ISO Sends Net-Zero Standard Back After 5,000 Comments

The International Organization for Standardization has sent its proposed net-zero corporate standard back for revisions after a vote among its member bodies fell short of the two-thirds approval threshold required to advance a draft international standard. Close to 5,000 comments were submitted on the ISO/DIS 14060 draft by the September 9 consultation deadline, and national standards bodies from 88 of ISO's roughly 170 member countries participated in the ballot. Sources familiar with the process say fossil-fuel producing nations were among the blocs that voted against advancing the current text, with opposition also tied to unresolved rules on how corporate net-zero claims can incorporate carbon credits.

 

Why the Draft Fell Short of ISO's Approval Threshold

 

ISO's rules for advancing a draft international standard require at least two-thirds approval from participating committee members casting votes, while negative votes must stay under one-quarter of all votes cast across member bodies. Missing either threshold sends the draft back to committee rather than forward to a final publication vote, which is what happened to ISO/DIS 14060 following its 12-week consultation period. An ISO spokesperson confirmed only that the draft "did not receive the level of approval required to advance in its current form," and the organization's external communications policy prevents disclosure of how individual member bodies voted or their specific objections.

That confidentiality means the roughly 5,000 comments submitted will shape the committee's next draft without public visibility into which countries raised which concerns, or how the eventual revisions will address the carbon credit rules that reportedly split opinion. The committee is now formally obligated to review the feedback before determining how to proceed, though ISO has not disclosed a timeframe for recirculating an updated draft.

 

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Fossil-Fuel Producers and Carbon Credit Rules Split the Vote

 

Two people close to the negotiations, speaking anonymously because they are not authorized to comment publicly, said fossil-fuel producing countries were one identifiable bloc voting against the current draft, based on positions expressed during earlier discussions. Separately, other member bodies that voted no may have done so simply to buy more time to evaluate the proposal rather than reject its substance outright, particularly around how the standard treats the use of carbon credits in corporate net-zero accounting. That distinction matters for how the next draft gets written: a standard delayed by procedural caution invites different revisions than one facing substantive opposition from countries whose economies are most exposed to stricter net-zero definitions.

The carbon credit question sits at the center of an active and unresolved debate in corporate climate accounting, where the credibility of offset-based claims has faced repeated scrutiny. How ISO 14060 ultimately resolves that question will matter well beyond this single standard, since ISO is the world's largest voluntary independent standards organization and its net-zero framework is likely to become a reference point for how companies globally substantiate net-zero claims once finalized.

 

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A Widening Standard-Setting Relationship With the GHG Protocol

 

The stakes around ISO 14060 have grown over the past year as ISO deepens its working relationship with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the most widely used corporate carbon accounting framework globally. The two organizations are working to unify their respective carbon accounting standards, with a joint draft due in early 2027. That convergence effort raises the practical importance of getting ISO 14060 right, since a net-zero standard built to align with a unified GHG accounting framework would carry more weight with auditors, regulators and investors than either organization's standard operating independently.

ISO's annual general meeting, running from September 28 to October 2 in Paris, gives member bodies an opportunity to discuss the standard's path forward in person, though any formal revision process will follow ISO's standard committee procedures rather than conclusions reached at the meeting itself. With no disclosed timeline for a revised draft and the GHG Protocol convergence work due in early 2027, the practical question for companies awaiting a finalized net-zero standard is how much further consultation ISO's roughly 170 member bodies will need before a draft can clear the two-thirds threshold this time. Whether the next version resolves the carbon credit rules that appear to have driven much of the opposition will determine whether the standard advances on its next attempt or faces another round of the same objections.