ISO 14068-1:2023 Carbon Neutrality — The Definitive Reference
ISO 14068-1:2023 is the international standard for carbon neutrality claims, published 30 November 2023. It mandates a measure–reduce–neutralise hierarchy: organisations must quantify GHG emissions (per ISO 14064-1 or ISO 14067), set a science-aligned reduction pathway in a Carbon Neutrality Management Plan, and only then offset residuals with high-quality credits — transitioning to removals-only over time. It replaces BSI's PAS 2060, which was withdrawn on 30 November 2025.
For fifteen years, carbon-neutral claims rested on a publicly available specification from a national standards body. PAS 2060 was the de facto global benchmark, but it was a specification, not a full international standard, and its tolerance for offset-led neutrality drew increasing regulator and NGO scrutiny. The EU's 2024 Green Claims Directive, the UK CMA's Green Claims Code enforcement, and the FTC's Green Guides revisions all converged on the same finding: “carbon neutral” had become an unsafe label for any organisation that could not evidence a credible reduction pathway behind the claim.
ISO 14068-1:2023 is the international answer — carbon neutrality with a hierarchy, an audit trail, and removals discipline that builds on PAS 2060 and supersedes it.
1. What ISO 14068-1 Is
ISO 14068-1:2023 is the first international standard specifying principles, requirements, and guidance for achieving and demonstrating carbon neutrality. Its full title is Climate change management — Transition to net zero — Part 1: Carbon neutrality. It was published by the International Organization for Standardization on 30 November 2023 as part of the ISO 14060 family of climate-related standards, developed by ISO Technical Committee 207, Subcommittee 7 (Greenhouse gas and climate change management and related activities).
The standard applies to a defined subject: an organisation, financial institution, product, service, event, project, or asset for which a carbon neutrality claim is being made. It mandates a hierarchical approach: the subject's GHG footprint must be quantified using an established inventory method, a documented Carbon Neutrality Management Plan must set out a credible reduction pathway, residual emissions may be offset only after reductions have been pursued, and the offset portfolio must shift toward carbon removals over the path to the target neutrality date. The claim must be verifiable; ISO 14068-1 itself does not specify the verification process but requires conformance be demonstrable, with ISO 14064-3 the standard verification anchor.
The “Part 1” naming is deliberate. ISO TC 207/SC 7 has signalled further parts to the 14068 series — product-specific neutrality guidance in particular is anticipated — but as of May 2026 only Part 1 has been published.
For corporate sustainability teams and regulators, ISO 14068-1 fills a gap that PAS 2060 never quite closed: an internationally recognised standard, built on the same ISO governance and accreditation infrastructure as ISO 14064-1, that defines what “carbon neutral” can credibly mean in 2026 and beyond.
2. Chain of Custody — From Standard to Verified Claim
Every ISO 14068-1 carbon neutrality claim that reaches a public disclosure or product label traces back through a defined chain. The map below is what any audit committee, assurance partner, or regulator should be able to draw before accepting a claim as credible.
Technical Committee 207, Subcommittee 7 (greenhouse gas management and related activities) develops the standard through a multi-year ISO consensus process involving national standards bodies, industry stakeholders, NGOs, and government experts. ISO 14068-1 reached publication on 30 November 2023.
National standards bodies (BSI in the UK, ANSI in the US, AFNOR in France, JISC in Japan, SAC in China, SPRING in Singapore) adopt the standard as their national equivalent — for example, BS ISO 14068-1:2023 in the UK. National adoption does not change the technical content; it makes the standard formally referenceable in national procurement, regulation, and tender specifications.
The organisation defines the subject of the carbon neutrality claim (whole organisation, specific product, event, etc.), the geographic and temporal boundary, and the GHG inventory boundary per ISO 14064-1 for organisational claims or ISO 14067 for product claims.
The GHG footprint of the subject is quantified using the appropriate inventory method — ISO 14064-1 for organisations, ISO 14067 for products, or another recognised method consistent with the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard. AR6 GWP-100 values apply by default per current corporate reporting practice.
The subject's public commitment, reduction targets, reduction pathway, residual offset strategy, and target neutrality date are documented in a CNMP. The plan must include interim milestones, a transition trajectory toward carbon removals, and a governance owner. The CNMP is the central document a verifier reviews.
The organisation implements the reduction actions in its CNMP and reports progress year over year. ISO 14068-1 does not prescribe a numerical reduction floor, but requires the reduction pathway to be credible and consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C — effectively aligning the plan with science-based ambition.
Residual emissions, after reductions, are neutralised through carbon credits that meet the standard's quality criteria (additionality, permanence, exclusive claim, third-party verified registry, etc.). The mix of avoidance/reduction credits versus removal credits must shift toward removals over the path to the target neutrality date.
