The FAQ explains how the score works, what the indicators mean, and how to interpret the environmental, circularity, and health results.
To assess and score the footprints the Nature Impact Score uses both quantitative (measured) data and This data is attributed to parameters that are assessed and scored per footprint and averaged into a final score.
These are calculated using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) or LCA Lite data. The assessment of a product may be done with data that covers:
Products assessed only on Cradle to Gate data receive a penalty in the final score to adjust for transport not included in the assessed data.
The following seven impact categories are assessed:
These impact categories were selected by the NIS Board of Experts because they are widely relevant and strongly linked to environmental and health impacts.
The impact of each category is calculated per kilogram of product and scored to predefined thresholds (very low to very high). The threshold values are determined based on a material index maintained by GSES.
Additionally scored quantitative data relates to materials used in a product and include:
The Nature Impact Score also includes qualitative Yes/No indicators related to the product and the manufacturer, examples of these are policies that promote waste reduction or circular product design.
Each of the three footprints is scored separately and then averaged into one final percentage. That percentage determines the colour level shown on the label.
Percentage range: | Level |
0-4.33% | 1 (red) |
4.33 – 24.33% | 2 (orange) |
24.33–44.33% | 3 (yellow) |
44.33–64.33% | 4 (light green) |
64.33–84.33% | 5 (green) |
84.33–100% | 6 (dark green) |
Producing and transporting products almost always has a negative impact on the environment. The Nature Impact Score scores that impact — from raw material extraction to production and sale.
The NIS is based on several environmental and circularity indicators. All indicators used to calculate a product’s score are shown below the Nature Impact Score on the product page.
Because the score is an average of three different footprints, each based on multiple indicators, there is no single fixed meaning for each colour level. It is therefore important to review the detailed impact data when making informed decisions.
In general:
This means that products with a higher score have a lower average negative environmental impact during production and transport compared to products with a lower score.
Please note that the Environmental and Health Footprints of the Nature Impact Score only cover material extraction, production and transport, and do not include the product’s use phase.
The NIS defines environmental impact of a product as follows:
For all the measured indicators we refer to the NIS handbook.
Within the NIS, a higher score indicates a lower measured impact based on the selected indicators and methodology. However, a high score does not mean a product is sustainable or has a zero or near-zero footprint.
The NIS reflects environmental impact calculated according to defined metrics which may be based on global average (secondary) data.
A product does not need to have a zero or near-zero footprint to receive a Nature Impact Score.
A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) serves as a comprehensive tool for evaluating the environmental impacts of products, services, companies, or processes across their entire life cycles.
By considering factors such as raw material extraction, manufacturing, and distribution. LCAs enable informed decision-making towards sustainable practices and resource optimization.
LCAs are a standardized evaluation method based on ISO 14040 and ISO 14044.
The Nature Impact Score and LCA are neither comparable nor interchangeable.
The Nature Impact Score (NIS) uses – besides other indicators – the results of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to calculate a standardized sustainability rating that indicates a product’s impact on environmental and human health.
With that the NIS is a rating system intended to support informed decision-making that interprets LCA-based data and other indicators in a structured and comparable way
The indicators scored in the NIS are chosen based on the advice of Technical Commission and Board of Experts that govern the Nature Impact Score with the goal to provide a rating system to support informed sustainable decision-making.
A standard Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) typically includes 16 environmental . The Nature Impact Score includes seven of these impact categories considered broadly relevant and linked to environmental and social costs. For the NIS the LCA impact categories that contributed the most value to the Environment Cost Indicator were selected. As such, indicators that did not heavily influence the Environmental Cost Indicators were not chosen for the Nature Impact Score system. Another consideration was how prevalent these indicators are in terms of public awareness.
Excluded LCA impact categories are for example, Land Use and Ozone Depletion. Certain excluded categories may be deemed relevant for specific product types by NIS users.
Other indicators that are currently excluded, either due to data availability issues or lack of concrete measurement methods, include biodiversity impacts and exposure impacts on human health.
The Category Average Nature Impact Score represents the average percentage score of verified products within the same product category in the GSES database, which is a digital repository of products with a Nature Impact Score.
Product categories follow the Global Product Classification (GPC) system of GS1 and are structured in four levels:
Minimum Sample Size
A category level must contain at least 25 verified products to calculate an average.
If fewer than 25 verified products are available at a level, the calculation moves up one level in the hierarchy (brick → class → family → segment).
If none of the levels contain at least 25 verified products, no category average is calculated.
The category average is based on the percentage score, not the letter or colour grade. The average is set once per year.
If a product scores higher than its applicable category average, a 10% uplift is applied to its Nature Impact Score according to the NIS methodology.
The Nature Impact Score may be based on global average data, a manufacturer’s certificates or a manufacturer’s LCA/EPD or a combination of the three. It gives context to a product’s sustainability characteristics and thus allows products to be measured, benchmarked, selected, improved, or avoided for sustainability.
When using global average data manufacturers declare the list of materials and their weights used in the product. The impact of those materials is derived from secondary data sources, such as life cycle inventories or official reports about circularity rates. This means that the calculations of the impact indicators are based on internationally averaged information about material sourcing, energy use, and emissions. Instead of measuring every single process locally.
Only well-known Life Cycle Inventory Databases for Life Cycle Analysis (LCAs) of materials are used, which present a global average value of the impact of materials from cradle to gate. This database is also used for transport-related emissions. A 20% raise is applied to all the impact data to adjust for regional variability. Circular Footprint data comes from statistical databases, reports, and academic journals for the end-of-life processing of various materials. Here, a 20% reduction is applied to account for generalizations and regional variability.
Level 1 – Based on third-party reviewed LCA or EPD data
Level 2 – Combination of primary (supplier-specific) and secondary data
Level 3 – Based fully on global average (secondary) data
All Nature Impact Scores publicly communicated must be ‘verified’. A Product gets the status ‘verified’ when the verification process has been finalized by a third-party certification institution.
The verification is carried out in accordance with the principles and requirements of the international verification standard ISO 17029, ensuring:
For a product to get the ‘verified’ status the third-party certification institution needs to verify the correctness and completeness of the uploaded data and evidence. Subsequently the Certification Institution verifies the correct calculation of the NIS.
It is important to note that the score is dependent of the version of the NIS standard a product is verified on. The score for the same product but calculated with an earlier or later version of the NIS Standard may differ.
No, the Nature Impact Score does not reflect the quality of the materials used in the products nor the final product. The Nature Impact Score represents the environmental and health impacts that the product has on the planet. Even a product with a low rating may possess positive elements that the retailers/wholesalers/brands aim to enhance gradually.
Thus, the higher the score of the product, the lower the negative impact of the product on the environment.
A full LCA requires primary, or supplier-specific data wherever possible. Primary data refers to data collected directly from the actual manufacturer or supplier of a product, such as real energy use, material inputs, and process emissions.
This data reflects the product’s actual production conditions. Secondary or global average data, on the other hand, consists of generic industry-average datasets from recognized LCA databases. While supplier-specific data provides higher accuracy and differentiation, global data offers a standardized and comparable baseline when primary data cannot be obtained.
Products or components lacking measurement, verification, or validation will not display a score. This ensures only relevant information is presented.
Yes, the Nature Impact Score can evolve through adjustments in material, packaging, production processes, and expanded measurement, verification, and validation efforts.
For a NIS to change a product needs to be reverified.
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