We are thrilled to Introduce our new verification framework for the Hub of Verified Solutions!
Four tiers let suppliers start with the evidence they hold, see what the next stage requires, and build towards a full Life Cycle Assessment.
Water Revolution Foundation has introduced a four-tier verification framework to the Hub of Verified Solutions, the yachting industry’s independent directory of environmental solutions. Suppliers can now enter at the level of evidence they hold today, see what the next tier requires, and build towards a full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) over time.
A full LCA remains the standard the Hub is built around. Tier 4 requirements are unchanged, and all existing verified solutions have transferred at that level. What is new is the route to it.
Until now the Hub had a single-entry point. A solution was listed if it was backed by a completed comparative LCA or an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), and was not listed otherwise. That threshold worked for the companies able to meet it, but this also meant the Hub could only represent the part of the supply chain able to fund a full assessment. Much of what is specified on a yacht comes from smaller manufacturers. Many have started measuring. Few have finished.
The four tiers are:
- Tier 1. Third-party audited data. A check of the supplier’s environmental performance figures.
- Tier 2. Recognised certifications and eco-labels. Established credentials assessed against a published standard by an accredited body.
- Tier 3. Carbon footprint or simplified Life Cycle Assessment. The product’s impact is measured within a declared scope.
- Tier 4. Full Comparative Life Cycle Assessment to ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. The complete method, across multiple impact categories, which requires substantial primary data.
Progression is the point of the structure. Each tier sets out the evidence it requires, so a supplier can see the gap between where they are and the next stage, and what is required to move up. When new evidence is submitted and independently reassessed, the listing is updated and every buyer using the Hub sees the change.
That visibility is what makes improvement worth doing. Environmental work inside a supplier’s business is usually invisible outside it. A reformulated resin, a shorter transport route, a lower scrap rate: the effort is real and nobody downstream ever learns about it. A published tier turns that work into something a customer can see.
We were excluding companies for work they had not finished rather than recognising the work they had done. Now a supplier can be listed for the evidence they hold, see exactly what the next stage asks for, and have that progress show up in front of the people specifying products. Tier 4 is still where we want everyone to get to. The difference is that there is now a way to walk there.”
Awwal Idris, Environmental Expert, Water Revolution Foundation
The structure also reflects standard practice inside Life Cycle Assessment itself. ISO 14044 requires an assessment to declare the quality of the data behind it, including how recent it is and how much uncertainty it carries. Data quality is stated, never assumed. The Hub applies that discipline one level up, making the depth of assessment visible where a buyer is deciding.
Commercial pressure on suppliers has changed shape at the same time. In February 2026 the European Union adopted Directive (EU) 2026/470, narrowing mandatory CSRD reporting to undertakings above 1,000 employees and above €450 million in turnover. Almost no yachting supplier now falls inside that scope. Their customers do, and they must still account for Scope 3 emissions, which are the emissions embedded in what they buy. Where a supplier has no product data, the buyer substitutes a generic emission factor drawn from an average product.
Many suppliers are already making changes, including using different materials, reducing waste and gathering better data. However, their customers cannot see that work until it is backed by a full LCA. We did not want the absence of one assessment to make all that effort invisible. The new tiers give suppliers a recognised place to start, while keeping the route to stronger evidence clear.”
Leah Werner, Executive Director, Water Revolution Foundation