An independent verifier reviews the inventory, the CNMP, the reduction performance, the offset portfolio, and the claim language. Verification follows ISO 14064-3 and is typically performed at reasonable or limited assurance level.
The verified declaration is published — on the organisation's website, in sustainability reports, on product packaging where applicable. The claim language is prescribed by the standard; “carbon neutral in accordance with ISO 14068-1:2023” is the canonical form.
The claim feeds into CSRD ESRS E1 transition plan disclosure, IFRS S2 climate-related disclosures, CDP submissions, and procurement responses. The CNMP is reviewed and the verification renewed annually.
3. ISO 14068-1 in the ISO 14060 Family
ISO 14068-1 does not stand alone. It sits at the top of a stack of ISO climate standards that handle quantification, project accounting, verification, and product footprinting — each of which the carbon neutrality standard relies on for its underlying technical content. Understanding the stack matters: ISO 14068-1 prescribes the framework for a credible neutrality claim, but the inventory numbers it depends on come from elsewhere in the family.
| Standard | Scope | Role in an ISO 14068-1 claim | Current version |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISO 14064-1 | Organisational GHG inventories — quantification and reporting | Underlying inventory method for organisation-level neutrality claims. Defines Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 inventory boundary, base year, and reporting. | ISO 14064-1:2018 |
| ISO 14064-2 | Project-level GHG accounting — reductions and removals | Underlying methodology for offset project quantification where carbon credits are issued under conforming registries. | ISO 14064-2:2019 |
| ISO 14064-3 | Validation and verification of GHG assertions | The verification standard for ISO 14068-1 claims. Third-party verifiers operate under 14064-3 to issue the assurance opinion. | ISO 14064-3:2019 |
| ISO 14067 | Product carbon footprint — quantification | Underlying inventory method for product-level neutrality claims. Required when the subject of the ISO 14068-1 claim is a product or service. | ISO 14067:2018 |
| ISO 14068-1 | Carbon neutrality — principles, requirements, guidance | The neutrality framework itself. Sits on top of the quantification and verification standards; defines the hierarchy, CNMP requirements, offset quality criteria, and claim language. | ISO 14068-1:2023 |
| ISO 14068-2 (anticipated) | Carbon neutrality — products (in development) | Anticipated future part of the 14068 series covering product-specific neutrality requirements. Not yet published as of May 2026. | Not yet published |
4. Headline Requirements — The Six Pillars
ISO 14068-1 is a 40-page standard, but its substantive content rests on six pillars that any conformant claim must satisfy. Each pillar is non-discretionary: missing any one of them disqualifies the claim from carrying the “in accordance with ISO 14068-1” attribution.
5. Subjects of Declaration — Who Can Claim Carbon Neutrality
ISO 14068-1 is unusually broad in the entities and assets it covers. The same hierarchical framework applies whether the subject is a multinational holding company, a single shampoo bottle, a music festival, or a financial institution's lending book — but each subject type has slightly different boundary rules and quantification requirements.
| Subject type | Underlying inventory standard | Key boundary consideration | Typical use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organisation | ISO 14064-1 | Operational vs equity-share consolidation; Scope 3 materiality screening | Corporate-wide sustainability claim, parent-company report |
| Product or service | ISO 14067 | Cradle-to-gate vs cradle-to-grave life-cycle boundary; functional unit definition | Product-level carbon-neutral label on packaging, B2B technical datasheets |
| Event | ISO 14064-1 principles, event-adapted | Venue energy, attendee travel, catering, materials; temporal boundary equals event duration | Conferences, sports events, music festivals, COP-style summits |
| Financial institution / portfolio | ISO 14064-1 + PCAF financed-emissions methodology | Scope 3 Category 15 (investments) typically dominates the footprint; attribution rules critical | Bank-level neutrality claim, fund- or portfolio-level claim |
| Project | ISO 14064-1 / -2 hybrid | Project temporal boundary; counterfactual baseline; double-counting with parent organisation | Construction project, capital programme, R&D pilot |
| Asset / building | ISO 14064-1 plus BS EN 15978 for embodied carbon | Embodied vs operational carbon split; building lifetime boundary | Real estate asset, infrastructure |
| Community / city | ISO 14064-1 community variant | Territorial vs consumption-based boundary; double-counting with member organisations | Municipal-level claim |
Most ISO 14068-1 verification findings trace back to a poorly defined subject. The subject definition determines the inventory boundary, the materiality threshold, the residual offset volume, and ultimately what the public claim says. Verifiers expect the subject definition to be written down, version-controlled, and consistent across the CNMP, the inventory, and the public declaration.
