The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has released a set of standards to determine the skill set and evaluate the competence of the teams responsible for verifying greenhouse gas emissions.

The product, ISO 14066: 2011 “Greenhouse gases – Competence requirements for greenhouse gas validation teams and verification teams,” is one of several standards released by ISO for addressing climate change and supporting emissions trading schemes. The guideline is intended to achieve consistency in the global carbon market and maintain public confidence in GHG reporting and other communications.

More organizations are eager to demonstrate their efforts to inventory, report, and reduce GHG emissions, but because the process is complicated, and missteps and inaccuracies can have ramifications for the business, many of these organizations are turning to third-party bodies to validate and verify emission assertions.

ISO 14066 is the latest document to address climate change and GHG emissions. Other products include ISO 14064, a three-part standard developed in 2006 for assessing GHG emission reduction projects in either voluntary or regulatory schemes, and ISO 14065, which gives accreditation requirements for organizations that validate or verify resulting GHG emission assertions or claims.