Great things happen when the world agrees.

ISO and climate change

 We are ISO,
the International Organization 161 *
members

for Standardization
22 000 *

International Standards

We are an independent,
non-governmental organization. 100
new standards each month

We are a global network of

national standards bodies with
one member per country. 245 *

technical committees

Our job is to make International

Standards.

We are coordinated by a Central

Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland.

We are not for profit  : selling our

standards allows us to finance
their development in a neutral
environment, to maintain them
and to make new ones.

ISO provides a platform for

developing practical tools through
common understanding and
cooperation with all stakeholders. * July 2018
 Why do we need
ISO standards
for climate change ?
ISO environment-related
standards help open
world markets for clean
energy and energy-efficient
technologies and support
climate change adaptation
and mitigation.

ISO standards help

governments and
organizations address
climate change.

ISO standards are seen as

essential to the greenhouse
gas (GHG) markets for
cap-and-trade schemes,
offsetting credits, carbon
neutrality and low-carbon
strategies and policies.

ISO standards for climate

change contribute directly
to the United Nations
Sustainable Development
Goal 13 on climate action.

4
Who benefits from ISO standards
for climate change ?

ISO standards for climate change help

businesses not only adhere to increasing
regulatory requirements but get a handle
on their own environmental impact.
Industry They help them take concrete actions
to reduce their impact, improve
energy efficiencies and put robust risk
management processes in place.

Regulators can rely on

ISO standards as a solid base
on which to create public
policy that meets international Regulators
commitments and addresses
the many challenges that
climate change brings.

Consumers benefit from ISO standards

when they are used by both business
and authorities to address climate
Consumers change impacts through better disaster
management, improved energy
efficiency and environmentally friendly
infrastructures and policies.
 What environment-related sectors
does ISO cover ?

Communicating
Environmental
on environmental
management
performance

Quantifying Opening world markets

GHG emissions to clean energy

Mitigation Monitoring
and adaptation climate change

Financing climate
and many more...
change activities

8
What standards does ISO have
for climate change ?

ISO has produced over 600 environment-related standards.

Below is a selection of our climate change

standards :
Who develops
ISO standards ?
Environmental management ISO standards are
The ISO 14000 family of standards for developed by groups of
experts within technical
environmental management developed by ISO
committees (TCs). TCs are
technical committee ISO/TC 207, Environmental made up of representatives
management, is firmly established as the global from industry,
benchmark for promoting good practice in non-governmental
environmental management and design. organizations, governments
and other stakeholders who
∙∙ ISO 14001, Environmental management systems –
are put forward by ISO’s
Requirements with guidance for use
members. Each TC deals
This standard helps organizations achieve their with a different subject ;
objectives in an environmentally sustainable manner. when it comes to climate
change, for example, there
Other standards in the family include : are committees focused on
∙∙ ISO 14004, Environmental management systems – calculating greenhouse gas
General guidelines on implementation emissions, measuring the
carbon footprint of products
∙∙ ISO 14006, Environmental management systems – and financing climate
Guidelines for incorporating ecodesign change activities. Visit our
∙∙ ISO 14040, Environmental management – Life Website ISO.org to find out
cycle assessment – Principles and framework more about the standards
developed in a particular
∙∙ ISO 14044, Environmental management – Life sector by searching for
cycle assessment – Requirements and guidelines the work of the relevant
The ISO 14000 family also includes supporting tools technical committee.
for environmental management and the design of
environmentally friendly products and services.
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 Quantifying GHG emissions
ISO standards are designed to be policy-neutral, giving them the flexibility to be
applied to many different GHG programmes around the world. The growing use
of ISO GHG standards for both regulatory and voluntary purposes is a testament
to their versatility and their contribution to linking GHG markets around the world.
They provide an internationally agreed framework for measuring GHG emissions,
verifying claims and accrediting the bodies that carry out such activities to ensure
accuracy and completeness.
Key standards include :
∙∙ ISO 14064, Greenhouse gases

∙∙ ISO 14065, Greenhouse gases – Requirements for greenhouse gas validation

and verification bodies for use in accreditation or other forms of recognition

Mitigation and adaptation

ISO has partnered with key international stakeholders, such as the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the World Bank,
in developing strategic roadmaps for a system of standards on climate change
mitigation and adaptation.
∙∙ ISO 14080, Greenhouse gas management and related activities – Framework and
principles for methodologies on climate actions
This standard sets out a framework and principles to make adaptation and
mitigation schemes more compatible and elaborate on their different approaches.
In addition, there are a number of standards in the pipeline to support the way
organizations and communities adapt and become more resilient to climate
change, including those for vulnerability assessment, adaptation planning and
adaptation monitoring and evaluation.
These include:
∙∙ ISO 14090, Adaptation to climate change – Principles, requirements
and guidelines
∙∙ ISO 14091, Adaptation to climate change – Vulnerability, impacts
and risk assessment
∙∙ ISO 14092, GHG management and related activities: requirement and guidance
of adaptation planning for organizations including local governments
and communities