6. The Carbon Neutrality Hierarchy — Measure, Reduce, Neutralise, Declare
The substantive content of ISO 14068-1 is a strict hierarchy. The standard does not allow the steps to be skipped, reordered, or treated as parallel options. An organisation that purchases offsets equal to its emissions but cannot demonstrate a documented reduction pathway is not conformant. Likewise, an organisation that reduces emissions but does not quantify its remaining footprint cannot claim neutrality.
Skipping or reordering any step disqualifies the claim. Annual reverification confirms continued conformance.
7. GHG Boundary Requirements — Which Emissions Must Be Counted
The GHG inventory boundary determines what gets reduced, what gets offset, and ultimately what “carbon neutral” actually covers. ISO 14068-1 requires the inventory to follow the boundary rules of the underlying ISO 14064-1 or ISO 14067, with mandatory inclusion of Scope 1 and Scope 2 and materiality-based inclusion of Scope 3.
| Emission source | Mandatory inclusion | Materiality treatment | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope 1 — direct emissions | Yes — 100% | Mandatory regardless of size | Stationary combustion, mobile combustion, process emissions, fugitive emissions including refrigerants |
| Scope 2 — purchased energy | Yes — 100% | Mandatory regardless of size | Dual reporting required: location-based and market-based per GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance |
| Scope 3 — value chain (15 categories) | Material categories mandatory | Materiality screening required; categories above threshold mandatory | PAS 2060's ~1%-of-total threshold is widely cited as the working materiality reference; ISO 14068-1 requires a documented materiality methodology consistent with GHG Protocol Scope 3 |
| Biogenic CO2 | Reported separately | Not netted against fossil emissions | Biogenic and fossil flows reported as distinct line items per ISO 14064-1:2018 convention |
| Non-CO2 GHGs (CH4, N2O, SF6, HFCs, PFCs, NF3) | Yes — where present in subject inventory | Converted to CO2e via IPCC AR6 GWP-100 | See CO2e definition and the AR6 vs AR5 basis rule for DEFRA-sourced factors |
| Removals (from biological sequestration on owned land) | May be reported separately | Cannot be netted against gross emissions for the carbon-neutral claim | Per ISO 14068-1 — reductions in the gross inventory precede any reliance on residual offsets |
8. Quantification — Conformance with ISO 14064-1 or ISO 14067
ISO 14068-1 does not specify its own quantification methodology. It relies on the existing ISO inventory standards: ISO 14064-1 for organisational subjects, ISO 14067 for product or service subjects. Conformance with ISO 14068-1 implicitly requires conformance with the chosen underlying inventory standard — verifiers check both.
For organisational claims, this means the entity must have an ISO 14064-1-conformant GHG inventory before any neutrality claim is meaningful. The inventory documents the base year, the reporting boundary, the consolidation approach (operational, financial, or equity-share control), the quantification methods for each emission source, the data quality, and the uncertainty. Where an organisation is also reporting under the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, ISO 14064-1 conformance is typically a small additional step rather than a parallel exercise — the two standards are deliberately compatible.
For product claims, the inventory follows the ISO 14067 product carbon footprint methodology, which is itself built on the broader ISO 14040/14044 life-cycle assessment framework. The cradle-to-gate or cradle-to-grave decision is recorded in the goal-and-scope definition; the functional unit (e.g. “1 kg of formulated product packaged in 250 ml HDPE bottle, delivered to retailer”) is the basis for any per-product neutrality claim.
9. The Carbon Neutrality Management Plan (CNMP)
The CNMP is the most distinctive document in an ISO 14068-1 claim. It is the artifact that distinguishes the standard from a one-off offset purchase: it is a multi-year, board-approved plan that commits the organisation to a specific trajectory and exposes the trajectory to public scrutiny and annual verification.
The CNMP must contain, at minimum:
- Public commitment to carbon neutrality. A statement from the organisation's governance body (board, executive committee, owner) committing to achieving and maintaining carbon neutrality for the defined subject by a stated target date.
- Subject definition and inventory boundary. Unambiguous specification of what the claim covers, cross-referenced to the underlying inventory.
- Baseline. The base-year inventory against which reductions are measured. Selection rules follow ISO 14064-1; the base year must be a year for which verified data is available.
- Reduction targets and pathway. Numerical reduction targets for the subject's gross emissions, with interim milestones (typically at five-year intervals), aligned to a 1.5°C-consistent pathway. Where the organisation has a parallel SBTi-validated target, the CNMP reduction pathway should be consistent with the SBTi target.
- Reduction actions. The specific operational, procurement, and capital actions through which reductions will be delivered — energy efficiency, electrification, fuel switching, renewable energy procurement, supplier engagement, product reformulation, etc.
- Residual emissions offset strategy. The approach to neutralising residual emissions, including the offset registries used, the avoidance/removals mix at the start, and the trajectory toward removals over time.
