akar.earthISO 14064-2 for Project-Level GHG Quantification
ISO 14064-2 explained: the standard for quantifying project GHG reductions and removals, its principles and how it underpins carbon projects in Indonesia.
ISO 14064-2 is the international standard for quantifying, monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emission reductions and removal enhancements at project level; the current edition dates from 2019. It is not a methodology, but its principles and structure sit under most carbon crediting programs, including Verra’s VCS and Indonesia’s domestic offset system.
What ISO 14064-2 is
The ISO 14064 series has three main parts:
| Part | Scope |
|---|---|
| ISO 14064-1 | Organisation-level GHG inventories |
| ISO 14064-2 | Project-level quantification of reductions and removals |
| ISO 14064-3 | Validation and verification of GHG statements |
Supporting standards include ISO 14065, which sets requirements for bodies that validate and verify, and ISO 14066, on the competence of validation and verification teams.
ISO 14064-2 is general by design. It tells a project how to think about baselines, boundaries and monitoring, but leaves sector-specific formulas to programs and methodologies.
Core principles
ISO 14064-2 asks project proponents to apply six principles:
- Relevance. Select sources, sinks, reservoirs, data and methods appropriate to the project and users.
- Completeness. Include all relevant emissions and removals.
- Consistency. Enable meaningful comparison over time.
- Accuracy. Reduce bias and uncertainty as far as practical.
- Transparency. Disclose enough information for users to make decisions with confidence.
- Conservativeness. Use assumptions that avoid overestimating reductions or removals.
Conservativeness is the principle most often tested by auditors in forest projects, for example in the choice of allometric equations or root-to-shoot ratios.
Key requirements
In outline, a project following ISO 14064-2 must:
- Describe the project, including location, technologies or practices, and roles.
- Identify sources, sinks and reservoirs (SSRs) controlled by, related to or affected by the project.
- Determine the baseline scenario, the most likely situation without the project. See baseline setting.
- Select SSRs to monitor for baseline and project.
- Quantify emissions and removals and the resulting reductions or removal enhancements.
- Manage data quality and keep a monitoring plan.
- Report in a GHG report or project plan, ready for validation and verification.
Additionality is not defined as a strict test in ISO 14064-2; programs add their own additionality rules, such as the VT0001 additionality tool under Verra.
Who uses it
- Carbon crediting programs as a foundation for their rules.
- Project developers writing a project design document.
- Companies and governments running GHG projects outside crediting programs, such as corporate or results-based finance projects.
How it applies in Indonesia and Southeast Asia
Indonesia’s domestic carbon system uses validation and verification by accredited bodies. The national accreditation body, KAN, accredits greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies under ISO-based standards. That means ISO 14064-2 logic shows up in Indonesian SPE-GRK offset projects as well as in international programs. See SPE-GRK.
Perpres 110/2025 is the legal anchor for carbon trading, and exchange-traded units must be recorded in SRUK. Ministry technical rules decide which methodologies and documentation formats apply to each sector. Check the current ministry regulations for your sector; forestry falls under Permenhut 6/2026.
For forest projects, ISO 14064-2 principles translate into concrete choices: pantropical or local allometry, plot numbers to meet precision targets, conservative treatment of peat emissions, and documented data management. Our carbon modelling service applies these principles to project calculations.
How ISO principles show up in a forest project
| ISO principle | Example in an Indonesian ARR or REDD+ project |
|---|---|
| Relevance | Choosing allometry developed for tropical trees rather than temperate models |
| Completeness | Including emissions from site preparation, fertiliser and vehicle use |
| Consistency | Using the same plot protocol and equations across monitoring periods |
| Accuracy | Calibrating remote sensing with field plots |
| Transparency | Publishing data sources and assumptions in the PDD |
| Conservativeness | Choosing lower-bound parameter values where uncertain |
Recording each of these choices in a short rationale note, with sources, makes validation faster. Auditors test whether the stated principles were actually applied, not just cited. A consistent decision log also helps when staff change over a long crediting period.
Common pitfalls
- Treating ISO as a methodology. You still need an approved program methodology.
- Incomplete SSRs. Forgetting fertiliser, fuel or peat emissions breaks completeness.
- Undocumented choices. Transparency fails when data sources and assumptions are not recorded.
- Non-conservative defaults. Optimistic growth curves or carbon fractions are common audit findings.
Relationship to ICVCM CCP status
ICVCM assesses programs and methodologies, not ISO conformity. ISO-based quantification and audit practices help programs meet ICVCM criteria on robust quantification and third-party validation and verification. See Core Carbon Principles.
Next steps
Read ISO 14064-3, the standards hub, or our validation and verification support service.
Frequently asked questions
What is ISO 14064-2?
ISO 14064-2 is the international standard for quantifying, monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emission reductions and removal enhancements at project level. The current edition was published in 2019.
Is ISO 14064-2 a carbon crediting methodology?
No. It sets principles and general requirements but does not contain sector-specific calculations. Crediting programs and their methodologies, such as Verra's VM0047, add the detailed rules.
How does ISO 14064-2 relate to Verra?
Verra's VCS Program builds on ISO 14064-2 for project quantification principles and ISO 14064-3 for validation and verification, adding its own detailed requirements.
Does Indonesia use ISO 14064-2?
Yes, in the sense that domestic GHG validation and verification bodies are accredited against ISO-based standards. Check Indonesian ministry rules and the national accreditation body for the exact requirements.