ISO 14064

The three parts of ISO 14064

They come with ISO 14065, which sets the requirements for bodies that validate and verify and serves as the basis for accrediting them, and ISO 14066, on the competence of the teams that do that work¹.

The current edition of part 1 is from 2018: ISO confirmed it in 2024 and is already working on its revision¹. In Mexico, the three parts were adopted in 2007 as NMX-SAA-14064/1, /2 and /3-IMNC-2007, identical to the 2006 international edition⁴.

The five principles

Part 1 says that applying its principles is what makes GHG information a true and fair account, and that they guide all of its requirements. There are five¹:

• Relevance

  Select the sources, sinks, data and methodologies that the intended user of the information needs.

• Completeness

  Include all relevant emissions and removals.

• Consistency

  Enable meaningful comparisons in GHG information.

• Accuracy

  Reduce bias and uncertainty as far as is practical.

• Transparency

  Disclose sufficient and appropriate information for users to make decisions with reasonable confidence.

How a company in Mexico uses it

1. 01

   Decide what for and for whom

   The standard calls whoever makes decisions with your inventory the intended user: your management, a customer, a GHG programme, a regulator or the financial community. That use sets the level of detail¹.

2. 02

   Set the organizational boundaries

   You consolidate the emissions of your facilities by control, operational or financial, or by equity share, using the approach the intended use calls for¹.

3. 03

   Set the reporting boundaries

   You separate direct and indirect emissions. The 2018 edition sorts indirect emissions into five categories so more of the value chain is included¹.

4. 04

   Quantify

   You identify sources and sinks, choose the data and the calculation model, calculate and set a base year¹.

5. 05

   Look after data quality

   The standard asks you to manage the information, keep documents and records and assess uncertainty¹.

6. 06

   Report and, if needed, verify

   The report has required, recommended and optional content. Verification is done by a third party under ISO 14064-3³.

ISO 14064 and the GHG Protocol

They do not compete. When ISO and the GHG Protocol (from WRI and WBCSD) agreed to cooperate in 2007 they put it this way: ISO 14064 says what needs to be done to account for and verify GHG, and the GHG Protocol also explains how to do it. They are designed to be used together⁶.

In September 2025 they announced a partnership to harmonize the ISO 1406X family with the GHG Protocol Corporate, Scope 2 and Scope 3 standards into co-branded standards⁷.

For recycling, the GHG Protocol is the one that spells out where it goes: what a company sends for recycling falls in scope 3 category 5, waste generated in operations⁸. See scope 3: waste and recycling.

ISO 14064 and Mexico's National Emissions Registry

In Mexico, the reporting establishments whose direct and indirect emissions add up to 25,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent or more per year report to the National Emissions Registry (RENE)⁵.

• Every 3 years, the report comes with a verification report (dictamen de verificación) from an accredited and approved body, which reviews the previous year's emissions⁵.
• Accreditation and approval follow the standardization law, with SEMARNAT and PROFEPA on the accreditation committee⁵.
• PROFEPA publishes the requirements to approve those bodies; among them, their number and date of accreditation by ema and their accreditation in the RENE sectors⁹.
• Mitigation projects that seek registration need a validation report (dictamen de validación), which attests to the reduction achieved⁵.

Keeping the inventory on ISO 14064-1 principles helps you reach the verification with your data, methods and documents in order. See the National Emissions Registry.

How verification works

ISO 14064-3 separates two kinds of work. Verification evaluates historical data: whether a statement is materially correct and conforms to its criteria. Validation evaluates the assumptions, limitations and methods behind a statement about future outcomes³.

1. 01

   Pre-engagement

   The type of engagement, level of assurance, objectives, criteria, scope and materiality thresholds are set³.

2. 02

   Planning

   The team carries out a strategic analysis and a risk assessment, and builds the verification plan and the evidence-gathering plan, with site visits where needed³.

3. 03

   Execution

   It tests the data both ways: from the reported figure down to the primary data, and from the primary data up to the figure³.

4. 04

   Independent review

   A competent person who was not on the team reviews the work and its conclusions³.

5. 05

   Opinion and report

   The verifier issues an opinion on the statement and delivers a report³.

ISO 14065 is the basis for accrediting the bodies that validate and verify¹. In Mexico, ema accredits GHG validation and verification bodies¹⁰.

Where a recycling certificate fits

If your company sends scrap for recycling, the certificate for each lot is activity data with its evidence: material, net scale weight, date and destination, with documents a verifier can trace.

• Inside the inventory go the emissions of your waste. The GHG Protocol places what you send for recycling in scope 3 category 5 and recommends the recycled content method⁸.
• Outside the inventory go avoided emissions: they are neither added nor deducted, but may be reported separately with the evidence, method, sources, boundaries, period and assumptions⁸. See avoided emissions.
• For verification it helps that every figure leads to a primary document, because that is how a data point is tested: from the report to the source and from the source to the report³.
• For accuracy a real scale weight beats an estimate: it reduces bias and uncertainty¹.

The Bluegreen certificate follows the quantification principles of ISO 14064-1 and the ISO 14083 method to subtract transport¹¹. Bluegreen holds no ISO certification and no third party verification, and its current factor set is preliminary, so its certificates are not presented as verified. See the methodology and what a recycling certificate should include.