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Financing climate change
activities
∙∙ ISO 14030, Green bonds –
Environmental performance of
nominated projects and assets
Private initiatives and capital will be
required to create sustainable solutions Coming soon !
in the future. Green bonds are one way
The future ISO 14097 for
of financing climate and environmental
assessing and reporting
investments. ISO is now developing investments and financing
ISO 14030 to harmonize the definition of activities related to climate
green bonds and specify requirements to change will provide a general
evaluate the environmental performance framework and technical
guidance to financial institutions
of the assets they finance.
on climate-related metrics.

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 Communicating on environmental
performance
ISO has developed a number of standards to ensure
good practice when making environmental claims
and communications.
These include:
∙∙ ISO 14020, Environmental labels and declarations
– General principles
∙∙ ISO 14026, Environmental labels and declarations
– Principles, requirements and guidelines for
communication of footprint information
∙∙ ISO 14063, Environmental management –
Environmental communication – Guidelines and
examples
∙∙ ISO 21930, Sustainability in buildings and civil
engineering works – Core rules for environmental
product declarations of construction products and
services

Did you know ?

ISO is developing a new

standard – ISO 14016
– on the assurance
of environmental
reports, which will give
readers of corporate
sustainability reports
greater confidence
by demonstrating
the reliability of the
information included.

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Opening world markets
to clean energy
International Standards can also be the performance of new environmental
the vehicle for the dissemination of technologies, helping manufacturers
innovative technologies, particularly prove the reliability of their
for alternative and renewable energy performance claims and technology
sources, by reducing time to market, purchasers identify the innovations that
creating global interest and developing suit their needs.
a critical mass of support to ensure ∙∙ ISO 50001, Energy management
the economic success of such systems – Requirements with
technologies. guidance for use

∙∙ ISO 14034, Environmental This standard helps organizations of all

management – Environmental kinds and sectors manage their energy
technology verification (ETV) performance and use energy more
This standard can assist companies efficiently, while other standards in
developing innovative environmental the ISO 50000 range provide specific
technologies in reaching new markets. guidance in areas such as auditing,
It provides independent verification of measurement and energy savings.

Related standards

ISO has already developed

many other standards
that have an impact on
climate change in areas
such as nuclear energy,
solar energy, hydrogen
technologies, intelligent
transport systems,
building environment
design, and sustainability
in building construction.

13
 ISO’s proactive stance on climate
change topics has resulted in the
initiation of ISO work on biofuels,
energy management systems
and the examination of new
opportunities in energy efficiency
and renewable energy sources.
Benefits of ISO standards
for climate change To this end, ISO maintains its close
cooperation with the International
Developed under a consensus Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
process by experts from all and has additionally partnered with
around the world, ISO standards the OECD’s International Energy
are leading climate action in a Agency (IEA) and the World Energy
variety of ways by :
Council (WEC) in joint initiatives
∙∙Offering transparent and
related to this field.
comparable GHG reporting
∙∙Providing a foundation of best Monitoring climate change
practices upon which to build a
GHG reductions programme ∙∙ ISO/TC 211, Geographic
∙∙Providing opportunities information/Geomatics
for improved consistency, This ISO technical committee deals
increased flexibility and with standardization in the field of
decreased effort associated
digital geographic information. It
with voluntary GHG inventories
collaborates, among other partners,
∙∙Offering a consistent technical
approach that simplifies with the Food and Agriculture
verification and facilitates Organization of the United Nations
emissions trading (FAO) on standards for satellite
∙∙Decreasing transaction costs mapping and data acquisition
∙∙Building greater confidence in and processing and with the World
GHG inventory and improving Meteorological Organization (WMO)
stakeholder credibility on standards for meteorological
and climatological data.
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 ISO 14064
ISO/TC 211

ISO 14020
Greenhouse Geographic
gases information/
Geomatics Environmental labels
and declarations

ISO 50001
ISO 21930

Energy
Sustainability
management
ISO 14030 in buildings and civil
systems
engineering works

Green
bonds

ISO 14001

Environmental
management
systems

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18
More information

@ ISO Website
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ISO Website section on climate change
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