The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) encourages relevant stakeholders to review and comment on a draft proposal by July 28 for a new International Organization for Standardization (ISO) International Workshop Agreement (IWA) on guidelines for harmonization and interoperability of greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting standards for industrial products.
According to the proposal submitted by the Industrial Transition Accelerator, international standards support the formation and growth of markets for low emission industrial products; however, improvement and harmonization of these standards would maximize their utility for manufacturers, consumers, and policymakers.
Harmonizing standards will “improve the interoperability of climate change related data for industrial products, in turn enabling low-friction international trade of low emission products, accelerating decarbonization of industry,” the proposal asserts. The IWA will seek to drive harmonization and interoperability both within individual sectors and across sectors, focusing on products used by key industrial markets including construction, automotive, and agriculture.
The IWA will aim to establish:
The IWA will build on extensive work already conducted by ISO TCs on PCRs, recognizing in particular the work of ISO TC 207, Environmental management. This IWA will also utilize “general” emissions accounting standards as a normative basis, including but not limited to ISO 14040, Life cycle assessment, ISO 14044, Environmental management; ISO 14067, Greenhouse gases — Carbon footprint of products — Requirements and guidelines for quantification; and ISO 14025, Environmental labels and declarations — Type III environmental declarations — Principles and procedures.
Relevant stakeholders are invited to review this document and send comments to Sara Desautels, ANSI senior director, international policy ([email protected]) by close of business on July 28. All input that ANSI receives will be used to develop the ANSI representative input to the ISO Technical Management Board.
What is an IWA?
An IWA is a type of document that is developed with direct participation of stakeholders outside of the traditional ISO country representation to enable players to negotiate an open workshop environment. After the IWA workshop, text will be edited and published. A proposal to hold an ISO workshop for the purpose of developing one or more IWAs on a particular subject may come from any source, including ISO member bodies, liaison organizations, corporate bodies, etc.
