ISO/FDIS 14019-1

ISO/TC 207/SC 2
Secretariat: UNI
Date: 2025-05-2808-19
Sustainability information —
Part 1:
General principles and requirements for validation and verification
Informations sur laen matière de durabilité —
Partie 1: Principes généraux et exigences pour laleur validation et laleur vérification
FDIS stage
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Published in Switzerland
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Contents
Foreword . v
Introduction . vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
3.1 Terms related to sustainability information . 1
3.2 Terms used in the validation and verification of declared sustainability information . 4
3.3 Terms related to entities involved in declared sustainability information validation and
verification . 10
4 Principles for the validation/verification process . 13
4.1 General . 13
4.2 Evidence-based approach and sampling . 13
4.3 Consistency and documentation . 13
4.4 Impartiality . 13
4.5 Competence and capacity . 14
4.6 Confidentiality . 14
4.7 Integrity . 14
4.8 Fair presentation . 14
4.9 Due professional care . 14
4.10 Professional judgement . 14
5 Declared sustainability information . 15
5.1 General . 15
5.2 Quantitative and qualitative information . 16
5.3 Difference between data and information . 17
6 Assurance opinions and other deliverables . 17
6.1 General . 17
6.2 Assurance opinion . 17
6.3 Mixed engagements. 18
6.4 Development of the deliverable and its format . 18
7 Validation/verification programme . 19
7.1 General . 19
7.2 Description of the declared sustainability information . 19
7.3 Specified requirements and criteria applying to the declared sustainability information20
7.4 Specified requirements and criteria for executing the validation/verification . 21
7.5 Rules and procedures and competence for validation/verification activities . 21
7.6 Categories of validation/verification deliverables . 21
8 Validation and verification processes . 22
Annex A (informative) Terminology comparison between conformity assessment (ISO/IEC) and
assurance (ISSA 5000) . 23
Annex B (informative) Intended users and interested parties . 24
Annex C (informative) Declared sustainability information . 28
Annex D (informative) Deliverables from validation and verification activities . 34
Annex E (informative) Assurance statements and assurance opinions . 36
Annex F (informative) Reference to validation/verification and validation/verification marks 46
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Annex G (informative) Examples of reports of factual findings (AUP reports) . 48
Annex H (informative) Evaluation of information from artificial intelligence systems . 52
Bibliography . 53

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Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through
ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been
established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and
non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described
in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of
ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a)
patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights
in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s)
which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not
represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at
www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions
related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 207, Environmental management,
Subcommittee SC 2, Environmental auditing and related practices, in collaboration with the European
Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/CLC/JTC 1, Criteria for conformity assessment
bodies, in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement),
and in collaboration with ISO/CASCO, Committee on conformity assessment.
A list of all parts in the ISO 14019 series can be found on the ISO website.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.
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Introduction
0.1  With increasing public demand and advancing legal provisions (regulatory and contractual) for
declarations, disclosures and reporting of sustainability information, there is a significant market need for the
validation, verification and assurance of this information.
0.2  Standards are needed for both:
a) identifying metrics and indicators, monitoring, compiling, reporting, declaring and disclosing information
about sustainability matters (including environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters);
b) harmonized approaches to validation/verification and assurance of that information.
Validated and verified sustainability information can be used for decision-making, including investment
decisions, procurement decisions, or individual choices during consumer purchasing, the use of services and
decisions on where to work.
0.3  In this document, the sustainability information that is declared by a responsible party is the object of
the validation or /verification. Validation and /verification bodies assess the declared sustainability
information for its conformity with, and fulfilment of, ‘specified requirements and criteria’criteria.
0.4  Specified requirements and criteria are set by a validation/verification programme, which can be a
mandatory regulatory reporting programme, or a voluntary programme for a specific sector or sustainability
matter. The result of a completed validation/verification can be the provision of an assurance opinion which
attests that:
a) the specified requirements and criteria have been fulfilled;
b) the reasonableness of the assumptions, limitations and methods that support declared sustainability
information about a future outcome has been validated;
c) the material correctness and fair representation of historical data and information has been verified.
NOTE The primary outcome of validation/verification activities in accordance with the ISO 14019 series is an
assurance opinion. In addition, the ISO 14019 series allows for alternative non-assurance outcomes or deliverables. The
deliverable chosen for each specific validation/verification activity (i.e. an assurance opinion or a non-assurance
deliverable) is specified in the relevant validation/verification programme and confirmed between the
validation/verification body and its client in a specific engagement agreement. Non-assurance deliverables include
reports of factual findings based on agreed-upon procedures (AUP) reports, findings reports and evidence reports. These
non-assurance deliverables can be appropriate for situations where an assurance opinion is not required (e.g. in
voluntary or internal reporting, reporting from organizations upstream or downstream in the value chain, for small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in situations where capacity building is being undertaken, when the expense of an
assurance opinion is prohibitive (see Annex D for more information).
0.5  The overall aim of validation/verification is to give confidence to intended users that the declared
sustainability information is fairly stated, can be used for the defined purpose and fulfils specified
requirements and criteria. This confidence is provided through an impartial validation/verification process
undertaken by a competent validator/verifier.
0.6  Parties that have an interest in validation/verification include, but are not limited to:
a) clients of validation/verification bodies;
b) validation/verification programme owners and other developers of standards;
c) regulatory authorities;
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d) intended users of validated/verified declared sustainability i
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