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Publication history

First published April 2010
Second edition April 2014

Foreword

This PAS was sponsored by the Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan, R.O.C.(Taiwan). Its development was facilitated by BSI Standards Limited and it was published under licence from The British Standards Institution. This PAS came into effect on 30 April 2014.

Acknowledgement is given to the following organizations that were involved in the development of this PAS as members of the steering group:

Anthesis Consulting Group (incorporating Best Foot Forward Ltd)
BP Target Neutral
Carbon Care Asia Limited
Carbon Clear Limited
China Standardization and Technical Consortium for Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction (STCE)
Climate Friendly Proprietary Limited
EcoAct
Forestry Commission
Foundation of Taiwan Industry Service (FTIS)
The Gold Standard Foundation
Inovate
Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA)
Taiwan Accreditation Forum (TAF)

Acknowledgement is also given to the members of the wider review panel consulted in the development of this PAS.

The British Standards Institution retains ownership and copyright of this PAS. BSI Standards Limited as the publisher of the PAS reserves the right to withdraw or amend this PAS on receipt of authoritative advice that it is appropriate to do so. This PAS will be reviewed at intervals not exceeding two years, and any amendments arising from the review will be published as an amended PAS and publicized in Update Standards.

This PAS is not to be regarded as a British Standard. It will be withdrawn upon publication of its content in, or as, a British Standard.

The PAS process enables a specification to be rapidly developed in order to fulfil an immediate need in industry. A PAS can be considered for further development as a British Standard, or constitute part of the UK input into the development of a European or International Standard.

Supersession

This PAS supersedes PAS 2060:2010, which is withdrawn.

Use of this document

It has been assumed in the preparation of this PAS that the execution of its provisions will be entrusted to appropriately qualified and experienced people, for whose use it has been produced.

Presentational conventions

The provisions of this PAS are presented in roman (i.e. upright) type. Its requirements are expressed in sentences in which the principal auxiliary verb is “shall”.

Commentary, explanation and general informative material is presented in smaller italic type, and does not constitute a normative element. The word “should” is used to express recommendations, the word “may” is used to express permissibility and the word “can” is used to express possibility, e.g. a consequence of an action or an event.

Spelling conforms to The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. If a word has more than one spelling, the first spelling in the dictionary is used.

Contractual and legal considerations

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

Compliance with a PAS cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

Introduction

0.1 General

Climate change and the emission of greenhouse gases continues to be one of the critical issues facing society. Strategies and actions to reduce carbon footprints remain important and governments, industry and communities are still responding to this issue in various ways.

In some markets, carbon neutrality is seen as an important indicator for consumers wishing to choose greener products and services and in these areas, PAS 2060 has provided common definitions and a recognized method of validation that has helped to restore credibility to the concept of carbon neutrality.

The anticipated benefits for the use of PAS 2060 remain:

enhanced consumer protection;
increased action on climate change;
accurate and verifiable declarations of carbon neutrality that are not misleading;
reduction in confusion between trading partners;
increased likelihood that corporate entities will make improvement in their carbon management relating to production processes and products, in response to customer pressure;
increased opportunity for the public, consumers, purchasers and potential purchasers to make more informed choices.

The use of PAS 2060 over its first two years has demonstrated that the concept of carbon neutrality can justifiably relate to a wide variety of subjects including products, organizations, communities, travel, events, projects, and buildings. In practice, the only subject that has generated significant enquiry on matters relating to the application of PAS 2060 has been that of events and in response, this revision contains a new annex providing additional insight and guidance in this area.

Also in response to request from users of the PAS, special provision has been made for the presentation of claims in advertising or other promotional material. An explicit declaration or claim of carbon neutrality in the form of a prescribed, publicly available statement is still required but is now part of the qualifying explanatory statement (QES). In parallel with this, the PAS now provides text for an equivalent “representative statement” that may be used in advertising, literature, publicity, labels, and technical bulletins in printed or electronic media.

The fundamental principle that the methodologies used to collate evidence that substantiates such declarations need to be clear, transparent, and scientifically sound, documented and readily available remains as the foundation of PAS 2060. It is this public availability of supporting evidence that ensures that interested parties can be assured of the validity of any claim of carbon neutrality in accordance with PAS 2060.

