Climate change has been identified as one of the greatest challenges facing nations, governments, business and citizens for the coming decades. Climate change has implications for both human and natural systems and could lead to significant changes in resource use, production and economic activity. In response, international, regional, national and local initiatives are being developed and implemented to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere. Such GHG initiatives rely on the quantification, monitoring, reporting and verification of GHG emissions and/or removals.

The overall aim of GHG validation or verification activities is to give confidence to all parties that rely upon a GHG assertion. The party making the GHG assertion is responsible for conformity with requirements of the relevant standard or GHG program. The validation or verification body is responsible for completing an objective assessment and providing a validation or verification statement concerning the responsible party's GHG assertion based on evidence. This International Standard provides requirements for bodies that undertake GHG validation or verification using ISO 14064-3 or other relevant standards or specifications. It contains a number of principles that these bodies should be able to demonstrate and provides specific requirements that reflect these principles. General requirements relate to matters such as legal and contractual arrangements, responsibilities, the management of impartiality, and issues of liability and financing. Specific requirements include provisions related to structures, resource requirements and competencies, information and records management, validation and verification processes, appeals, complaints and management systems.

This International Standard provides GHG program administrators, regulators, and accreditors with a basis for assessing and recognizing the competence of validation and verification bodies. It can also be used in other ways, such as in peer assessment within groups of validation or of verification bodies or between such groups.