03. April 2024

ISO introduces climate change requirements to management standards

With the London Declaration, ISO made a commitment to combat climate change through standardization, and requirements for climate considerations are now being implemented in management standards.

ISO and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) have decided to include climate change requirements from February 2024 in all existing requirement standards regarding management systems, including standards that are being developed or revised. This new step is in line with the ISO London Declaration on Climate Change and will encourage organizations to actively consider the relevance of climate change in relation to their context and stakeholder requirements.

- Because nearly all organizations and end-users can relate to climate change and related challenges, we will look into to what extent this is relevant for companies and their stakeholders, and thus whether and how climate change will be addressed through the management system, says Kasper Hillgaard Mühlbach, Chief Consultant at Danish Standards.

Certified organizations must take notice

Organizations certified to management system standards are encouraged to take notice of the changes at an early stage and to ensure that they implement climate change considerations into their management practices. For certified companies, IAF has published guidelines for both accreditation bodies and certification bodies. Find them here: IAF and ISO Publish Joint Communiqué - IAF

In addition, Auditing Practices Group (APG) is in the process of drafting a guide for companies and auditors, which will include descriptions to help users understand the new requirements. The intent is to address climate challenges in the management system standards, while maintaining the original scope.