International standardization
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has begun work to develop an international standard for climate declarations or carbon footprint.
The aim is to develop a standard methodology, based on life cycle assessment on how to declare the climate impact from goods and services, from cradle to grave.
The standard is expected to be completed in 2010 and consists of a part describing the methodology to quantify greenhouse gases and a part that gives guidance on communicating the results.
There is a huge international interest in participating in the preparation of this carbon footprint standard, and many believe that it could become one of the most important ISO standards in the field of environmental protection in addition to the familiar standard ISO 14001.