Munich|Dec 8: TÜV SÜD has successfully issued the world’s first PCF Program Certification. Developed as part of the Catena-X and Together for Sustainability (TfS) industry initiatives, the new certification creates an independent, standardised certification procedure for the systems used by companies to calculate their product carbon footprint (PCF) for the first time. To ensure methodological consistency, the certification is based on the PCF calculation and data-exchange specifications of the Partnership for Carbon Transparency (PACT), the globally recognised framework developed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). This is considered an important milestone on the path to achieving comparable, trustworthy and interoperable climate data along global value chains.
The focus is on the PACT methodology. It defines how carbon footprints should be calculated and exchanged uniformly and transparently across companies and industries. TÜV SÜD has confirmed that a company’s internal systems, calculation methods and data management processes can reliably generate and manage PCF values in accordance with this methodology. “This certification is an important step toward trusted, decision-useful climate data,” said Naama Avni Kadosh, Director of PACT. “By using the PACT Methodology as the standard for evaluation, TÜV SÜD is helping companies generate reliable, comparable PCFs that support credible reporting, meet emerging regulatory requirements, and enable smarter, more informed business decisions.”
Unlike established, non-scalable verifications of CO₂ footprints for individual products, PCF Program Certification does not evaluate individual data sets, but rather the system as a whole behind data creation. This creates a new level of quality for climate data comparable to that of a certified management system, forming the basis for reliable, trustworthy emission data. At the same time, PCF Program Certification is explicitly designed to be scalable. Certification typically applies to all PCFs calculated within a company, greatly facilitating downstream individual value verification.
“From calculation to credibility – that is precisely our claim,” says Dr Jonas Johannisson, expert for sustainable supply chains at TÜV SÜD and head of the international working group that developed the certification standard on behalf of the industry. “Many companies already have extensive data on the carbon footprint of their products. However, trust can only be established when this data has been verifiably checked and compiled according to uniform standards, both internally and externally. PCF Program Certification ensures this credibility, thereby creating the basis for regulatory compliance and reliable sustainability communication.”
The first PCF program to be successfully certified comes from specialty chemicals manufacturer RUDOLF, which fully meets the requirements of PCF Program Certification. RUDOLF has developed an ERP-based system that digitally and transparently maps the entire PCF determination process – from data collection and calculation to quality assurance. In addition, the certified PCF Program demonstrably improves the company’s internal data quality and carbon data management, which is a key advantage adressed by the certification across the industry. By successfully completing of this certification, RUDOLF has demonstrated how climate impact data can be made comparable, verifiable, and securely exchangeable in the future, for example within networks such as Catena-X or TfS.
PCF Program Certification marks a paradigm shift as it assesses not individual values, but the underlying system that determines them, thereby fostering trust in those values. This enables companies not only to report their emissions data and substantiate it credibly through independent, external certification. TÜV SÜD thus closes the gap between CO₂ calculation for entire product portfolios and trust, making a key contribution to the digitisation, standardisation and transparency of climate data in industry. As an independent certifier, TÜV SÜD awards the certificate in accordance with the Catena-X and TfS PCF Verification and PCF Program Certification Framework, applying the PACT Methodology.
The certification process typically includes document reviews, a digital or on-site audit, and a final assessment of any corrective measures. The average project duration is around two months.
Following the completion of the pilot certification, TÜV SÜD will offer PCF Program Certification worldwide. This will help companies prepare their internal structures for upcoming EU sustainability legislation and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requirements, while also strengthening customer, partner and regulatory authority confidence in published climate data.
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