ISO 14064-2
www.iso.org
Overview
Additionality and Quantification Procedures
Overview
Type of Standard and Context
ISO 14064 parts 1, 2, and 3 are policy-neutral, voluntary GHG accounting standards. They were developed on behalf of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) by an international working group of technical experts over the course of 2 years and launched in 2006.
The ISO 14064 standard consists of three parts:
- The first part (14064-1) specifies requirements for organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals
- The second part (14064-2) details requirements for quantifying, monitoring and reporting emission reductions and removal enhancements from GHG mitigation projects.
- The third part (14064-3) provides requirements and guidance for the validation and verification of GHG assertions (e.g., declarations / claims).
More recently ISO 14065 has been developed. It specifies principles and requirements for auditor that undertake validation or verification of greenhouse gas (GHG) assertions.
Currently under development are ISO 14066 and ISO 14067. The former will give guidance on "competence requirements for conducting greenhouse gas validation and verification engagements with guidance for evaluation"; the latter will give guidance on "Carbon footprint of products -- Part 1: Quantification" (ISO, undated).
All these ISO standards are GHG programme neutral. Most of the information in this chapter focuses on ISO 14064-2, which specifies a framework for the quantification, monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removal enhancements. Because it is programme neutral, ISO 14064-2 is not prescriptive about elements that apply to the policies of a particular GHG programme (e.g. specific additionality criteria, project eligibility dates or co-benefits). These decisions are required to be made by the user of the standard (e.g. the GHG programme administrator or regulator) when applying the standard. In addition, the standard requires that ‘good practice guidance’ be applied when applying decision making criteria and procedures, thus requiring the user to not have to reinvent the wheel every time the standard is used and creating additional consistency in application of the standard. The interpretation of the standard is guided through the application of six principles: relevance, completeness, consistency, transparency, accuracy and conservativeness.
Standard Authority and Administrative Bodies
ISO is the world’s largest developer and publisher of International Standards. It is a non-governmental network of the national standards institutes of 161 countries.
Standards are developed by ISO if a need is perceived by the industry or business community. The requirement is communicated to ISO through one of its national standards institutes and either the work is assigned to an existing technical committee or a new one is created. The technical committee comprises technical and business experts from the industry that has asked for the standard and other experts from national government agencies, testing laboratories, consumer associations, environmentalists and others. All experts are represented at the technical committee as national delegations, and chosen by the respective national standards institutes. Draft standards recommended by the technical committees are adopted if two-thirds of the members actively involved in their development and 75% of the voting members vote in favor. ISO 14064 was drafted by the Technical Committee on Environmental Management and its Subcommittee on Greenhouse Gas Management and Related Activities.
ISO’s national members pay subscriptions to cover the operational cost of ISO’s Central Secretariat. The subscription paid by each member is in proportion to the country’s Gross National Income and trade figures. Another source of revenue is the sale of standards. The cost for ISO 14064 is CHF 98 - 118 - 130 for parts 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
Regional Scope
All above mentioned ISO standards are international.
Recognition of Other Standards/ Linkage with Other Trading Systems
ISO 14064-1, 2 and 3 are designed to be GHG program-neutral and therefore intended to be used by GHG programs or standards. For example, the procedures of the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) are based on ISO 14064-2 and 3 and the Canadian GHG Offset Protocols willl be based on the ISO 14064-2 framework. In addition, the Climate Action Reserve is beginning to adapt their quantification protocols to the ISO 14064 standards.
Annex A of ISO 14064-2 contains additional information in cases where the project proponent wishes to conform to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) or Joint Implementation (JI) Mechanism.
Market Size and Scope
Tradable Unit and Pricing Information
Because ISO 14064-2 is programme neutral, the tradable unit is not defined by ISO 14064-2 but by the programme or standard which requires the use of the ISO 14064-2 protocol.
Participants/Buyers
Both the voluntary and the compliance programs have incorporated the ISO guidelines into their program design (see above).
Current Project Portfolio
Not applicable.
Offset Project Eligibility
Project Types
Because ISO 14064 is programme neutral, no restrictions on project types are defined under ISO 14064-2. If a GHG project is not implemented under a specific GHG programme or standard, then it is up to the project developer to define the accepted project types. This holds true for all the parameters that are not specified under ISO 14064-2.
Project Locations
Not specified under ISO 14064-2.
Project Size
Not specified under ISO 14064-2.
Start Date
Not specified under ISO 14064-2.
Crediting Period
Not specified under ISO 14064-2.
