# ISO 14064 Markdown version of https://bluegreenmaterials.com/en/iso-14064. Updated on 2026-11-12. ISO 14064 is the series of international standards for quantifying, reporting and verifying greenhouse gases (GHG). Part 1 covers an organization's inventory, part 2 projects that reduce emissions and part 3 the validation and verification of those figures. It is GHG programme neutral: if a programme applies, such as Mexico's National Emissions Registry, its requirements are added to those of the standard[^iso-14064]. ## The three parts of ISO 14064 | Part | What it is for | What it produces | | --- | --- | --- | | ISO 14064-1:2018 | Quantifying and reporting the emissions and removals of an **organization**, with requirements to design, manage, report and verify its inventory[^iso-14064] | The GHG inventory and report | | ISO 14064-2:2019 | Quantifying, monitoring and reporting the emission reductions or removal enhancements of a **project**, against a baseline scenario[^iso14064-parte2] | The project's reductions | | ISO 14064-3:2019 | **Validating and verifying** GHG statements of organizations, projects and products[^iso14064-parte3] | The verifier's or validator's opinion | 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 work[^iso-14064]. The current edition of part 1 is from 2018: ISO confirmed it in 2024 and is already working on its revision[^iso-14064]. In Mexico, the three parts were adopted in 2007 as NMX-SAA-14064/1, /2 and /3-IMNC-2007, identical to the 2006 international edition[^iso14064-nmx]. ## 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 five[^iso-14064]: - **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. > The regulation of Mexico's National Emissions Registry does not cite ISO 14064, but it requires the verification report to attest to the relevance, completeness, consistency, transparency and precision of the reports: the same five principles under other names[^iso14064-rene]. ## How a company in Mexico uses it 1. **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 detail[^iso-14064]. 2. **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 for[^iso-14064]. 3. **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 included[^iso-14064]. 4. **Quantify**: You identify sources and sinks, choose the data and the calculation model, calculate and set a base year[^iso-14064]. 5. **Look after data quality**: The standard asks you to manage the information, keep documents and records and assess uncertainty[^iso-14064]. 6. **Report and, if needed, verify**: The report has required, recommended and optional content. Verification is done by a third party under ISO 14064-3[^iso14064-parte3]. ## 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 together[^iso14064-ghgp-2007]. 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 standards[^iso14064-ghgp-2025]. 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 operations[^ghg-scope3]. See [scope 3: waste and recycling](https://bluegreenmaterials.com/en/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)[^iso14064-rene]. - 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 emissions[^iso14064-rene]. - Accreditation and approval follow the standardization law, with SEMARNAT and PROFEPA on the accreditation committee[^iso14064-rene]. - PROFEPA publishes the requirements to approve those bodies; among them, their number and date of accreditation by ema and their accreditation in the RENE sectors[^iso14064-profepa]. - Mitigation projects that seek registration need a **validation report** (dictamen de validación), which attests to the reduction achieved[^iso14064-rene]. 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](https://bluegreenmaterials.com/en/mexico-national-emissions-registry-rene). ## 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 outcomes[^iso14064-parte3]. 1. **Pre-engagement**: The type of engagement, level of assurance, objectives, criteria, scope and materiality thresholds are set[^iso14064-parte3]. 2. **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 needed[^iso14064-parte3]. 3. **Execution**: It tests the data both ways: from the reported figure down to the primary data, and from the primary data up to the figure[^iso14064-parte3]. 4. **Independent review**: A competent person who was not on the team reviews the work and its conclusions[^iso14064-parte3]. 5. **Opinion and report**: The verifier issues an opinion on the statement and delivers a report[^iso14064-parte3]. > The standard also has an annex for limited assurance verifications and another for agreed-upon procedures, an engagement in which no opinion is issued[^iso14064-parte3]. ISO 14065 is the basis for accrediting the bodies that validate and verify[^iso-14064]. In Mexico, ema accredits GHG validation and verification bodies[^iso14001-ema]. ## 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 method[^ghg-scope3]. - **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 assumptions[^ghg-scope3]. See [avoided emissions](https://bluegreenmaterials.com/en/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 report[^iso14064-parte3]. - **For accuracy** a real scale weight beats an estimate: it reduces bias and uncertainty[^iso-14064]. The Bluegreen certificate follows the quantification principles of ISO 14064-1 and the ISO 14083 method to subtract transport[^metodologia-iso14083]. 