- Removals trajectory commitment. A documented plan for shifting the offset portfolio from avoidance/reduction credits toward durable carbon removals, converging on a removals-only portfolio at the target neutrality date.
- Verification arrangements. The verifier, the assurance level (limited or reasonable), and the verification cycle (typically annual).
- Governance. The named owner of the plan within the organisation, the review cycle, and the change-control process.
The CNMP is reviewed and updated annually as part of the verification cycle. Material changes — mergers, divestments, new product lines, methodology updates — require the plan to be revised and the revisions verified before the next claim cycle. A CNMP frozen at first publication is a verification finding.
10. Reduction Pathway Requirements — Why “Offset Everything” Doesn't Qualify
The single most consequential change ISO 14068-1 introduces over its PAS 2060 predecessor is the elevated role of value-chain reductions and the corresponding constraint on offset-led neutrality. Under PAS 2060, an organisation could in principle achieve a carbon-neutral declaration through offsetting alone in any given year, with reductions encouraged but not strictly required. Under ISO 14068-1, that is not conformant.
The standard requires the CNMP to set out a credible reduction pathway aligned with limiting warming to 1.5°C. Although ISO 14068-1 does not prescribe a numerical floor (unlike SBTi's Corporate Net-Zero Standard which requires ≥90% reduction before residuals can be neutralised for a net-zero claim), the 1.5°C alignment requirement effectively imports the same direction of travel: deep, year-on-year reductions in the subject's gross emissions, with offsets serving only the residual fraction.
| Requirement | PAS 2060 (withdrawn) | ISO 14068-1:2023 | SBTi Corporate Net-Zero (comparator) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reduction pathway required | Yes — “Carbon Management Plan” required | Yes — CNMP required, must be 1.5°C-aligned | Yes — SBTi-validated near-term and long-term targets |
| Numerical reduction floor | Not prescribed | Not prescribed, but 1.5°C alignment expected | ≥90% reduction in scope 1+2 before residuals (Net-Zero); ≥42% by 2030 (near-term) |
| Interim milestones | Encouraged | Required — typically five-year intervals | Required — near-term target by 2030 |
| Offsetting before reductions | Permitted | Not conformant — reductions take priority | Not conformant — residuals only after ≥90% cut |
| Science alignment | Recommended | Mandatory in effect (1.5°C consistency) | Mandatory and validated |
11. Offset Quality Requirements — Avoidance, Removals, and the Trajectory
The other major substantive change over PAS 2060 is the offset quality regime. ISO 14068-1 codifies a set of quality criteria for carbon credits used in neutrality claims, and introduces a staged shift in the offset portfolio mix — from a higher tolerance of reduction/avoidance credits at the start of a CNMP, toward removals-only at the target neutrality date.
11.1 Offset Quality Criteria
Every carbon credit retired against an ISO 14068-1 claim must meet the following quality criteria. The criteria are well-established in the offset literature, but ISO 14068-1 is the first international neutrality standard to embed them as a normative requirement.
| Criterion | Requirement | Verification anchor |
|---|---|---|
| Additionality | The emission reduction or removal must be additional to what would have occurred without the carbon-credit revenue. Business-as-usual reductions cannot be sold as offsets. | Project additionality test under ISO 14064-2 or registry-specific additionality methodology |
| Permanence | Removals must be durable for a defined period appropriate to the avoided climate damage. Reversal risks must be addressed through buffer pools, insurance, or other instruments. | Registry permanence rules; buffer pool contributions |
| Leakage addressed | Indirect emissions caused by the project (e.g. deforestation shifting to an adjacent area) must be quantified and deducted. | Project methodology under ISO 14064-2 or registry standard |
| No double counting | The reduction or removal must be claimed only once — not by the host country in its NDC and by the buyer in its corporate claim, unless a corresponding adjustment is applied per Article 6. | Registry transfer and retirement; corresponding adjustment evidence for international transfers |
| Third-party verified | The project quantification must be independently verified before credits are issued. | Verifier accredited under ISO 14064-3 or registry-specific accreditation |
| Conforming registry | Credits must be issued, transferred, and retired on a recognised registry that maintains serial-numbered records. | Verra VCS, Gold Standard, ACR, CAR, ART TREES, and equivalents; CORSIA-eligible programs for aviation context |
| Exclusive claim | The retirement against the ISO 14068-1 claim must be the credit's exclusive use; the same credit cannot underwrite a second claim. | Registry retirement record naming the claimant |
| Vintage and operational year | Credit vintage should be reasonably contemporaneous with the emissions being neutralised; legacy credits from much earlier vintages are generally not acceptable. | Vintage policy documented in CNMP; verified at audit |
11.2 The Avoidance-to-Removals Trajectory
The headline design feature of ISO 14068-1's offset regime is the staged shift toward carbon removals. At the start of a multi-year CNMP, a mix of high-quality avoidance/reduction credits (e.g. renewable energy projects, REDD+ avoided deforestation, improved cookstoves) and removal credits (e.g. afforestation, soil carbon, biochar, direct air capture) is acceptable. By the target neutrality date, the portfolio must have shifted to predominantly removal credits — the standard's implicit endpoint is a removals-only neutrality position.