Co-benefit Objectives and Requirements
The requirements for co-benefits are presented in general terms. For example, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required if the host country or region requires the completion of such an assessment. ISO 14064-2 also specifies that relevant outcomes of stakeholder participation and consultation be presented.
Additionality and Quantification Procedures
Additionality Requirements
ISO 14064-2 requires that the GHG project result in GHG emission reductions or removal enhancements in addition to what would have happened in the absence of that project. Because of its policy neutral nature, the standard does not use the term “additionality”, prescribe baseline procedures or specify additionality criteria. These are all elements that are defined by the GHG programme or regulation which requires the use of the standard.
ISO 14064 requires the project proponent to identify and select GHG sources, sinks and reservoirs relevant for the GHG project and for the baseline scenario. In order to be compatible with the broadest range of GHG programmes, it does not use the term “project boundary” but rather uses a lifecycle approach for the identification of GHG sources, sinks and/or reservoirs that are considered for quantification, monitoring and reporting.
The guidelines for additionality tools generally assume a project-specific approach. However, the requirements of the GHG program take precedence over specific ISO 14064-2 requirements, which allows performance standards to be used where this is prescribed by the GHG program.
Quantification Protocols
Since ISO 14064-2 is designed to be program-neutral, baseline procedures are specified in general terms, allowing flexibility for GHG programmes or regulations to adopt more prescriptive procedures. The standard offers guidance on and sets out general requirements for how to determine a project baseline. and requires that the principles of conservativeness be applied when determining the baseline scenario to ensure emission reduction or removal enhancements are not overestimated.
Furthermore, ISO 14064-2 requires that the baseline and quantification and monitoring methods of project-level GHG emissions and removals be defined before quantification of emission reductions or removal enhancements. This is to ensure that project proponents are required to fully justify their baseline and describe their project before proceeding to quantification.
Project Approval Process
Validation and Registration
ISO 14064-2 states that the project proponent should have the GHG project validated and/or verified. The use of the word “should” instead of “shall” makes this requirement non-mandatory. Such requirements are usually elements of a GHG program. If a GHG project has not been linked to a specific GHG program, then the project proponent has to decide on the type of validation and/or verification (first-, second- or third-party verification) and the level of assurance (e.g. high or moderate) required against the GHG assertion. ISO 14064-3 specifies the principles and requirements for validation and verification of GHG assertions (ISO 2006b).
Under ISO 14064-2, the use of third-party auditors is strongly recommended, but only required if GHG emission reductions are to be made public. In these cases project proponents must provide a GHG report with a specified content or a third-party validation or verification statement prepared in accordance with the procedures in ISO 14064-3: Specification with guidance for the validation and verification of greenhouse gas assertions. ISO 14064-3 specifies the following for the validation and verification process including:
• selecting GHG validators/verifiers;
• establishing the level of assurance, objectives, criteria and scope;
• determining the validation/verification approach;
• assessing GHG data, information, information systems and controls;
• evaluating GHG assertions;
• and preparing validation/verification statements
While ISO 14064-3 specifies similar requirements for both validation and verification, the objectives associated with project validation and project verification are usually different.
Monitoring, Verification and Certification
ISO 14064-2 requires the project proponent to establish and maintain criteria and procedures for obtaining, recording, compiling and analysing data and information important for quantifying and reporting GHG emissions and/or removals relevant for the project and baseline scenario (i.e. GHG information system).
The certification and crediting process, which may be under the authority of a GHG programme and may vary among GHG programmes, is not specified in ISO 14064-2.
Registries and Fees
Not specified under ISO 14054-2.
Selected Issues
ISO 14064-2 is designed to be used as a guideline for developing quantification methodologies and protocols. It has been integrated by several regulatory and voluntary schemes. ISO 14064-2 can be used with Good Practice Guidance (e.g. CDM or IPCC methods) to ensure consistency with these existing quantification approaches. As such it is a valuable tool for streamlining procedures and providing guidance to project developers.
It can also be used by project developers as a standalone standard. Criteria and procedures are then defined by the project developers themselves. Because it is not specific in its requirements, the offset quality criteria vary depending on the program or the developer who defines the criteria. This means that ISO by itself cannot and is not designed to guarantee offset quality.
References
ISO (2006a). Greenhouse gases, Part 1: Specification with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals. ISO 14064-1.
ISO (2006b). Greenhouse gases, Part 2: Specification with guidance at the project level for quantification, monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removal enhancements. ISO 14064-2.
ISO (2006c). Greenhouse gases, Part 3: Specification with guidance for the validation and verification of greenhouse gas assertions. ISO 14064-3.