ISO 14068 Carbon Neutrality Guide (formerly ISO 14068-1)

What is the ISO 14068 carbon neutrality standard?

ISO 14068:2026 — Climate change management — Carbon neutrality (formerly ISO 14068-1:2023) is the international standard on how to achieve and demonstrate the carbon neutrality of an organization or a product. ISO published it in September 2026, and it replaces the 2023 Part 1, now withdrawn.

According to its page on iso.org, ISO 14068 “specifies principles, requirements and guidance” for achieving and demonstrating carbon neutrality. It provides a standardized approach to quantifying, reducing and offsetting the carbon footprint of organizations and products in the broad sense: goods, services, buildings and events. It also includes requirements for carbon neutrality commitments and claims.

Under the standard, carbon neutrality is not something you buy. It is the outcome of a process: a measured footprint, a documented reduction effort and offsetting limited to what remains.

ISO 14068-1:2023 vs ISO 14068:2026: what changed?

Only the number and the title. The iso.org note is explicit: this edition “only contains a change to the title and number and the rest of the content is the same”.

The 2023 title placed carbon neutrality inside a “Transition to net zero” series, as its Part 1. The 2026 title makes it a stand-alone standard, consistent with the iso.org position that carbon neutrality and net zero are distinct concepts (see below).

In practice:

• Documents (climate policy, customer specifications, claims, verification reports) should now cite ISO 14068:2026. A reference to ISO 14068-1:2023 should be updated, never presented as current.
• Technical work already done under Part 1 remains usable, since the content has not changed.
• Transition rules for claims and verifications in progress are not published on iso.org. The standard’s foreword, readable in the free preview, only states that this first edition cancels and replaces ISO 14068-1:2023, of which it is a minor revision: the title has been updated and the part number removed. For a claim already verified under ISO 14068-1:2023, confirm the approach with the verification body and its accreditation body.

What about PAS 2060?

PAS 2060 was the specification published by BSI, the UK national standards body, for demonstrating carbon neutrality. Its shop page lists it as withdrawn on 1 December 2025 (checked on 11 November 2026), and BSI describes ISO 14068-1 as built from the principles of PAS 2060. A programme started today relies on ISO 14068:2026.

How does carbon neutrality work under ISO 14068?

Through a strict hierarchy: first reduce emissions and enhance removals within the value chain, then offset only the footprint that remains. As iso.org puts it, offsetting addresses the remaining carbon footprint after these actions; it does not replace efforts to reduce emissions or enhance removals.

Step 1: define what is declared neutral

Every claim covers a precise subject: the whole organization, one site, a product range, a service. This is the first decision and the most sensitive one. Declaring “the company” neutral when only one plant has been addressed is misleading. Directive (EU) 2024/825 also bans presenting an environmental claim as covering the entire product or business when it only concerns one aspect or activity.

The free iso.org preview (introduction and scope) states that the standard applies to “subjects”: organizations, including companies, local authorities and financial institutions, and products, goods or services, including buildings and events. It is not intended for territories (regions, countries, states, cities). A carbon neutrality claim is defined as a public declaration made by an entity regarding the carbon neutrality of the subject. The public table of contents devotes Clause 7 to the selection of the subject and its boundary, and Annex B to additional requirements for organizations, products and events, and financial institutions; those requirements are in the paid text.

Step 2: quantify the carbon footprint

No neutrality without measurement. iso.org notes that ISO 14068 builds on established standards for greenhouse gas quantification, reporting, validation and verification. For an organization, the reference is 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. It is under revision (draft ISO/WD 14064-1.2 at stage 20.60 on iso.org as of 11 November 2026); the 2018 edition remains in force. See our carbon footprint ISO 14064 service page and our ISO 14064-1 requirements guide.

For a product, quantification relies on the product carbon footprint over its life cycle (ISO 14067).

Step 3: reduce first, within the value chain

This is the core of the standard. ISO 14068 puts continual improvement at the centre: by prioritizing reductions and removal enhancements, it helps organizations follow a pathway along which their footprint, and therefore their reliance on offsetting, decreases over time (iso.org). Both direct and indirect reductions count: kilns and boilers, but also purchased electricity, materials and transport.

A credible reduction plan lists levers, expected tonnes avoided, deadlines and owners. The method is set out on our decarbonisation strategy page.

The carbon neutrality management plan is the subject of Clause 9 of the standard. The public table of contents lists the content of the plan, ambition, evaluation and revision of the plan, and documented information; Annex D deals with ambition. The definitions published in the free preview add two points: the reporting period, typically a year, is specified in this plan, and carbon credits are only used after the emission reductions and removal enhancements set out in the plan. The required content of the plan is in the paid text.

Step 4: offset the residual footprint

Offsetting comes last, for the footprint left after reductions. It takes the form of credits from reduction or removal projects outside the value chain. Quantification of such projects falls notably under 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, also under revision (ISO/WD 14064-2.2, stage 20.60).

Clause 11 of the standard, “Offsetting the carbon footprint”, contains, according to the public table of contents, criteria for carbon credits (11.2) and criteria for carbon crediting programmes (11.3). The definition of “carbon neutral”, published in the free preview, states that credits used for offsetting must meet these criteria. Their content is in the paid text of ISO 14068:2026: read them there before choosing credits.

Step 5: claim and have it verified

The standard covers the carbon neutrality commitment and then the claim. To be credible, the claim is verified by an independent third-party body. ACG prepares the file; it does not verify and issues no label.