Illustrative trajectory only — ISO 14068-1 does not prescribe specific percentages but requires the portfolio mix to shift toward removals over the CNMP's lifetime, converging on removals-only at the target date.
The rationale is climate-physics: avoidance credits prevent emissions that would otherwise have occurred but do not pull carbon out of the atmosphere, while removal credits actively withdraw CO2. A claim that residual emissions have been neutralised is more defensible when the neutralisation actually removes the corresponding mass of CO2 rather than preventing a counterfactual flow. The trajectory is also a hedge against scrutiny: as the offset market matures and avoidance-credit quality controversies persist (REDD+ baseline disputes, renewable-energy-project additionality questions), removal credits maintain stronger defensibility.
12. Verification under ISO 14064-3
ISO 14068-1 claims must be independently verified. The standard does not embed verification procedures within its own text; it relies on ISO 14064-3:2019 as the verification anchor and on national accreditation systems for verifier qualification.
The verifier reviews:
- The GHG inventory (conformance with ISO 14064-1 or ISO 14067)
- The CNMP (presence, completeness, governance approval, reduction-pathway credibility)
- Reduction performance against CNMP milestones
- The offset portfolio (quality criteria, registry retirement evidence, avoidance/removals mix, vintage policy)
- The public claim language
- Internal controls over the CNMP and the inventory
Verification is typically performed at limited assurance for first-cycle claims and reasonable assurance for mature programmes. Reasonable assurance is the higher level and is what CSRD ESRS E1 phases in for in-scope corporate climate disclosures — an organisation seeking ISO 14068-1 conformance alongside CSRD compliance will move toward reasonable-assurance verification on the same timeline as its broader climate disclosure assurance journey. BSI's commercial verification scheme to ISO 14068-1 came online 1 March 2024, with SGS and other accredited verification bodies following.
13. The Declaration — Claim Language and What It Permits
The standard prescribes claim language. This is the most consequential operational output for marketing, communications, and legal/compliance teams — the verified declaration is the only string that can legitimately appear on packaging, websites, annual reports, and procurement responses.
“[Subject name] is carbon neutral in accordance with ISO 14068-1:2023.” The claim must be accompanied by the verified inventory boundary, the base year, the target neutrality date, and a link to the CNMP and verification opinion. Variants such as “climate neutral”, “net zero”, or “carbon positive” are not permitted under the ISO 14068-1 claim — they are separate concepts that require separate standards or are outside any current international standard.
What the claim permits the organisation to say:
- “Carbon neutral in accordance with ISO 14068-1:2023” — with the subject and boundary explicit
- “This product is carbon neutral in accordance with ISO 14068-1:2023, cradle-to-gate” — for product claims with explicit life-cycle boundary
- “The [event name] is a carbon-neutral event in accordance with ISO 14068-1:2023” — for event claims
What it does not permit:
- “Climate neutral” — covers a broader set of forcings (aerosols, land-use change albedo) than CO2e and is not the same concept
- “Net zero” — a more demanding state requiring deeper reductions; covered by SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard
- “Carbon positive” or “climate positive” — not defined in international standards; high greenwashing exposure
- Unqualified “carbon neutral” without standard reference, boundary, and target date
The EU's Green Claims Directive and the parallel Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (transposition into Member State law in progress through 2026) restrict environmental claims that cannot be substantiated against a recognised methodology. ISO 14068-1 conformance is the cleanest current path to a defensible “carbon neutral” claim in the EU market — an unqualified carbon-neutral claim without an ISO 14068-1 (or equivalent) basis is exposed to challenge under the directive. The directive specifically targets offset-led neutrality claims that lack a reduction pathway.
14. ISO 14068-1 vs PAS 2060 — The Migration Path
BSI's PAS 2060 was the de facto global carbon-neutrality benchmark from 2010 until its formal withdrawal on 30 November 2025 — 24 months after ISO 14068-1 publication. For the roughly 15-year span during which PAS 2060 was operative, thousands of organisations published carbon-neutral declarations under its framework. As of May 2026, every live PAS 2060 declaration sits in a transition window: historical opinions issued against PAS 2060:2014 remain valid for the period they cover, but new declarations and renewals must be issued against ISO 14068-1.
