prEN ISO 14020

Environmental statements and programmes for products - Principles and general requirements (ISO/DIS 14020:2022)

This document establishes principles and specifies general requirements that are applicable to all types of product-related environmental statements and environmental statement programmes. Environmental statements result from environmental statement programmes and include self-declared environmental claims, ecolabels, environmental product declarations (EPDs) and footprint communications.
This document is intended to be used in conjunction with other standards in the ISO 14020 family.
NOTE      Those other standards contain additional terms and definitions, principles and requirements that are relevant to their specific scopes.

Umwelterklärungen und -programme für Produkte – Grundsätze und allgemeine Anforderungen (ISO/DIS 14020:2022)

Déclarations environnementales et programmes pour les produits - Principes et exigences générales (ISO/DIS 14020:2022)

Okoljske izjave in programi za proizvode - Načela in splošne zahteve (ISO/DIS 14020:2022)

General Information

• Status: Not Published
• ICS: 13.020.50 - Ecolabelling
• Technical Committee: CEN/SS S26 - Environmental Management
• Directive: 765/2008 - REGULATION (EC) No 765/2008 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 9 July 2008 setting out the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance relating to the marketing of products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 339/93
• Mandate: M/580 - Standardisation request to the European Committee for Standardisation and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation in the area of accreditation and conformity assessment
• Ref Project: oSIST prEN ISO 14020:2022 - Environmental statements and programmes for products - Principles and general requirements (ISO/DIS 14020:2022)

RELATIONS

• Revised: EN ISO 14020:2001 - Environmental labels and declarations - General principles (ISO 14020:2000)
• Effective Date: 02-Oct-2019

Standards Content (sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
oSIST prEN ISO 14020:2022
01-junij-2022
Okoljske izjave in programi za proizvode - Načela in splošne zahteve (ISO/DIS
14020:2022)
Environmental statements and programmes for products - Principles and general
requirements (ISO/DIS 14020:2022)
Umwelterklärungen und -programme für Produkte – Grundsätze und allgemeine
Anforderungen (ISO/DIS 14020:2022)
Déclarations environnementales et programmes pour les produits - Principes et
exigences générales (ISO/DIS 14020:2022)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN ISO 14020
ICS:
13.020.50 Označevanje z ekološko Ecolabelling
nalepko
oSIST prEN ISO 14020:2022 en

2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

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oSIST prEN ISO 14020:2022
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oSIST prEN ISO 14020:2022
DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD
ISO/DIS 14020
ISO/TC 207/SC 3 Secretariat: SA
Voting begins on: Voting terminates on:
2022-03-28 2022-06-20
Environmental statements and programmes for products -
Principles and general requirements
ICS: 13.020.50
This document is circulated as received from the committee secretariat.
THIS DOCUMENT IS A DRAFT CIRCULATED
FOR COMMENT AND APPROVAL. IT IS
ISO/CEN PARALLEL PROCESSING
THEREFORE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND MAY
NOT BE REFERRED TO AS AN INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD UNTIL PUBLISHED AS SUCH.
IN ADDITION TO THEIR EVALUATION AS
BEING ACCEPTABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL,
TECHNOLOGICAL, COMMERCIAL AND
USER PURPOSES, DRAFT INTERNATIONAL
STANDARDS MAY ON OCCASION HAVE TO
BE CONSIDERED IN THE LIGHT OF THEIR
POTENTIAL TO BECOME STANDARDS TO
WHICH REFERENCE MAY BE MADE IN
Reference number
NATIONAL REGULATIONS.
ISO/DIS 14020:2022(E)
RECIPIENTS OF THIS DRAFT ARE INVITED
TO SUBMIT, WITH THEIR COMMENTS,
NOTIFICATION OF ANY RELEVANT PATENT
RIGHTS OF WHICH THEY ARE AWARE AND TO
PROVIDE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION. © ISO 2022
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oSIST prEN ISO 14020:2022
ISO/DIS 14020:2022(E)
COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO 2022

