Quick Comparison
| ISO 14001 | ISO 14064 | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Environmental management system (EMS) covering all environmental aspects | GHG quantification, reporting, and verification |
| Applicability | Any organization seeking systematic environmental management | Organizations quantifying and reporting GHG emissions |
| Required/Voluntary | Voluntary; certifiable | Voluntary; certifiable (Part 1) and used for verification (Part 3) |
| Geography | Global; 500,000+ certifications worldwide | Global; growing adoption alongside GHG reporting mandates |
| Key Focus | Continuous improvement of environmental performance across all impacts | Accurate measurement and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions |
What is ISO 14001?
ISO 14001 specifies requirements for an environmental management system (EMS) that an organization can use to enhance its environmental performance. First published in 1996 and revised most recently in 2015, it follows the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle and integrates with the ISO High Level Structure shared across management system standards (ISO 9001, ISO 45001, etc.).
The standard requires organizations to identify their environmental aspects and impacts, establish an environmental policy, set objectives and targets, implement operational controls, monitor performance, and conduct management reviews. It covers the full spectrum of environmental issues—air emissions, water discharge, waste management, land contamination, resource consumption, biodiversity—not just greenhouse gases.
ISO 14001 is among the most widely adopted ISO standards, with over 500,000 certifications across 170+ countries. It's frequently required in supply chain procurement (automotive, aerospace, electronics), government contracts, and industry licensing. Certification requires third-party audits by accredited certification bodies, with surveillance audits annually and recertification every three years.
What is ISO 14064?
ISO 14064 is a three-part standard focused exclusively on greenhouse gas emissions. Part 1 covers organizational-level GHG quantification and reporting. Part 2 covers project-level GHG emission reductions. Part 3 provides guidance for validation and verification of GHG assertions. The current version (2018) expanded indirect emission categories to better align with evolving corporate accounting practices.
ISO 14064-1 requires organizations to define their organizational boundary, identify and quantify direct and indirect GHG emissions, document methodologies and assumptions, and prepare a GHG report. The standard is performance-based—it specifies what must be achieved but allows flexibility in how organizations meet the requirements.
ISO 14064-3 serves a distinct role as the verification standard. It's used by accredited verification bodies when providing assurance on GHG inventories, whether those inventories are prepared under ISO 14064-1, GHG Protocol, or regulatory frameworks. The verification credential carries weight with regulators, investors, and procurement teams seeking independent confirmation of emission claims.
Key Differences
1. Scope of coverage. ISO 14001 covers all environmental aspects—water, waste, biodiversity, pollution, resource use, land, noise—plus GHGs. ISO 14064 covers only greenhouse gases. A company with ISO 14001 addresses environmental management broadly; ISO 14064 addresses carbon accounting specifically.
2. System vs. measurement. ISO 14001 is a management system standard—it establishes processes, responsibilities, and continuous improvement cycles. ISO 14064 is a measurement and reporting standard—it specifies how to quantify and report GHG emissions. One builds organizational capability; the other produces a specific output.
3. Structure and approach. ISO 14001 follows PDCA with requirements for policy, planning, support, operation, performance evaluation, and improvement. ISO 14064-1 follows a quantification workflow: boundary setting, emission identification, quantification, reporting. They have fundamentally different architectures.
4. Certification model. ISO 14001 certification covers the management system and is maintained through ongoing surveillance audits. ISO 14064 verification covers a specific GHG report for a specific reporting period. You're certified once to ISO 14001 and maintain it; you verify each GHG report individually under ISO 14064.
5. Stakeholder drivers. ISO 14001 is driven by supply chain requirements, regulatory expectations, and operational risk management. ISO 14064 is driven by climate disclosure mandates, investor expectations, carbon market participation, and science-based target setting. The stakeholder audiences overlap but have distinct priorities.