14.1 What Changed
| Dimension | PAS 2060 (withdrawn) | ISO 14068-1:2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher | BSI (national publicly available specification) | ISO (international standard) |
| Status | Withdrawn 30 November 2025 | Current; published 30 November 2023 |
| Inventory boundary | 100% Scope 1 + 2; Scope 3 > 1% of total | 100% Scope 1 + 2; Scope 3 above documented materiality threshold |
| Underlying inventory standard | PAS 2050 (products) or GHG Protocol (organisations) | ISO 14064-1 (organisations) or ISO 14067 (products) |
| Reduction pathway | Carbon Management Plan required; no science-alignment mandate | CNMP required; 1.5°C alignment expected |
| Offset quality | Quality criteria listed; no removals trajectory | Codified quality criteria; staged shift from avoidance to removals over CNMP lifetime |
| Verification anchor | PAS 2060's own verification appendix | ISO 14064-3 (separate, international verification standard) |
| Claim language | “Carbon neutral in accordance with PAS 2060” | “Carbon neutral in accordance with ISO 14068-1:2023” |
14.2 What To Do With a Live PAS 2060 Declaration
For organisations currently holding a PAS 2060 declaration as of May 2026:
- Confirm the validity window of the existing opinion. Verification opinions issued against PAS 2060:2014 remain valid for the historical period they cover. Past claims need not be retracted.
- Schedule the migration verification. Engage a verifier accredited to ISO 14068-1 (BSI's scheme came online 1 March 2024; SGS, DNV, TUV, and others followed). Many verifiers offer a combined transition audit.
- Upgrade the Carbon Management Plan to a CNMP. The CMP under PAS 2060 is the closest analogue to the CNMP. The main additions required: a 1.5°C-aligned reduction pathway with interim milestones, and a documented removals-trajectory commitment.
- Refresh the offset portfolio. Map the existing offset portfolio against the ISO 14068-1 quality criteria and the avoidance/removals mix expected at the current point in the CNMP lifetime. Legacy credits failing the criteria need replacement at the next reverification.
- Update public claim language. Migrate from “carbon neutral in accordance with PAS 2060” to “carbon neutral in accordance with ISO 14068-1:2023” on website, packaging, annual report, and procurement responses, timed to the migration verification cycle.
15. Carbon Neutral vs Net-Zero vs Climate-Positive vs Climate-Neutral
The terminology around climate claims is the single most common source of greenwashing exposure. Marketing teams reach for “climate positive” or “net zero” when ISO 14068-1 only supports “carbon neutral”. Regulators — EU Green Claims Directive, UK CMA Green Claims Code, FTC Green Guides — have all moved to enforce sharper distinctions.
| Claim | Substantive meaning | Anchor standard | Reduction depth required | Offsetting allowed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon neutral | Gross GHG emissions of the defined subject are matched by offsets meeting quality criteria, after a credible reduction pathway | ISO 14068-1:2023 | 1.5°C-aligned pathway; no numerical floor prescribed | Yes — with quality criteria and removals trajectory |
| Net zero | Deep reductions across all scopes, with only residual emissions (typically ≤10%) neutralised by durable removals | SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard; GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals | ≥90% reduction in scope 1+2; ≥42% by 2030 (near-term) | Only residuals; only removal credits |
| Climate neutral | Broader concept covering non-CO2 radiative forcings (aerosols, land-use albedo) in addition to CO2e | No single anchor international standard | Not standardised | Not standardised — high greenwashing exposure |
| Carbon positive / climate positive | Implies net removals exceed gross emissions | No international standard | Not standardised | Not standardised — high greenwashing exposure; restricted under EU Green Claims Directive |
| Carbon negative | Synonym for “climate positive” in common usage; net removals exceed gross emissions | No international standard | Not standardised | Not standardised — restricted under EU Green Claims Directive |
An organisation can be carbon neutral under ISO 14068-1 without being net zero under SBTi: ISO 14068-1 allows higher residual offsetting on the path to a target neutrality date, whereas SBTi Net-Zero requires ≥90% reduction in scope 1+2 before any residuals are neutralised. Many organisations pursue both, with ISO 14068-1 as the operational year-on-year claim and SBTi Net-Zero as the long-term anchor target.