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may

be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on

the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below

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ISO copyright office
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Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
© ISO 2022 – All rights reserved
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oSIST prEN ISO 14020:2022
ISO/DIS 14020:2022(E)
Contents Page

Foreword ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................v

Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. vi

1 Scope ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1

2 Normative references ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

3 Terms and definitions .................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

3.1 Terms and definitions related to the environment ................................................................................................ 2

3.2 Terms and definitions related to environmental statements ....................................................................... 2

3.3 Terms and definition related to programmes ............................................................................................................ 5

3.4 Terms and definitions related to life cycle .................................................................................................................... 6

3.5 Terms and definitions related to conformity assessment of environmental

statements .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 6

4 Principles ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

4.1 General ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

4.2 Credibility ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

4.2.1 Principle ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

4.2.2 Rationale .................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

4.3 Evidence based methodology .................................................................................................................................................... 7

4.3.1 Principle ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

4.3.2 Rationale .................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

4.4 Transparency and availability .................................................................................................................................................. 8

4.4.1 Principle ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

4.4.2 Rationale .................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

4.5 Confidentiality ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 8

4.5.1 Principle ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

4.5.2 Rationale .................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

4.6 Life cycle perspective ....................................................................................................................................................................... 8

4.6.1 Principle ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

4.6.2 Rationale .................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

4.7 Environmental performance improvement and innovation .......................................................................... 9

4.7.1 Principle ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

4.7.2 Rationale .................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

4.8 Accessibility and avoidance of unnecessary information and administrative

demands ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

4.8.1 Principle ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

4.8.2 Rationale .................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

4.9 Interested parties and consultation .................................................................................................................................... 9

4.9.1 Principle ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

4.9.2 Rationale ................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

4.10 Voluntary .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

4.10.1 Principle .................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

4.10.2 Rationale ................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

4.11 Regionality .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

4.11.1 Principle .................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

4.11.2 Rationale ................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

5 Types of environmental statements ............................................................................................................................................10

5.1 General ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 10

5.2 Self-declared environmental claim ................................................................................................................................... 11

5.3 Ecolabel ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

5.4 Environmental product declaration ................................................................................................................................. 11

5.5 Footprint communication .......................................................................................................................................................... 11

5.6 Other types of environmental statement .................................................................................................................... 11

6 General requirements for environmental statement programmes ...........................................................12

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oSIST prEN ISO 14020:2022
ISO/DIS 14020:2022(E)

6.1 Environmental statement programme ..........................................................................................................................12

6.2 Environmental statement programme owner and operator .....................................................................13

6.3 Involvement of interested parties ...................................................................................................................................... 14

6.4 Scope of programme, responsible parties and intended audiences ..................................................... 14

6.5 Specified requirements and criteria ................................................................................................................................ 14

6.6 Quantification methodologies, data quality and reporting ......................................................................... 15

6.7 Conformity assessment ...............................................................................................................................................................15

6.8 Format of environmental statements, reporting and publication ......................................................... 16

6.9 Changes or revisions to environmental statement programmes, specified

requirements and criteria and environmental statements ......................................................................... 16

7 General requirements for environmental statements .............................................................................................17

7.1 General ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 17

7.2 Vague or non-specific statements....................................................................................................................................... 18

7.3 Statements of sustainability .................................................................................................................................................... 18

7.4 Comparative environmental statements ..................................................................................................................... 18

7.5 Use of supporting information .............................................................................................................................................. 19

7.6 Use of symbols and graphics in environmental statements ....................................................................... 19

7.7 Other information or statements ........................................................................................................................................ 20

Annex A (informative) Example of a simple environmental statement programme for a

self-declared environmental claim ...............................................................................................................................................21

Annex B (informative) Self-declared environmental claims contained in ISO 14021 .................................22

Annex C (informative) Combination of different types of environmental statements ...............................23

Annex D (informative) Examples of preferred and discouraged wording of environment

statements ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................25

Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................26

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oSIST prEN ISO 14020:2022
ISO/DIS 14020:2022(E)
Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards

bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out

through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical

committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International

organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.

ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of

electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are

described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the

different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the

editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of

patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of

any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or

on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not

constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and

expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to

the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see

www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 207, Environmental management,

Subcommittee SC 3, Environmental labelling.

This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition (ISO 14020:2000), which has been technically

revised.
The main changes compared to the previous edition are as follows:

— this edition contains two new concepts and terms - ‘environmental statement’ and ‘environmental

statement programme’;

— this edition has added terms and definitions that are generic to all types of environmental statement

programmes and environmental statements;

— this edition has consolidated and updated the principles applicable for environmental statements

that were previously contained in the ISO 14020 family of standards, and placed the requirements

that were previously included within those principles into separate requirement clauses within this

document; and

— this edition adds general requirements applicable to all types of environmental statement

programmes and environmental statements.

A list of all standards in the ISO 14020 family of standards can be found on the ISO website.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A

complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.
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oSIST prEN ISO 14020:2022
ISO/DIS 14020:2022(E)
Introduction

0.1 Communicating the environmental aspects and potential environmental impacts of products assists

intended audiences (e.g. investors, purchasers and consumers) to make decisions on selection and

use of products. The overall objective of providing information about the environmental aspects

of products (i.e. environmental statements) is to encourage selection, purchase and use of those

products that have the least adverse potential or actual environmental impact.

0.2 Suppliers that communicate the environmental aspects of their products via environmental

statements hope to influence the market in favour of their products. If the communication has

this effect, the market share of those products can increase, and other suppliers may respond by

improving the environmental performance of their products. Ultimately this results in reduced

environmental impact from that product category.

0.3 Suppliers that communicate the environmental aspects of their products via environmental

statements also benefit at different levels within the company, both for the development of their

products as well as for their environmental management and improvement of environmental

performance.

0.4 Since the 1990s, ISO has developed the ISO 14020 family of standards that have provided terms

and definitions, principles and requirements for how the environmental aspects of products

should be communicated, including requirements for environmental statements (e.g. self-declared

environmental claims (ISO 14021), ecolabels (ISO 14024), environmental product declarations

(ISO 14025) and footprint communications (ISO 14026)). ISO 14020 is the core document in the

ISO 14020 family of standards, and this new edition updates and consolidates the common terms

and definitions, principles and requirements for environmental statements and programmes that

enable environmental statements to be made.

0.5 The structure of the revised ISO 14020 family of standards is illustrated in Figure 1 and summarized

as follows:

a) ISO 14020 - common terms and definitions, principles and general requirements for all

environmental statements (e.g. self-declared environmental claims, ecolabels, environmental

product declarations and footprint communications, etc.) and associated programmes that

enable the communication of environmental aspects of products;

b) ISO 14021 - requirements for environmental statements in the form of self-declared

environmental claims;

c) ISO 14024 - requirements for environmental statements in the form of environmental labels

known as ecolabels;

d) ISO 14025 - requirements for environmental statements in the form of environmental product

declarations (EPDs);

e) ISO 14026 - requirements for environmental statements in the form of footprint

communications;

f) ISO 14027 – requirements for product category rules (PCRs) that support the use of life cycle

assessment as a method to compile and evaluate the information used as a basis for making

environmental statements; and

g) ISO/TS 14029 – requirements for the mutual recognition of EPDs and associated programmes.

