What is ISO 14067?

Quick Answer: ISO 14067 is the international standard that specifies principles, requirements, and guidelines for quantifying and communicating the carbon footprint of a product (CFP). It covers greenhouse gas emissions and removals across a product's full life cycle, from raw material extraction through to end of life. ISO 14067 is based on the GHG Protocol Product Standard and aligns with ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 for life cycle assessment methodology.

What is ISO 14067?

ISO 14067 is an ISO standard that defines how to calculate and report the carbon footprint of a product. Published by the International Organization for Standardization and most recently updated in 2018, it provides a consistent, internationally recognised methodology for measuring the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with a specific product across its entire life cycle.

The standard applies to any product, whether a physical good or a service, and covers all six greenhouse gases listed under the Kyoto Protocol: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).

ISO 14067 sits within a broader family of ISO 14000 environmental management standards and is closely linked to life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. It does not certify a product as "low carbon" or set emissions reduction targets. Its purpose is to standardise how a carbon footprint is measured and reported, so that results are credible, comparable, and transparent.

What does ISO 14067 actually measure?

ISO 14067 measures the carbon footprint of a product (CFP): the sum of GHG emissions and removals in a product system, expressed as CO2 equivalent (CO2e), based on a defined functional unit and system boundary.

A few terms here are worth unpacking:

• Functional unit: the reference unit against which emissions are measured. For a bottle of water, this might be "1 litre of drinking water delivered to the consumer." The functional unit makes comparisons between products meaningful.
• System boundary: the life cycle stages included in the calculation. ISO 14067 allows for a cradle-to-gate boundary (raw material extraction to the point of leaving the factory) or a cradle-to-grave boundary (full life cycle including use and end-of-life disposal).
• GHG removals: the standard accounts not just for emissions but also for carbon removed from the atmosphere during the product's life cycle, such as carbon stored in timber products.

The methodology requires identifying all relevant inputs and outputs at each life cycle stage, assigning emissions factors to those inputs, and summing the total to produce a single CO2e figure per functional unit.

How does ISO 14067 relate to other standards?

ISO 14067 draws directly from two existing LCA standards:

• ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, which set out the general principles and requirements for life cycle assessment. ISO 14067 applies those LCA principles specifically to carbon footprint calculations.
• The GHG Protocol Product Standard, published by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. ISO 14067 is designed to be consistent with this standard, meaning a product footprint calculated under one framework will generally be compatible with the other.

Understanding this relationship matters in practice. ISO 14067 does not replace the GHG Protocol Product Standard; the two frameworks are complementary. Companies operating in markets where ISO certification carries weight (procurement, regulatory compliance, B2B supply chains) will typically reference ISO 14067 specifically.

ISO 14067 is also distinct from ISO 14064, which covers organisational and project-level GHG accounting, and from ISO 14068, which addresses carbon neutrality claims. These standards address different scopes and should not be conflated.

Why does ISO 14067 matter for businesses?

Product-level carbon footprinting is becoming a practical requirement across a growing number of industries and markets.

Supply chain disclosure: Large companies with Scope 3 reduction targets increasingly ask suppliers to provide product-level emissions data. ISO 14067 gives that data a credible, auditable methodology behind it. Without a recognised standard, supplier-reported figures are difficult to compare or verify.

Product Environmental Declarations (EPDs): Many EPD programmes, particularly in construction and manufacturing, require or reference ISO 14067 or the aligned ISO 14044 methodology. An EPD without a credible underlying calculation method has limited value to specifiers or procurement teams.

Regulatory and procurement requirements: Frameworks such as the UK government's PPN 006 (carbon reporting in procurement) and various EU product sustainability regulations are pushing carbon data further down supply chains. ISO 14067 provides a methodology that satisfies these requirements.

Consumer and B2B claims: If a company makes a public claim about a product's carbon footprint, ISO 14067 compliance provides a defensible basis for that claim. Unsubstantiated carbon claims carry increasing legal and reputational risk under greenwashing regulations in both the UK and EU.

For businesses that are not yet doing product-level footprinting, ISO 14067 is the standard to understand before starting. It defines the rules of the game.

What is the difference between a product carbon footprint and an organisational carbon footprint?

This is a common point of confusion, and the distinction is important.

An organisational carbon footprint (sometimes called a corporate carbon footprint or GHG inventory) measures the total emissions associated with a company's operations across a defined period, typically a financial year. This is what most companies are referring to when they talk about their "carbon footprint" or "Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions." The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard governs this type of measurement.

A product carbon footprint (PCF), as defined by ISO 14067, measures the emissions associated with a single product across its life cycle. It is a narrower, more granular calculation that traces emissions from the extraction of raw materials used to make that product through to its disposal or recycling.

The two are related but not interchangeable. A company's organisational footprint is, in theory, the aggregate of all the product footprints across everything it makes or sells, plus its operational activities. In practice, most companies calculate their organisational footprint first and then drill into product-level analysis for specific categories or high-impact product lines.

For businesses using Seedling to manage their organisational carbon footprint, ISO 14067 becomes relevant when suppliers request or provide product-level emissions data, particularly in the form of Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) or Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). These figures feed into Scope 3 Category 1 (purchased goods and services) calculations and, when available, replace spend-based estimates with more accurate activity data.

What does an ISO 14067 assessment involve?

Conducting a product carbon footprint to ISO 14067 involves several defined stages:

1. Define the goal and scope. Establish the purpose of the assessment, the functional unit, and the system boundary (cradle-to-gate or cradle-to-grave).
2. Conduct a life cycle inventory (LCI). Collect data on all inputs and outputs at each stage of the product's life cycle: energy, materials, transport, waste, and so on.
3. Calculate the CFP. Apply appropriate emissions factors to each input and output, then sum to produce a total CO2e figure per functional unit.
4. Interpret and review the results. Identify the dominant emissions sources (hotspots) and assess the sensitivity of the results to key assumptions.
5. Communicate the CFP. Report the results in line with ISO 14067's communication requirements, including the system boundary, functional unit, data quality, and any limitations.

Third-party verification is not mandatory under ISO 14067, but it is strongly recommended where the results will be used in external communications or procurement. An unverified product carbon footprint carries less weight with customers, auditors, and regulators than one that has been independently reviewed.

Product-level carbon accounting is more data-intensive than organisational footprinting, and the quality of the result depends heavily on the quality of the life cycle inventory data. Using primary data (measured or supplier-provided figures) rather than generic database averages produces more accurate and more credible results.