Carbon Neutral Certification: What does it mean?
The rules that mandate carbon-neutral certification are governed internationally by Standards ISO 14040-14044.
While there are many organisations in Australia that are creating logos, trademarks, or 'certifications' that you can purchase, none of these accolades are globally recognised at this point in time. The rules and methods underpinning each of these accreditations are evolving constantly, and that flux is occurring in Australia and at a global level as well. A great deal of work is underway to address the need for globally accepted certification and visibility. Notably the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the European Union (EU) Digital Product Passport (DPP) initiatives are making excellent progress on what this transparency will entail, and those mandates will be affecting trade here in Australia in less than two years.
The only globally accepted and recognised approaches at this point in time are process certifications tied to the rules dictated by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification ISO 14000 series. The WBCSD, DPP, and emerging standards for sustainable mining and steel all retain this fundamental, accepted approach.
Recently, in Australia, carbon neutral certification guidelines have been revised, with the Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor announcing that as of 1 July 2023, organisations that obtain a certification (with annual emissions that are equal to or greater than 1,000 tonnes of CO2-e). The Energy Minister has stated that the "development of an online carbon exchange will support Australian industry by increasing market transparency including pricing, lowering transaction costs and reducing red tape".
Carbon Neutral Certification
The official certification offered by Carbon LCA Certified.
Ultimately, it is the ISO standards that dictate all aspects of environmental management and the processes that flow on from that. The ISO 14000 standards cover the business operations to:
Decrease the environmental impact of operations.
Abide by laws and regulations.
Making improvements.
As ISO has stated, the 14000 family works to:
"(...) act as an internal management tool and as a way of demonstrating a company’s environmental commitment to its customers.”
ISO 14064 was developed to complement the ISO 14000 environmental standard family in order to address emerging environmental issues and its exacerbation through climate change. This emergence in the ISO family pivoted off the lack of international standards for businesses to address environmental concerns, in an effort to redefine quantification of GHG emissions, as well as work to authenticate the reporting.
The following standards are also relevant to organisations looking to manage environmental issues:
ISO 14001 to 14015 relate to Environmental management systems (EMS) by providing guidelines for the implementation of the physical assessment.
· ISO 14020 relates to environmental labels and claims.
· ISO 14031 relates to EMS performance evaluation.
· ISO 14040 to 14049 are the guidelines for life cycle assessments.
· ISO 14050 is the glossary for the 14000 series.
· ISO 14063 deals with environmental communication.
· ISO 14060 is important for quantifying, reporting, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and all processes associated with this.
Specifically, ISO 14064 denotes the international standard for quantifying and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and the GHG inventory.
Why have standards?
Whilst there are many standards more, each organisation that purports to quantify GHG emissions, must do so based on these international standards which are also recognised domestically. There are many other standards, and you can read about them here, all these standards work together in order to assist in the verification and quantification of carbon reporting, which has become integral in facilitating a recognised standards for businesses in environmental practices.
Globally recognised certifications matter
If your organisation cares about the sustainable impact they can make, getting ahead of the Game, brand visibility, and Business promotion and obtaining a globally recognised certification, then it's time to contact us. Click through to our LCA Certification Webpage now, and we'll get you started with a complimentary LCA Scoping session today.
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