ISO 14067 verification consulting for product carbon footprints that survive scrutiny.

What it is

What is ISO 14067 and what is it used for?

ISO 14067 is the international standard for working out the carbon footprint of a product, abbreviated CFP. It sets principles, requirements and guidelines for quantifying and reporting the greenhouse gas emissions and removals linked to a good or a service over its life cycle, and it does so on the same footing as the life cycle assessment standards ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. It looks at one impact category only, climate change, and it also covers a partial footprint that stops short of the full life cycle.

Companies use a CFP to answer buyer questionnaires, find the life cycle stages where emissions concentrate and track the effect of a redesign. The standard does not govern how the result is communicated, and it leaves offsetting out.

Current edition. ISO 14067:2018, published in August 2018, replaced the technical specification ISO/TS 14067:2013 and was confirmed by ISO in 2024. ISO now lists it as to be revised, with a working draft in development. On 9 April 2026 ISO and the GHG Protocol announced a joint working group to develop a harmonised product-level accounting standard building on ISO 14067 and the GHG Protocol Product Standard; no publication date has been announced. Until a new edition exists, the 2018 edition is the one you quantify and are verified against.

Who it is for

Who needs ISO 14067 verification?

No law requires ISO 14067 in general. The request comes from customers, lenders or schemes, usually as a demand for a number with a method behind it. Organisations come to Sterling from four directions:

• A customer wants the emissions of what you sell them. Large buyers building supply-chain inventories want supplier figures per unit, not industry averages. A verified study ends the follow-up questions.
• A tender scores embodied carbon. Agree the functional unit and boundary the tender expects before the study starts.
• A regulator or a market scheme is moving in. A study built on ISO 14067 gives you a method that can be adapted to new rules rather than rebuilt.
• A group company or parent needs consistent figures. One method, one factor set and one report structure bring sister sites into line.

Requirements

What are the main ISO 14067 requirements?

ISO 14067 is not a management system standard, so it has no harmonised structure of leadership and planning clauses. Its requirements follow the logic of a life cycle study, from principles through quantification to the report and its review. The list below summarises the clauses at title level; the study itself is checked against the full text during the programme.

• Clause 4 Application: the uses a CFP study can serve, which shape the choices made in the rest of the study.
• Clause 5 Principles: life cycle perspective, a functional or declared unit, an iterative and science-first approach, relevance, completeness, consistency, coherence, accuracy, transparency and avoidance of double-counting.
• Clause 6 Methodology for quantification of the CFP and partial CFP: use of product category rules where they apply, goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation of the result.
• Clause 7 CFP study report: how greenhouse gas values are presented, the information the report must contain and the information it may add.
• Clause 8 Critical review: review of the study, with ISO/TS 14071 on review processes and reviewer competence among the normative references.
• Normative annexes A to C: the limitations of a CFP, comparisons between products based on their CFP, and the systematic approach for footprints across a range of products.
• Informative annexes D and E: treatment of recycling, and quantification for agricultural and forestry products.

Verification process

How do you get an ISO 14067 carbon footprint verified?

First quantify the footprint properly and report it. Then an independent verification body tests the study. ISO 14067 sets how the footprint is quantified; the verification principles and requirements sit in ISO 14064-3. Sterling prepares the study with you, and the verifier's opinion stays the verifier's.

1. 01
   Fix the product, the unit and the purpose.Agree which product or family, the functional or declared unit, full or partial footprint, the intended use of the result and any product category rules that apply.
2. 02
   Gap analysis: test your data against the requirements.The gap analysis maps the life cycle stages, finds the data you hold, the data suppliers must provide and the gaps to be filled, and agrees actions, owners and dates.
3. 03
   Build the inventory and calculate.Collect activity data, select and reference factors, apply allocation and recycling rules consistently, model the product system and interpret the result with a sensitivity check.
4. 04
   Write the study report and review it internally.The report is drafted against Clause 7, checked by a reviewer who did not build the model, and every discrepancy is corrected with evidence before the verifier is engaged.
5. 05
   Complete the independent verification.The verification body agrees the objectives, criteria and level of assurance, reviews the study and its evidence, raises findings, and issues its verification statement once they are resolved.

Check the route before you sign. Ask which body will verify the study, whether it holds accreditation for this work and from which accreditation body, what level of assurance is proposed and how many verifier days, and confirm the answers with the accreditation body directly. Accreditation for product-footprint verification is still being developed in some countries, so ask what the body can show. An offer of a "certificate" for a footprint that nobody has calculated is not a verification.

Cost

How much does ISO 14067 verification cost?

One product from one site is a different study from a range with hundreds of components and suppliers. The cost follows the product system; our proposal shows every component and states everything that is included.

Timeline

How long does ISO 14067 verification take?

The pace is set by data, above all by how quickly suppliers answer. As an estimate, a first study for one product or product family takes two to four months from kick-off to a verification statement when production and purchasing records are in order; a wide range or a long supply chain takes longer. We plan backwards from your deadline, with milestones your team follows in Effivity.

Share any customer or tender deadline on the first call, and we will say what is achievable.

Your engagement

What your ISO 14067 engagement includes

One team and one all-inclusive proposal cover everything a verifiable study needs. Sterling does not verify, certify or validate product footprints; an independent verification body does.

The work runs on Sterling OS™. Choose Design™, the guided option where your team builds the study with our method, or Drive™, the managed option where our consultants carry it. Sustain™ keeps the footprint current after verification; Automate™ is Effivity.

• Goal, scope and gap analysis

  Unit, boundary, data plan, responsibilities and dates, agreed before the calculation starts.

• Inventory, model and factors

  Built with your engineers and buyers, every factor referenced and every allocation choice written down.

• Effivity ISO & GRC software

  Your study data, evidence and actions in Effivity from day one, included with the engagement at no additional cost.

• Training for everyone

  Internal auditor training for your review team, as applicable to your standard, and preferential Sterling Academy access, including complimentary awareness training for your people as part of the engagement.

• CFP study report and internal review

  A report drafted against the standard and checked independently of the people who built the model.

• Verification readiness and support

  Evidence prepared for the verifier and support until the statement is issued.

Verification decisions remain with the independent verification body.

Often combined with

Standards organisations pair with ISO 14067

• EMASEMAS registration explained: requirements, the validated environmental statement, the verifier and Competent Body route, cost factors and all-inclusive support.
• FSC and PEFC chain of custodyFSC and PEFC chain of custody certification and requirements: FSC-STD-40-004 V3-1, PEFC ST 2002:2020, the audit route and cost factors, with Sterling.
• GHG ProtocolGHG Protocol inventory consulting: scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions on boundaries and methods an outsider can test, ready for independent verification.
• ISCC PLUSISCC PLUS certification for circular and bio-based materials: requirements, mass balance, ISCC HUB registration, standalone documents and an all-inclusive plan.
• ISO 14001ISO 14001 certification consulting: aspects, impacts and compliance obligations controlled, with support until an accredited body certifies you.
• ISO 14005ISO 14005 implementation guidelines: build your environmental management system in phases, measure maturity and reach ISO 14001 certification at your own pace.