Project GHG

ISO 14064-2 sets the requirements for quantifying a project's greenhouse gas reductions or removal enhancements. Unlike an organisational inventory, what is measured is not absolute emissions but the DIFFERENCE against the scenario without the project (the baseline). For this reason validation and verification are two separate steps in projects.

The aim is to show, in projects that will generate carbon credits or support a reduction claim, that the reduction is real, measurable and additional.

• Project developers generating carbon credits
• Renewable energy and energy-efficiency investors
• Operators of waste and methane-reduction projects
• Developers of afforestation and carbon-removal projects
• Organisations supplying the voluntary carbon market

• Defining project boundaries and the sources, sinks and reservoirs included
• Establishing and justifying the baseline scenario
• Additionality assessment
• Preparing the monitoring plan: parameters to be measured, frequency, responsibility
• Assessing leakage effects
• The reduction-calculation method and emission factors
• Uncertainty assessment and a conservative approach
• Permanence and reversal risk (in removal projects)
• Separation of the validation and verification stages

• ISO 14064-2
• ISO 14064-3
• ISO 14065
• Voluntary carbon market methodologies

• ISO 14064-2
• ISO 14064-3
• ISO 14065
• Voluntary carbon market methodologies

1. 1Defining the Scope and BoundariesThe organisational boundaries (operational or financial control), the reporting period, the scopes included and the materiality threshold are set out in writing.
2. 2Preparation of the Inventory by the OrganisationThe organisation prepares the inventory report containing its calculation and data sources. The verifier cannot perform that calculation; the impartiality rule does not permit it.
3. 3Strategic Analysis and Risk AssessmentThe risk of misstatement in the data flow is assessed; the sampling plan and the extent of site visits are built on that risk.
4. 4Verification PlanThe level of assurance (limited or reasonable), the materiality threshold, the method of gathering evidence and the site visits are planned.
5. 5Gathering EvidenceData trails are followed back to source: invoices, meter readings, supplier records and production data are checked. Emission factors and the calculation method are verified.
6. 6Site VisitAt selected sites the data collection process is examined on the spot; measurement points and record-keeping arrangements are observed.
7. 7Closing Out the FindingsMisstatements and nonconformities are communicated to the organisation; the report is corrected and the corrections are re-checked.
8. 8Independent Review and StatementAfter a review independent of the verification team, a verification statement is issued that states the level of assurance explicitly.

There are two separate activities in projects and they should not be confused. VALIDATION is done before the project starts and assesses a forward-looking projection — the baseline, additionality, the monitoring plan. VERIFICATION is done after the project has run, confirming the actual reduction against the monitoring report. A carbon credit is usually issued once both are complete.

• Details of the verification body and the verification team
• The organisation verified, the reporting period and the organisational boundaries
• Scopes included and exclusions made
• Standard applied and level of assurance
• Materiality threshold
• The verified total emissions figure and its breakdown by scope
• Summary of the verification activity and the site visits
• Misstatements identified and corrected
• The verification conclusion and the text of the statement

A verification statement belongs solely to the reporting period verified and the organisational boundaries defined; the following year's data requires a new verification. The statement is not a certificate and does not run on a three-year certification cycle. Verification also does not mean that emissions are low or that a target has been met; it shows only that the reported figure has been calculated correctly.

Greenhouse gas verification and validation activities are accredited under ISO 14065; the verification itself is performed to ISO 14064-3 and the competence of verification personnel is defined by ISO 14066. Assurance engagements, by contrast, are governed by assurance standards such as ISAE 3000 and do not fall within accredited certification. In both frameworks the impartiality rule is decisive: the party that performs the calculation cannot verify that same calculation. EUROLAB holds internationally recognised accreditation from accreditation bodies that are signatories to the ILAC and IAF mutual recognition arrangements; which verifications can be offered within accredited scope is confirmed in writing at the quotation stage.

• Organisational GHG
• GHG Verification