Carbon Neutrality to ISO 14068: Climate Claims You Can Defend

What does carbon neutrality consulting to ISO 14068 cover?

Two linked outputs: climate claims you can defend, and the file that proves them. We start with what you already say, check what the rules allow, then build the ISO 14068:2026 demonstration before writing any new claim.

ISO 14068:2026 — Climate change management — Carbon neutrality (formerly ISO 14068-1:2023) is the international standard that, according to iso.org, specifies principles, requirements and guidance for achieving and demonstrating carbon neutrality of organisations and products, including goods, services, buildings and events. It sets a hierarchy: greenhouse gas emission reductions and removal enhancements within the value chain come first; offsetting is used only to counterbalance the footprint that remains. It also includes requirements for carbon neutrality commitments and claims. Published in September 2026, it replaces the withdrawn Part 1 of 2023; iso.org states that only the title and number changed.

How the standard works, the renumbering and the link with PAS 2060 are explained in our ISO 14068 carbon neutrality guide. The EU bans are detailed in our article on Directive 2024/825 and environmental claims. This page describes what we do for you.

Short definitions used below:

• Environmental claim: under Directive (EU) 2024/825, any non-mandatory message or representation (text, image, symbol, label, brand or product name) that states or implies that a product, brand or trader has a positive or no impact on the environment, or less impact than others.
• Residual emissions: the emissions that remain after the reductions implemented on the declared subject.
• Offsetting: using credits from reduction or removal projects outside your value chain to counterbalance residual emissions.
• Removal: taking CO2 out of the atmosphere and storing it (forests, soils, processes), as distinct from an emission reduction.

Which climate claims are still allowed in the EU since 27 September 2026?

Those that describe real, specific and proven performance. Directive (EU) 2024/825 of 28 February 2024, which amends Directives 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU, had to be transposed by 27 March 2026; Member States have applied their measures since 27 September 2026 (Article 4, read on EUR-Lex on 11 November 2026).

The table summarises what we check for a claim aimed at EU consumers. It is not legal advice on your specific case.

Two points. First, point 4c targets a product, whether a good or a service. A "carbon neutral company" claim is not caught word for word, but it remains subject to the general rules on misleading practices, and to point 4b if it only covers part of the business: we advise against it on any medium that reaches consumers. Second, recital 12 allows companies to advertise their investments in carbon credit projects, as long as the information is not misleading.

Where does ISO 14021 fit?

ISO 14021:2026 — Environmental statements and programmes for products — Self-declared environmental claims (formerly ISO 14021:2016, which it replaces together with its 2021 amendment) sets, according to iso.org, principles, requirements and guidance for claims a company makes itself, in words, symbols or graphics, on packaging, literature, advertising or digital platforms, and describes the documentation and methods needed to assess them. We use it to word and document a claim; it never lifts a legal ban.

Are your current claims a problem?

To know, list them all, then identify who really reads them. The same sentence can be fine in an industrial tender and banned on a retail label in Europe.

On the B2B side, customers under the CSRD mostly ask for emissions data and reduction plans, rarely for neutrality: see CSRD, VSME and ESG questionnaires. For packaging, recyclability and recycled-content claims also meet the packaging regulation: see PPWR and packaging.

The three faults we find most often: bought neutrality (credits without a reduction plan, the reverse of the ISO 14068:2026 hierarchy), claims without a subject ("committed to the climate", no scope, no figure) and inherited claims (copied from an old brochure or a customer, with no evidence on file).

How do we build an ISO 14068:2026 demonstration file?

By following the order of the standard: a defined subject, a measured footprint, proven reductions, and only then the treatment of the residual and the declaration. The detailed requirements are in the text of the standard, which ISO sells in English; we work from the copy you buy and do not paraphrase it here.

1. Subject and boundary. Organisation, site, product, range or service: the first decision drives the rest. One treated site does not make a neutral company.
2. Baseline footprint. For an organisation or site: ISO 14064-1:2018 — Greenhouse gases — Part 1: Specification with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals, under revision (draft ISO/WD 14064-1.2 at stage 20.60 on iso.org as of 11 November 2026; the 2018 edition remains current). See carbon footprint to ISO 14064 and our ISO 14064-1 guide. For a product: ISO 14067:2018 — Greenhouse gases — Carbon footprint of products — Requirements and guidelines for quantification, also under revision (ISO/WD 14067.2, stage 20.60). See product carbon footprint to ISO 14067.
3. Reduction first. According to iso.org, ISO 14068 puts continual improvement at the centre: by prioritising reductions and removals, the footprint, and so the reliance on offsetting, decreases over time. We document a plan with levers, expected tonnes avoided, deadlines and owners, then the measured results. Building that plan is covered by our decarbonisation strategy service. In our view, a neutrality declaration only makes sense after at least one measured reduction cycle.
4. Residual and offsetting. What remains is assessed and treated under a written policy (next section). Reductions, in-value-chain removals and purchased credits sit on separate lines.
5. Evidence and declaration. Calculation method, emission factors with source and year, reduction evidence, credit retirement certificates and the draft declaration. According to iso.org, ISO 14068 builds on established standards for greenhouse gas quantification, reporting, validation and verification. Within the ISO family, verification of GHG statements is covered by ISO 14064-3:2019 — Greenhouse gases — Part 3: Specification with guidance for the verification and validation of greenhouse gas statements, and requirements for the bodies by ISO 14065:2020 — General principles and requirements for bodies validating and verifying environmental information. The verification arrangements for a neutrality declaration are read in the text of ISO 14068:2026 and agreed with the body you choose.