ISO 14068:2026 lists ISO 14064-3, the standard for the verification and validation of GHG statements, among its normative references, and devotes its last two clauses to the carbon neutrality report (Clause 12) and carbon neutrality claims (Clause 13). The forms of verification it allows are set out in the paid text; the free iso.org preview does not show them.

Carbon neutrality, net zero, SBTi targets: what is the difference?

Carbon neutrality allows the residual footprint to be offset; net zero describes, in iso.org’s words, a world where emissions are reduced to the minimum and balanced by removals; an SBTi target is a reduction target validated by the SBTi. iso.org says it plainly for ISO 14068: it sets no requirements or recommendations for net zero.

The four frameworks European buyers cite most often, as of 11 November 2026:

Three points for an industrial company in Morocco or elsewhere in Africa:

• IWA 42:2022, launched at COP27, is an ISO International Workshop Agreement. According to iso.org, it provides a common definition of net zero and related terms (removals, offsetting, value chain), high-level principles, and guidance on getting there as soon as possible, by 2050 at the very latest.
• ISO/DIS 14060 will replace IWA 42: iso.org shows it at stage 40.60 as of 11 November 2026. We announce neither its content nor its publication date.
• The SBTi: according to the SBTi, validation against V2.0 opens in the first quarter of 2027, with a choice between V2.0 and V1.3.1 during the transition; from 1 February 2028, every new submission follows V2.0. Target setting is covered on our decarbonisation strategy page.

In short, a company can pursue carbon neutrality for a product or a site under ISO 14068:2026 and, in parallel, set an SBTi reduction target for its whole business. One does not replace the other.

What do EU rules say about “carbon neutral” claims?

They ban, in consumer marketing in the EU, any offset-based claim that a product has a “neutral”, “reduced” or “positive” greenhouse gas impact. Directive (EU) 2024/825 of 28 February 2024, which amends Directives 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU to empower consumers for the green transition, has applied since 27 September 2026.

Article 4 sets the timetable: Member States had to adopt and publish their measures by 27 March 2026 and apply them from 27 September 2026. Three rules bear directly on carbon neutrality (text read on EUR-Lex on 11 November 2026):

Recital 12 of the Directive gives examples of the claims concerned: “climate neutral”, “CO2 neutral certified”, “carbon positive”, “climate net zero”, “climate compensated”, “reduced climate impact” and “limited CO2 footprint”. It says such claims should only be allowed when based on the actual life-cycle impact of the product, not on offsetting outside the product’s value chain. It adds that the ban does not prevent companies from advertising their investments in environmental initiatives, including carbon credit projects, provided the information is not misleading.

And ISO 14021?

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 the rules for environmental claims a company makes about its own products. Published in June 2026, it is the reference for wording and substantiating a self-declared claim. It does not lift a legal ban: a claim that follows a standard is still prohibited if the Directive prohibits it.

What does this mean for an exporter in Morocco or Africa?

It depends on who reads the claim. If it reaches an EU consumer, on packaging, an online shop or an advertisement, Directive (EU) 2024/825 applies, including when the product is made in Morocco. If it stays in a business-to-business exchange, it is mainly governed by your customer’s contractual requirements.

Two frequent mistakes:

1. Buying credits to “become neutral” without a reduction plan. This runs against the logic of ISO 14068, which puts reduction first, and it is exactly what the Directive bans from product marketing.
2. Copying a customer’s claim. Your European customer has its own constraints. A sentence acceptable in a business report can be banned on consumer packaging.

On the value-chain side, customers subject to the CSRD mostly ask for emissions data and reduction plans, rarely for neutrality: see our CSRD, VSME and ESG questionnaires page.

How do you prepare an ISO 14068 programme without greenwashing risk?

By reversing the usual order: measurement and reduction first, the claim last, and only if it can be demonstrated. In our view, a claim only makes sense after at least one measured reduction cycle.

The method we follow:

1. Choose the subject of the claim: site, product, range or organization, with a written boundary.
2. Calculate the footprint under ISO 14064-1:2018 (organization) or over the life cycle (product), with emission factors whose source and year are traced.
3. Build the reduction plan: levers quantified in tonnes of CO2e, deadlines, owners, resources.
4. Implement and measure: compare planned and actual results every year.
5. Assess the residual footprint and only then address offsetting and credit quality.
6. Draft the claim and have it verified by an independent third-party body.
7. Review every public message against Directive (EU) 2024/825 and ISO 14021:2026.

Checklist: before any climate claim

• The subject of the claim (site, product, organization) is defined in writing, and the message does not go beyond it.
  
• The footprint is calculated under a standard cited with its edition (ISO 14064-1:2018, ISO 14068:2026), not ISO 14068-1:2023.
  
• A reduction plan exists, with measurable, time-bound targets, allocated resources and an owner.
  
• Achieved reductions are measured and kept separate from removals and purchased credits.
  
• No product claim aimed at EU consumers relies on offsetting (point 4c of Annex I to Directive 2005/29/EC).
  
• Any future promise (“neutral by 2030”, “net zero by 2040”) is backed by a detailed plan regularly verified by an independent third-party expert.
  
• No generic term (“green”, “climate friendly”, “low carbon”) is used without demonstrated performance.
  
• Carbon neutrality, net zero and SBTi targets are not confused.
  
• No reference to ISO/DIS 14060 is presented as conformity: the text is not published.
  
• The neutrality claim is verified by an independent third-party body, and the report is available.
  
• Your legal team or your European customer has reviewed messages intended for the EU market.