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](https://bluegreenmaterials.com/en/impact-methodology) and [what a recycling certificate should include](https://bluegreenmaterials.com/en/recycling-certificate). > **Following a standard is not being certified** Anyone can apply a standard's method. Being certified or verified is something else: it is done by an accredited body and recorded in its opinion, its report or its certificate. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is ISO 14064? A series of ISO standards for quantifying, reporting, validating and verifying greenhouse gases: part 1 for organizations, part 2 for projects and part 3 for validation and verification[^iso-14064]. ### What is the difference between ISO 14064-1 and the GHG Protocol? ISO 14064-1 sets what an inventory must meet; the GHG Protocol also explains how to do it. They were designed to be used together[^iso14064-ghgp-2007]. ### Is ISO 14064 mandatory in Mexico? Not in itself: it is a reference standard. What is mandatory for establishments emitting 25,000 tonnes of CO₂e or more per year is reporting to RENE, with a verification report every 3 years[^iso14064-rene]. ### Who can verify a GHG inventory? A competent and impartial verifier, following ISO 14064-3[^iso14064-parte3]. For RENE, an accredited and approved body[^iso14064-rene]. ### What is the difference between validation and verification? You verify what already happened: historical data. You validate what is projected: the assumptions and methods behind future outcomes[^iso14064-parte3]. ### Which edition is current? ISO 14064-1:2018, which ISO confirmed in 2024 and is revising[^iso-14064]. Parts 2 and 3 are from 2019[^iso14064-parte2][^iso14064-parte3]. ### Can I subtract the CO₂ my recycling avoids from my inventory? No. Avoided emissions are reported separately, without adding them to or deducting them from scope 3[^ghg-scope3]. ### Is Bluegreen certified to ISO 14064? No. Its certificate follows the principles of ISO 14064-1, but Bluegreen holds no ISO certification and no third party verification. See [the methodology](https://bluegreenmaterials.com/en/impact-methodology). ## Sources [^iso-14064]: International Organization for Standardization (ISO), «ISO 14064-1:2018 Greenhouse gases, Part 1» (2018). https://www.iso.org/standard/66453.html [^iso14064-parte2]: International Organization for Standardization (ISO), «ISO 14064-2:2019 Greenhouse gases, Part 2: Specification with guidance at the project level for quantification, monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removal enhancements» (2019). https://www.iso.org/standard/66454.html [^iso14064-parte3]: International Organization for Standardization (ISO), «ISO 14064-3:2019 Greenhouse gases, Part 3: Specification with guidance for the verification and validation of greenhouse gas statements» (2019). https://www.iso.org/standard/66455.html [^iso14064-nmx]: Diario Oficial de la Federación, «Declaratoria de vigencia de las normas mexicanas NMX-SAA-14064/1-IMNC-2007, NMX-SAA-14064/2-IMNC-2007 y NMX-SAA-14064/3-IMNC-2007 (DOF 15 de octubre de 2007)» (2007). https://dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5003559&fecha=15/10/2007 [^iso14064-rene]: Cámara de Diputados, leyes federales vigentes, «Reglamento de la Ley General de Cambio Climático en materia del Registro Nacional de Emisiones, arts. 2, 6, 16, 17 y 19» (2014). https://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/regley/Reg_LGCC_MRNE_281014.pdf [^iso14064-ghgp-2007]: International Organization for Standardization (ISO), «ISO, WRI and WBCSD announce cooperation on greenhouse gas accounting and verification» (2007). https://www.iso.org/news/2007/12/Ref1093.html [^iso14064-ghgp-2025]: International Organization for Standardization (ISO), «ISO and GHG Protocol announce strategic partnership to deliver unified global standards for greenhouse gas emissions accounting» (2025). https://www.iso.org/news/2025/09/iso-and-ghgp-partnership [^ghg-scope3]: GHG Protocol (WRI and WBCSD), «Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions, version 1.0, category 5» (2013). https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/2023-03/Scope3_Calculation_Guidance_0%5B1%5D.pdf [^iso14064-profepa]: Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente (PROFEPA), «Requisitos para aprobación de Organismos de Certificación para la Verificación de Emisiones de Gases o Compuestos de Efecto Invernadero» (2024). https://www.gob.mx/cms/uploads/attachment/file/879544/Requisitos__OC-V-GEI_2024.pdf [^iso14001-ema]: Entidad Mexicana de Acreditación (ema), «¿Qué es ema?» (2026). https://www.ema.org.mx/portal_v3/index.php/que-es-ema [^metodologia-iso14083]: International Organization for Standardization (ISO), «ISO 14083:2023 Greenhouse gases. Quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions arising from transport chain operations» (2023). https://www.iso.org/standard/78864.html