National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN ISO 14008:2020. It is identical to ISO 14008:2019. It supersedes BS ISO 14008:2019, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee SES/1, Environmental management.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its secretary.

This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 March 2019.

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 http://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 http://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 http://www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 207, Environmental management, Subcommittee SC 1, Environmental management systems.

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 http://www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

Private and public organizations are facing risks and opportunities due to the beneficial or adverse environmental impacts and related environmental aspects of their activities. The monetary valuation of these environmental impacts and related aspects supports organizations in developing business models and practices that are more sustainable. Using monetary valuation does not mean that money is the only metric of value.

This document is for all organizations that wish to undertake monetary valuation studies or review, compile or use the results. Organizations often have experience in assessing at least some environmental aspects and environmental impacts resulting from their activities in physical units. To further integrate this information in decisions, it is useful to determine the monetary values of these environmental impacts and/or of related environmental aspects. Monetary valuations enable comparisons and trade - offs between different environmental issues and between environmental and other issues. This is useful in, for example, organizational strategy and investment considerations, product and service design, management accounting, performance evaluation, environmental monitoring and reporting, legislation or environmental policy and regulation.

Monetary valuation methods determine monetary values of changes in the environment and not the absolute value of the environment.

This document supports environmental and risk management methods, such as cost-benefit analysis, risk and life cycle assessments.

The main purpose of the document is to increase the awareness, comparability and transparency of the monetary valuation of environmental impacts and related environmental aspects. It demonstrates the benefits that monetary valuation methods offer to users. To achieve this purpose, standardized and transparent documentation of the methods, data and assumptions used to derive monetary values is essential. The multiplicity of monetary values, methods to determine monetary values, and ethical perspectives on money requires careful consideration and prudent communication.

This document provides a framework that includes principles, requirements and guidance for the monetary valuation of environmental impacts and related environmental aspects, following the principles of welfare economics. Monetary valuation methods in this document can also be used to value actual or potential impacts on natural capital, for example, abiotic resources, biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services. The impacts valued could result from environmental aspects and from the dependencies of organizations on the environment. Environmental impacts can occur on the stocks and quality of natural capital, affecting associated flows of benefits (including for human health).

This document focuses on valuation methods and not on costing methods. This means that requirements and guidance on assessing costs are only given if costs are used as measures of monetary values.

In this document, many methodological requirements or recommendations are intended for people assessing monetary values. Following these requirements and recommendations enables good practice of monetary valuation. The requirements in the reporting clause can assist the user of monetary values in assessing the quality of the monetary valuation study.

This document addresses the planning of a monetary valuation (see Clause 5), the monetary valuation itself (see Clause 6), the way in which links between environmental impacts valued in monetary terms and related environmental aspects are established (see Clause 7), checking the quality of the monetary valuation (see Clause 8) and reporting (see Clause 9).

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 12 July 2020.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom.

European foreword

The text of ISO 14008:2019 has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 207 "Environmental management” of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and has been taken over as EN ISO 14008:2020 by CCMC.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by February 2021, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by February 2021.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Endorsement notice

The text of ISO 14008:2019 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 14008:2020 without any modification.

1 Scope

This document specifies a methodological framework for the monetary valuation of environmental impacts and related environmental aspects. Environmental impacts include impacts on human health, and on the built and natural environment. Environmental aspects include releases and the use of natural resources.

The monetary valuation methods in this document can also be used to better understand organizations’ dependencies on the environment.

During the planning of the monetary valuation, the intended use of the results is considered but the use itself is outside the scope of this document.

In this document, monetary valuation is a way of expressing value in a common unit, for use in comparisons and trade-offs between different environmental issues and between environmental and other issues. The monetary value to be determined includes some or all values reflected in the concept of total economic value. An anthropocentric perspective is taken, which asserts that natural environment has value in so far as it gives utility (well-being) to humans. The monetary values referred to in this document are economic values applied in trade-offs between alternative resource allocations, and not absolute values.

This document does not include costing or accounting, although some valuation methods have the term “cost” in their name. This document does not include the development of models linking environmental aspects to environmental impacts.

NOTE In this document, what is valued in monetary terms is either environmental impacts or environmental aspects. When valuing environmental impacts of an organization, it is important that links between environmental aspects and environmental impacts are established.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

3.1 Environmental impacts and environmental aspects

3.2 Environmental economics

4 Principles

4.1 General

4.2 Description of principles

5 Planning a monetary valuation

5.1 General

5.2 Goal of the monetary valuation and its intended audience

5.3 Specification of the environmental impact or aspect

5.4 People whose preferences and perspectives are considered

5.5 Elements of the total economic value captured

5.6 Monetary valuation method

6 Requirements and procedures for monetary valuation

6.1 General

6.2 Market price proxies

6.3 Revealed preference methods

6.4 Stated preference methods

6.5 Value transfer

6.6 Currency and base year adjustments

6.7 Equity weighting

6.8 Discounting

6.9 Analysis of uncertainty and sensitivity

7 Linking monetary values of environmental impacts to related environmental aspects

8 Quality check

9 Reporting

Bibliography

BS EN ISO 14008:2020

Monetary valuation of environmental impacts and related environmental aspects

Current

Published:

31 Aug 2020