In 2020, President Xi Jinping formally announced that China will strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. China’s commitment has greatly raised global attention to climate change. Amid the worldwide trend of low-carbon concepts, the term "carbon footprint" has attracted extensive attention. As an indicator representing greenhouse gas emissions, this concept has been adopted by research institutions to identify and assess product carbon emissions. Internationally, governments and relevant institutions of various countries have carried out research on carbon footprint assessment methodologies and successively formulated standards or specifications for carbon footprint evaluation. Based on carbon footprint assessment, carbon footprint certification is also continuously developing.

What is Carbon Footprint

It generally refers to all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a product throughout its life cycle, namely GHG emissions at all stages ranging from raw materials to production (or service provision), distribution, use and disposal/recycling. Product carbon footprint accounting covers six types of greenhouse gases subject to emission reduction requirements under the Kyoto Protocol: carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆).

Overview of ISO 14067 Product Carbon Footprint Verification Service

In August 2018, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) issued ISO 14067:2018 Greenhouse gases — Carbon footprint of products — Requirements and guidelines for quantification. This standard replaced the technical specification ISO/TS 14067:2013 and was upgraded to a formal international standard. ISO 14067:2018 is an internationally recognized ISO standard for quantifying product carbon footprints. It specifies principles, requirements and guidelines for quantifying and reporting the product carbon footprint (CFP), consistent with international life cycle assessment (LCA) standards (ISO 14040 and ISO 14044). It provides unified specifications for the business community to evaluate product carbon emissions and serves as an effective tool to promote the evaluation of green goods or services.