PAS 2060 has been updated to recognize improvements in the knowledge and understanding of greenhouse gas emissions assessment, reduction and offsetting that have taken place over the first two years of its availability but continues to underpin reliable, credible claims that the subject of such a claim can indeed be considered carbon neutral.

0.2 This specification

1 Scope

This PAS specifies requirements to be met by any entity seeking to demonstrate carbon neutrality through the quantification, reduction and offsetting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a uniquely identified subject. It is not the intention of this PAS to exclude any specific subjects or entities.

It is intended that this specification be used by any entity, including:

regional or local government;
communities;
organizations/companies or parts of organizations (including brands);
clubs or social groups;
families;
individuals.

This specification is applicable to the demonstration of carbon neutrality in respect of any subjects selected and defined by the applying entity, including for their:

activities;
products;
services;
buildings;
projects and major developments;
towns and cities;
events.

Achieving carbon neutrality solely through reduction of direct GHG emissions will not be practicable in most instances and hence carbon offsets (see 3.7) are likely to play a role in achieving carbon neutrality. However, this specification does not make provision for a declaration of the achievement of carbon neutrality solely through offsetting other than for the first application period, where to facilitate initiation of the process, concession is made to enable entities to take up the option of making a declaration of the achievement of carbon neutrality solely through carbon offsets. In all subsequent periods it is essential that a reduction in absolute terms and/or a reduction in emission intensity be evident for the defined subject, if carbon neutral status in accordance with PAS 2060 is to be claimed.

This specification provides for communication at two levels. The primary level requires one of two forms of declaration as follows:

The declaration of commitment to carbon neutrality requires the entity to establish the carbon footprint of the subject and to document a carbon footprint management plan describing how the entity intends to achieve carbon neutrality with respect to the defined subject.
The declaration of achievement of carbon neutrality requires the entity to have achieved reductions in the carbon footprint of the subject and to have offset remaining GHG emissions. Such declarations of achievement therefore only apply to the scope and period validated and should the entity intend to extend its claim to future periods, further validation will be required.

The secondary level is a “representative statement” couched in more consumer friendly terms, for use in promotional material. However, the use of a representative statement is only permitted in addition to the publication of the formal declaration.

This specification provides for the validation of declarations by the entity itself as well as by other parties and independent third parties, engaged to do so. To claim compliance with this PAS, it is necessary that the entity satisfy all of the requirements within the specification relevant to the declaration being made.

This specification establishes a set of principles against which the selection of methodologies for GHG emissions quantification and offsetting can be undertaken. It also incorporates examples of widely accepted standards and methodologies (see Annex C) that can be presumed to meet those principles although other standards can also meet this requirement. However, the entity undertaking assessment is still required to confirm that the methodology accepted is being used in accordance with those principles.

Annex A (Normative) sets out the permissible declarations in respect of carbon neutrality including that for a unified declaration for entities wishing to declare both achievement of and future commitment to, carbon neutrality.

Annex B (Informative) provides a list of the information required to complete the qualifying explanatory statement (QES) for each declaration and is appropriate for use as a check list to assist in establishing the completeness of a QES.

The application of proprietary logos or symbols to represent the status of carbon neutrality is outside the scope of this specification.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Demonstrating carbon neutrality

4.1 Requirements overview

4.2 Selection and reliability of supporting methodologies

5 Determination and substantiation of the subject and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions

5.1 Determination

5.2 Substantiation

5.3 Documentation

6 Quantification of the carbon footprint

6.1 Quantification

6.2 Documentation

7 Commitment to carbon neutrality

8 Achievement of GHG emissions reductions

8.1 Action for GHG emissions reduction

8.2 Determination of reductions

8.3 Documentation

9 Offsetting residual GHG emissions

9.1 Requirements

9.2 Documentation

10 Explicit declarations in respect of carbon neutrality

10.1 General

10.2 Scope of declaration

In making a declaration in conformity with this PAS, the entity shall address all of the provisions of the PAS.

10.3 Basis of declaration

10.4 Requirements for declarations

10.5 Requirements for qualifying explanatory statements (QES)

11 Maintaining carbon neutral status

11.1 Declaration of commitment to carbon neutrality

11.2 Declarations of achievement of carbon neutrality

PAS 2060:2014

Specification for the demonstration of carbon neutrality

Published:

30 Apr 2014

Withdrawn:

1 Dec 2025