16. Interaction with CSRD, IFRS S2, and the EU Green Claims Directive
ISO 14068-1 conformance does not by itself satisfy any mandatory climate disclosure regime — but it produces artifacts (the inventory, the CNMP, the verified declaration) that feed directly into the major disclosure frameworks. The relationships matter operationally because the same underlying data should support multiple disclosure outputs without duplication.
| Framework | How ISO 14068-1 artifacts feed in | Where they don't |
|---|---|---|
| CSRD / ESRS E1 | The CNMP populates the climate transition plan disclosure (E1-1). The verified GHG inventory populates the Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 disclosures (E1-6). Reduction targets feed the targets disclosure (E1-4). | ESRS E1 is mandatory; ISO 14068-1 is voluntary. ESRS E1 has its own materiality assessment and disclosure architecture that goes well beyond ISO 14068-1's subject-specific neutrality framing. |
| IFRS S2 | The verified inventory satisfies the paragraph 29 Scope 1/2/3 disclosure. The CNMP's transition trajectory feeds paragraph 14 climate-related risks/opportunities and paragraph 22 metrics-and-targets. | IFRS S2 is investor-focused and requires anticipated financial-effects analysis; ISO 14068-1 does not address financial materiality. |
| CDP Climate Change | CDP questionnaire fields on emissions inventory, reduction targets, climate transition plan, and offset usage map directly to ISO 14068-1 artifacts. The verified declaration improves CDP scoring. | CDP scope is broader (governance, value-chain engagement, financial planning) and includes risks/opportunities analysis ISO 14068-1 does not address. |
| GRI 305 (Emissions) | The ISO 14068-1 verified inventory satisfies GRI 305-1, 305-2, 305-3 reporting requirements. | GRI 305 does not require a CNMP or specific reduction pathway. |
| EU Green Claims Directive | Compliance with a recognised international standard such as ISO 14068-1 is among the cleanest routes to substantiating a “carbon neutral” environmental claim in the EU market. | The directive may impose additional substantiation, communication, and pre-approval requirements beyond ISO 14068-1 as Member State transposition proceeds through 2026. |
| UK Mandatory Climate Disclosures (TCFD-aligned) | The inventory and reduction targets feed the metrics-and-targets pillar of UK climate-related financial disclosures. | UK disclosures cover governance, strategy, and risk management beyond ISO 14068-1's scope. |
17. Interaction with SBTi — Carbon Neutral and Net Zero in Parallel
The most common configuration for organisations serious about climate credibility in 2026 is to hold both an ISO 14068-1 carbon-neutrality declaration and an SBTi-validated near-term and long-term target. The two standards address different time horizons and serve different operational purposes — they are complements, not alternatives.
SBTi's Corporate Net-Zero Standard sets the long-term destination: at least 90% reduction in scope 1+2 emissions (and material scope 3) by the target year, with only residual emissions neutralised by durable removals. It is a target-setting standard, not a year-on-year operational standard. ISO 14068-1, by contrast, is operational: it covers what an organisation can credibly claim each year on the path to its long-term target.
A well-structured corporate climate programme typically aligns the two: the SBTi near-term target (typically 2030) anchors the reduction pathway in the ISO 14068-1 CNMP. The SBTi long-term target (typically 2050) sets the target neutrality date for the ISO 14068-1 claim. The 1.5°C-alignment requirement of ISO 14068-1 is satisfied by the SBTi-validated trajectory.
18. Common Misuses of ISO 14068-1
Eight patterns of ISO 14068-1 misuse that surface in implementations and that verifiers and regulators flag:
19. Update Cadence and Future Editions
The ISO 14068 family is at an early point in its lifecycle as of May 2026. Part 1 has been operative for two and a half years; PAS 2060 has just been withdrawn; commercial verification under ISO 14068-1 is now widely available. The trajectory to track:
ISO standards follow a five-year systematic review cycle. ISO 14068-1:2023 is therefore expected to enter its first review window around 2028. The systematic review can result in confirmation (standard remains unchanged), revision (an amended version published as ISO 14068-1:20xx), or withdrawal — the last option is unlikely for a recently published standard with growing adoption. The bigger near-term development is ISO 14068-2: ISO TC 207/SC 7 has signalled product-specific neutrality guidance as the next part of the series, but no publication date has been announced as of May 2026.
20. Frequently Asked Questions
ISO 14068-1:2023 is the international standard for carbon neutrality, published by the International Organization for Standardization on 30 November 2023. Its full title is Climate change management — Transition to net zero — Part 1: Carbon neutrality. It specifies the principles, requirements, and guidance for organisations, products, services, events, and other subjects seeking to make a verifiable carbon-neutral claim through quantification, reduction, and offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions.
Yes. PAS 2060 was BSI's publicly available specification for carbon neutrality, first published in 2010 and revised in 2014. It was formally withdrawn on 30 November 2025, 24 months after ISO 14068-1's publication. BSI ceased offering new PAS 2060 verifications on 1 January 2025. Historical opinions issued against PAS 2060:2014 remain valid for the period they cover, but all new declarations and renewals must be issued against ISO 14068-1.
