EPD Climate Declaration
What is an EPD Climate Declaration?
An EPD Climate Declaration is based on a complete EPD. That means that all EPDs contain the same climate information but also other so-called environmental impact categories, such as e.g., for eutrophication, acidification, or ground-level air pollution problems.
To publish a single-issue EPD, it is mandatory to have a complete EPD. The Secretariat prepares a Climate Declaration on a single page based on the information in the original EPD. The Climate Declaration is then published together with the original EPD.
The most popular single-issue EPD is the one that focuses on the climate impact information, such as the carbon footprint of a product in terms of Global Warming Potential (GWP) as measurable carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2 eq.). It is adapted to ISO 14067 for the calculation of the carbon footprint (Carbon Footprint).
If a specific product's EPD Climate Declaration is not available for download, the same information can still be obtained in the EPDs that have been registered.
The history of EPD Climate Declaration
The concept of climate declaration was introduced by the International EPD System in 2007 and was then named “single-issue EPD” on the market. This concept clarifies that a Climate Declaration is an EPD according to ISO 14025, but its information focuses on the product's climate impact.
The international launch of climate declarations took place at the same time as the publication of the ISO standard 14067 on climate footprints (Carbon Footprint) and was therefore somewhat overshadowed by the market's interest in this new standard. However, as the use of ISO 14067 increased, it emerged that it could not be used for different applications where the market requires common and openly available calculation rules, comparability of results, and third-party review of the LCA calculations. It is precisely these characteristics that an EPD Climate Declaration offers.
The International EPD System tried to trademark the name climate declaration in connection with the launch, which was not approved as it is considered a "general term". Unfortunately, therefore, other types of climate declarations may appear on the market but are structured in a different way which means that they cannot be applied in the same way as an EPD Climate Declaration makes possible. For this reason, the term "EPD Climate Declaration" is used to distinguish it from other forms of climate declaration.
Key features of the EPD Climate Declaration
The EPD Climate Declaration follows the same calculation rules, verification, and presentation format as an EPD. Therefore, EPD Climate Declarations share the same characteristics as EPDs, as summarized below.
Characteristics of EPD Climate Declarations
| Global outreach | Harmonisation of both the organisational and operational EPD work |
|---|---|
| A full life cycle perspective | Product Category Rules (PCR) based on LCA standard ISO 14040 / ISO 14044 and ISO/TS 14027 |
| Open to all products | Open to all possible product categories and product groups, regardless of the environmental performance level |
| Comparability | Consistent climate information across all LCA phases and total climate impact for the same product |
| Transparency and openness | All information about the EPD governance, PCRs, and registered EPDs publicly available on the website |
| Flexible use of environmental impact information | Multiple applications of selected climate information and total climate impact for internal management and external communication |
| Truly independent | Evaluation and control through LCA calculations and EPDs by competent and approved verifiers |
| No individual judgements | Fact-based information for all interested parties to make informed decisions |
Applicability of EPD Climate Declarations
EPD Climate Declarations can be used for a number of applications, such as:
Internal awareness-raising about climate issues.
Background data for the development of climate-adapted products.
Background data for internal strategy decisions.
Background data for climate-adapted purchases.
Description of internal work for climate mitigation in annual reports etc.
Background data for different forms of marketing.