How should carbon credits for residual emissions be chosen?

After reduction, never instead of it, and against criteria written before buying. A credit counterbalances a residual tonne; it does not make a product neutral under EU consumer law.

Project quantification relies notably on 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, under revision (ISO/WD 14064-2.2 at stage 20.60 on iso.org as of 11 November 2026; the 2019 edition remains current).

The questions our grid asks of each batch of credits, before checking it against the text of ISO 14068:2026:

• Quantification: does the project follow a recognised, published method, with documented monitoring?
• Verification: were the reductions or removals validated and verified by an independent third party?
• Registry: does each credit carry a serial number, and can it be retired in your name for the declared period?
• Uniqueness: is the same tonne not counted by another entity, including in the value chain?
• Additionality: would the reduction have happened without the project finance?
• Permanence: for a removal, how long is the carbon stored, and what happens in case of reversal?
• Transparency: are vintage, type (reduction or removal) and project location stated in the declaration?

What about carbon credits in Morocco?

Many Moroccan manufacturers prefer domestic projects. For the Article 6.4 mechanism of the Paris Agreement, Morocco’s designated national authority is the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development (UNFCCC list, checked on 11 November 2026); according to Morocco’s NDC 3.0, a national Article 6 framework sets the criteria and procedure for authorisation decisions (activities, entities, transfers of carbon credits), and no Moroccan initial report or authorisation appears yet on the UNFCCC platform. As of 11 November 2026, neither the text of this framework nor a national registry of carbon units is published: according to Morocco’s presentation to the UNFCCC on 9 November 2026, the framework is at its seventh version and the national Article 6 registry is under development; draft law No. 62.25 on climate change and the organisation of the carbon market, which would create a national carbon market registry, is open for public comment on the website of the Secretariat General of the Government. Until these texts are adopted, we draw no conclusion from them.

Carbon neutrality or net zero: which commitment should you display?

The one your plan can deliver. Carbon neutrality is a declaration about a subject and a period that allows the residual to be offset; net zero is a long-term commitment covering all emissions; an SBTi target is a reduction target validated by a third party.

According to iso.org, ISO 14068 sets no requirements on net zero. Targets and pathways are built in our decarbonisation strategy work.

How do you word a climate claim you can defend?

Say exactly what, how much, since when, by which method, and where the evidence is, on the same medium as the message. A good claim can be checked without calling the company.

In practice: a precise subject (the site, the product, the packaging, never "the company" by default), a figure with its base year, a method cited with its edition (ISO 14064-1:2018, ISO 14067:2018, ISO 14068:2026), a clear split between reductions, removals and credits, access to the evidence and a validity period.

The "x" and "[year]" are replaced with your measured data: no figure is written until the evidence exists.

Is your climate claim ready?

Check with marketing, quality, sales and your legal counsel before every print run or publication.

• The claim is in the claims register, with its medium, market and audience (EU consumers or business customers).
  
• Its subject (site, product, component, organisation) is written down, and the message does not go beyond it.
  
• No product claim aimed at EU consumers relies on offsetting.
  
• No generic term ("green", "eco-friendly", "climate friendly") without recognised excellent environmental performance.
  
• No in-house or non-certified sustainability logo.
  
• The footprint follows a standard cited with its current edition (ISO 14064-1:2018, ISO 14067:2018, ISO 14068:2026), never ISO 14068-1:2023.
  
• Reductions are measured and kept separate from removals and credits.
  
• Any credits are retired in your name in a registry for the declared period.
  
• Every future claim points to a detailed plan and an independent third-party expert who verifies it regularly.
  
• Any carbon neutrality declaration is verified by an independent third-party body.
  
• The evidence is accessible on the same medium as the claim, and the next review date is set.
  

What does ACG do, and what does it not do?

ACG supports manufacturers and exporters in Morocco, Africa, the Middle East and Europe on climate claims and carbon neutrality: inventory, review, footprint, reduction plan, demonstration file, wording and training. The firm has delivered 502 projects with 10 in-house consultants and more than 100 qualified external experts, and has trained more than 120,000 people.

We award no label and no "carbon neutral" certificate. Verification of a declaration is the job of an independent third-party body; legal advice on a disputed case belongs to your counsel. Our position does not change: reduce first, claim only what you can demonstrate.

Related pages: the ESG and CSR overview, carbon footprint to ISO 14064, product carbon footprint to ISO 14067 and the food and beverage sector, where packaging claims are most frequent. For team training, see our training catalogue. To have your claims reviewed, tell us about your project.