ISO 14068-1 itself is a voluntary international standard — no jurisdiction mandates its use directly. However, the EU Green Claims Directive and the parallel Empowering Consumers Directive are tightening enforcement of unsubstantiated environmental claims in EU markets. Conformance with a recognised standard such as ISO 14068-1 is among the cleanest routes to substantiating a “carbon neutral” claim in scope of those directives. In practical effect, voluntary international standards plus regulatory environmental-claims law are converging to make ISO 14068-1 conformance a de facto requirement for legitimate carbon-neutral marketing in major markets.
No. ISO 14068-1 is hierarchical: reductions in the subject's own value chain take priority over offsetting. An organisation must document a credible 1.5°C-aligned reduction pathway in its Carbon Neutrality Management Plan; residual emissions, after reductions, may be neutralised through high-quality carbon credits. An offset-only neutrality claim with no reduction pathway is not conformant with ISO 14068-1 and is exposed under the EU Green Claims Directive and equivalent regulatory regimes.
The CNMP is the central document an ISO 14068-1 claim depends on. It is a multi-year, governance-approved plan that sets out the public commitment to carbon neutrality, the subject definition, the baseline inventory, the reduction targets and pathway, the interim milestones, the residual offset strategy, the avoidance-to-removals transition trajectory, the verification arrangements, and the named owner of the plan within the organisation. It is reviewed and updated annually as part of the verification cycle.
No. The two terms have distinct substantive meanings and anchor standards. “Carbon neutral in accordance with ISO 14068-1:2023” allows residual emissions to be neutralised through qualifying offsets on the path to a target neutrality date, with the offset mix shifting toward removals over time. “Net zero” under the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard requires at least 90% reduction in scope 1+2 emissions before any residual neutralisation, and the residuals must be neutralised by durable removal credits only. Net zero is the more demanding state. Many organisations hold both: ISO 14068-1 for year-on-year operational claims, SBTi for the long-term anchor target.
Carbon credits used in ISO 14068-1 claims must meet codified quality criteria: additionality, permanence, leakage addressed, no double counting, third-party verified, issued and retired on a conforming registry, exclusive claim, and contemporaneous vintage. Credits from major registries (Verra VCS, Gold Standard, ACR, CAR) generally satisfy the registry and verification criteria but each individual project must still pass additionality and quality screening. The offset portfolio must also shift from avoidance/reduction credits toward removal credits over the CNMP's lifetime, converging on removals-only at the target neutrality date.
Yes. ISO 14068-1 requires conformance to be independently verifiable. The verification anchor is ISO 14064-3:2019, performed by an accredited verifier. Verification is typically at limited assurance for first-cycle claims and reasonable assurance for mature programmes. A self-declared neutrality claim — even one following the standard's framework — cannot legitimately use the “in accordance with ISO 14068-1” attribution without third-party verification.
Material Scope 3 categories cannot be excluded. ISO 14068-1 requires materiality screening of all 15 Scope 3 categories; categories above the documented materiality threshold are mandatory inclusions in the inventory and therefore in the neutralisation scope. Excluding Category 11 (use of sold products) when it dominates a product's lifetime footprint, or Category 15 (investments) for a financial institution, is not credible and will fail verification. The materiality methodology must be documented, defensible, and consistent with GHG Protocol Scope 3 practice.
The canonical claim language is “[Subject name] is carbon neutral in accordance with ISO 14068-1:2023”, accompanied by the inventory boundary, base year, target neutrality date, and a link to the CNMP and verification opinion. Variants such as “climate neutral”, “net zero”, “climate positive”, or “carbon negative” are not permitted under an ISO 14068-1 claim — they are separate concepts that either require a different standard or are not standardised at all. Unqualified “carbon neutral” claims without a standard reference are exposed under the EU Green Claims Directive and the UK CMA Green Claims Code.
Build the inventory that underpins your ISO 14068-1 claim
Carbon neutrality starts with a credible inventory. Quantify scope 1 stationary combustion with the Scope 1 Combustion Calculator, scope 2 electricity with the Scope 2 Electricity Calculator, verify a carbon-neutrality claim with the ISO 14068 Carbon Neutrality Calculator, and align your long-term target with the SBTi Near-Term Target Calculator. For the verification anchor, see the ISO 14064-3 reference. For the net-zero alternative, see the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard reference.
Related GreenCalculus References
The ISO 14060 family: ISO 14064-1 organisational inventories · ISO 14064-2 project accounting · ISO 14064-3 verification · ISO 14067 product carbon footprint
Predecessor and alternatives: PAS 2060 (superseded) · SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard
Underlying inventory standards: GHG Protocol Corporate Standard · GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard · IPCC AR6 GWP values
Offset registries: Verra VCS · Gold Standard · CORSIA
Disclosure frameworks: CSRD ESRS E1 · IFRS S2 · CDP Climate Change
Apply this standard: Scope 1 Combustion Calculator · Scope 2 Electricity Calculator · SBTi Readiness Checklist