akar.earthISO 14064-3 Validation and Verification
ISO 14064-3 explained: how validation and verification of GHG statements work, assurance levels, materiality and what Indonesian carbon projects should prepare.
ISO 14064-3 is the international standard for validating and verifying greenhouse gas statements, including project claims of reductions and removals; the current edition dates from 2019. Carbon crediting programs and Indonesia’s domestic system both rely on its approach, so understanding it helps project teams prepare for audits that decide whether credits are issued.
What ISO 14064-3 is
ISO 14064-3 is the audit companion to ISO 14064-2, which covers project quantification. It sets out how a validation or verification body plans, performs and reports its work. Related standards:
- ISO 14065 sets requirements for bodies that validate and verify environmental information. Accreditation bodies use it to accredit VVBs.
- ISO 14066 sets competence requirements for validation and verification teams.
Programs such as Verra add their own rules on top, for example on site visits and rotation of VVBs. See validation and verification bodies.
Validation vs verification
| Feature | Validation | Verification |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | Before or at project start | After each monitoring period |
| Question | Is the project design reasonable and compliant? | Are reported results accurate and supported? |
| Main evidence | Project design document, baseline, monitoring plan | Monitoring report, field data, calculations |
| Outcome | Validation report and statement | Verification report and statement, leading to issuance |
Read our pages on the project design document and the monitoring report.
Key concepts
- Level of assurance. Reasonable assurance gives high but not absolute confidence. Limited assurance gives less. Carbon programs usually require reasonable assurance.
- Materiality. The threshold at which errors would change a user’s decision. Programs often set a quantitative materiality threshold, such as a percentage of total reductions; check your program’s rules.
- Evidence gathering. Document review, interviews, site visits, sampling of data and recalculation.
- Findings. Auditors raise corrective action requests and clarification requests that the project must close.
- Statement. The final opinion, with any qualifications.
Who uses it
- VVBs accredited for GHG validation and verification.
- Project developers preparing for audits.
- Programs and registries that rely on audit statements before issuance.
- Corporate reporters, since ISO 14064-3 also covers verification of organisational inventories.
How it applies in Indonesia and Southeast Asia
Indonesian projects face two audit tracks:
- International programs such as Verra or Gold Standard use their own approved VVBs, typically accredited under ISO 14065. VVB capacity in Indonesia is limited, so schedule early.
- Domestic system. Indonesian SPE-GRK offsets require validation and verification by bodies accredited by Indonesia’s national accreditation body, KAN. Perpres 110/2025 is the legal anchor, and exchange-traded units are recorded in SRUK. See SPE-GRK.
Field audits in Indonesia have particular challenges: remote sites, peat and mangrove access, seasonal flooding, and the need to interview communities in Bahasa Indonesia or local languages. Auditors often re-measure a sample of plots. If your plot coordinates, tree tags or photos are weak, findings follow.
Our validation and verification support service prepares evidence packs and supports field visits. We run RTK-surveyed plot campaigns so plots can be relocated precisely for auditor re-measurement; see RTK GNSS plot mapping.
Preparing an evidence pack
A well-organised evidence pack shortens audits and reduces findings. For a forest project it typically includes:
- Spatial data. Project boundary, strata and plot locations in standard GIS formats.
- Raw field data, with field sheets or app exports, photos and measurement dates.
- Calculation workbooks or code, traceable from raw data to final tonnes.
- Remote sensing inputs, including image dates and processing steps.
- Legal and tenure documents, such as permits and community agreements.
- Stakeholder records, including consultation minutes and grievance logs.
- Quality control records, such as check-cruise results.
Organise documents to mirror the program’s validation or verification report template.
Indonesian projects should also include Bahasa Indonesia originals of permits, agreements and consultation records, with English translations where the VVB requires them. Missing translations are a frequent cause of delay.
Common pitfalls
- Untraceable data. Spreadsheets without links to raw field records fail evidence checks.
- Plots that cannot be found. Auditors cannot re-measure what they cannot locate.
- Changing methods mid-period without a documented deviation. See methodology deviations.
- Late VVB booking. Accredited auditors for forestry are in short supply.
Relationship to ICVCM CCP status
ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles include robust independent third-party validation and verification. ISO 14064-3 and ISO 14065 underpin how CCP-Eligible programs meet that principle. See Core Carbon Principles.
Next steps
Read the VVB glossary entry, the standards hub, or our page on validation and verification bodies.
Frequently asked questions
What is ISO 14064-3?
ISO 14064-3 specifies requirements for validating and verifying greenhouse gas statements, including project claims of reductions and removals. The current edition was published in 2019.
What is the difference between validation and verification?
Validation assesses the reasonableness of a planned project and its assumptions before or at the start. Verification checks actual results reported for a past monitoring period.
What assurance level do carbon programs use?
Carbon crediting programs such as Verra usually require a reasonable level of assurance for project validation and verification. Check the program's validation and verification requirements.
Who can verify an Indonesian carbon project?
For international programs, a VVB approved by that program, typically accredited under ISO 14065. For the domestic system, a validation and verification body accredited by Indonesia's national accreditation body. Check current ministry rules.