6. Level of GHG detail. ISO 14001 requires organizations to consider GHG emissions as one of many environmental aspects but doesn't prescribe how to measure them. ISO 14064-1 provides detailed requirements for GHG quantification—emission source identification, calculation methodologies, uncertainty assessment, base year recalculation. If you need a rigorous GHG inventory, ISO 14064 is the standard; ISO 14001 alone is insufficient.
7. Maturity trajectory. Organizations typically implement ISO 14001 first as part of broader environmental management, then add ISO 14064 when GHG-specific accounting and reporting become priorities. The EMS provides the organizational infrastructure (data collection, monitoring, responsibility assignment) that supports GHG accounting.
Which One Do You Need?
If your organization faces broad environmental management requirements—regulatory compliance across multiple environmental media, supply chain certification demands, operational risk management—ISO 14001 is the foundation. It gives you the system to manage environmental performance systematically, including but not limited to GHG emissions.
If your primary driver is climate disclosure, carbon accounting, or science-based targets, ISO 14064 directly addresses those needs. It delivers the GHG inventory that feeds into CDP reporting, SBTi target-setting, CSRD disclosure, and carbon market participation.
Most organizations that are serious about both environmental management and climate action need both. ISO 14001 provides the management system backbone. ISO 14064 provides the GHG accounting rigor. Together, they cover the full spectrum from operational environmental management to investor-grade carbon disclosure.
Can You Use Both?
They're designed to complement each other. ISO 14001's environmental management system creates the organizational infrastructure—procedures, responsibilities, data flows, monitoring—that ISO 14064's GHG accounting requires. Implementing both simultaneously or sequentially is efficient because the data collection and management review processes overlap.
An integrated approach works well: use ISO 14001 as the management framework for all environmental aspects, with ISO 14064-1 as the detailed methodology for the GHG-specific component. Your ISO 14001 environmental aspects register identifies GHG sources; ISO 14064 tells you exactly how to quantify them. Your ISO 14001 monitoring program collects activity data; ISO 14064 converts it to emission figures.
Many accredited certification bodies offer integrated audits covering both standards, reducing audit fatigue and costs. The ISO High Level Structure (Annex SL) that underlies ISO 14001 facilitates integration with other management systems your organization may operate.
Council Fire's Perspective
We see ISO 14001 and ISO 14064 as different layers of the same capability stack. ISO 14001 is your environmental operating system—it ensures you have the processes, accountability, and improvement cycles to manage environmental performance. ISO 14064 is the application layer for GHG accounting—it runs on top of that operating system to produce the carbon data your stakeholders increasingly demand.
Organizations that jump straight to ISO 14064 without the management system foundation often struggle with data quality, consistency, and year-over-year improvement. Those that have ISO 14001 but haven't added ISO 14064 are missing the specific GHG rigor that climate-focused stakeholders require. We help clients build both layers in the right sequence for their context.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can ISO 14001 certification substitute for ISO 14064 verification?
No. ISO 14001 certifies that your environmental management system meets the standard's requirements. It does not verify the accuracy of your GHG inventory. If stakeholders need assurance on your carbon numbers—and increasingly they do—you need ISO 14064-3 verification specifically.
Do I need ISO 14001 before implementing ISO 14064?
No, there's no prerequisite relationship. Many organizations implement ISO 14064 without ISO 14001, particularly when the immediate driver is climate disclosure rather than broad environmental management. However, having an EMS in place makes GHG accounting easier and more reliable.
How do the costs compare?
ISO 14001 certification for a mid-sized company typically costs $10,000-30,000 for initial certification plus $5,000-15,000 annually for surveillance audits. ISO 14064-1 verification costs $15,000-50,000 per reporting period. The total investment is moderate relative to the credibility and operational benefits delivered.
Which standard do investors care about more?
Investors focused on climate risk and transition planning prioritize ISO 14064 (or equivalent GHG accounting rigor). Investors focused on operational risk management and regulatory compliance value ISO 14001. ESG-focused investors increasingly expect evidence of both capabilities.
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