, consumer goods, chemicals, construction and automotive sectors, and sustainability teams producing EPDs or responding to product carbon data requests.

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