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oSIST prEN ISO 14020:2022
ISO/DIS 14020:2022(E)
Figure 1 — Structure of the revised ISO 14020 family of standards

0.6 Further explanatory information on the types of environmental statement is contained in Clause 5.

0.7 Fundamental to the communication of the environmental aspects of products through the use of

the ISO 14020 family of standards are the following understandings:

a) that an environmental statement is prepared or made about the environmental aspect(s) of a

product by an identifiable responsible party;

b) that all environmental statements (including self-declared environmental claims) are made

within the context of an environmental statement programme (see Annex A as an example of a

simple type of environmental statement programme for a self-declared claim);
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oSIST prEN ISO 14020:2022
ISO/DIS 14020:2022(E)

c) that an environmental statement programme is established by an identifiable programme

operator who:

i. defines the type of the environmental statement(s) (e.g. self-declared environmental claim,

ecolabel, environmental product declaration, footprint communication, etc.) included in

the environmental statement programme;

ii. prescribes the requirements, criteria and methodology associated with the environmental

statement programme and the environmental statement;

iii. where relevant, identifies how the environmental statement is to be assessed (e.g. through

methods such as auditing, evaluation, examination, inspection, testing, validation or

verification; and whether these assessment techniques can result in the environmental

statement being self-declared by the first party, or whether a second or third - party

assessment activity is required);

iv. confirms the format, media and type of information that is to be communicated with the

environmental statement to the intended audiences (e.g. investors, purchasers, consumers,

etc.); and

v. establishes the validity period of environmental statement(s) and any ongoing assessment

requirements.

0.8 This document aims to ensure that, in future, environmental statements will be made within

the context of an environmental statement programme or scheme. Environmental statement

programmes can vary in complexity depending on the type of environmental statement being

made (in some cases a simple internal process or procedure, in other cases an extensive set of

programme rules).

0.9 All programmes specify the product or the family of products that are to be covered; the specified

requirements and criteria that must be demonstrated to support the environmental statement;

and the determination methodology to undertake the demonstration, including any necessary

information, competencies and use of conformity assessment (e.g. testing, inspection, verification

or certification activities).

0.10 For reference, Annex B includes a list of self-declared environmental claims that are sometimes

found in the market and are further covered in ISO 14021.
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oSIST prEN ISO 14020:2022
DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/DIS 14020:2022(E)
Environmental statements and programmes for products -
Principles and general requirements
1 Scope

1.1 This document contains common terms and definitions, principles and general requirements

that apply to all types of product related environmental statements and environmental statement

programmes. Environmental statements result from environmental statement programmes and

include self-declared environmental claims, ecolabels, environmental product declarations (EPDs) and

footprint communications.

1.2 This document is a normative reference for other documents in the ISO 14020 family of standards.

NOTE Those other documents contain additional terms and definitions, principles and requirements that

are relevant to their specific scopes.
2 Normative references

The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content

constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For

undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.

ISO 14021, Environmental labels and declarations — Self-declared environmental claims (Type II

environmental labelling)

ISO 14024, Environmental labels and declarations — Type I environmental labelling — Principles and

procedures

ISO 14025, Environmental labels and declarations — Type III environmental declarations — Principles and

procedures

ISO 14026, Environmental labels and declarations — Principles, requirements and guidelines for

communication of footprint information
ISO 14050, Environmental management — Vocabulary
3 Terms and definitions
For the purpose of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.

ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:

— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org/

NOTE The following terms and definitions are laid out in a systematic order. A term in a definition or note

that is defined in another entry is indicated by bold face followed by its entry number in parentheses.

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oSIST prEN ISO 14020:2022
ISO/DIS 14020:2022(E)
3.1 Terms and definitions related to the environment
3.1.1
area of concern

aspect of the natural environment, human health or resources of interest to society

EXAMPLE Water scarcity, climate change, biodiversity.
[SOURCE: ISO 14050, 3.2.11, EXAMPLE added]
3.1.2
environment

surroundings in which an organization operates, including air, water, land, natural resources, flora,

fauna, humans, and their interrelationships

Note 1 to entry: Surroundings can extend from within an organization to the local, regional and global system.

Note 2 to entry: Surroundings can be described in terms of biodiversity, ecosystems, climate or other

characteristics of an organization’s activities (including projects) or products that interact or can interact with

the environment.
[SOURCE: ISO 14050: 2020, 3.2.2; notes to entry added]
3.1.3
environmental aspect

element of an organization’s activities or products (3.2.11) that interacts or can interact with the

environment (3.1.2)
Note 1 to entry: Typically, environmental
...