ISO 26000 Guidance on Social

ResponsibilityStatus December 2012

By Staffan Söderberg December 6, 2012staffan.soderberg@amap.se www.amap.se

Vice Chair Post Publication Organization ISO 26000Former Vice Chair of ISO Working Group on Social Responsibility3 years with WWF Sweden (corporate partnerships, market transformation) 10 years with Skanska (manager environment/sustainability)M.Sc Biology, M.A Human Ecology

A few words on the context in which ISO

26000 was developed

ISO ?• ISO (International Organization for Standardization, www.iso.org) in

Geneva develops voluntary international standards to facilitate trade and communication, since 1947

• ISO and its 163 member bodies has developed approximately 19 000 standards, mainly technical

• ISO has also been successful in management related standards such as – ISO 14001 Environmental Management System

(some 100,000 third party certified companies/organizations?)– ISO 9001 Quality Management System

(some 1,000,000 third party certified companies/organizations?)

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ISO 26000 ? • 2001: Consumer part of ISO initiates the idea of a

new ”CSR” standard

• 2002: ISO launch a consultation

• 2005: Stakeholder based working group on social responsbility (”SR”) is establishedwww.iso.org/wgsr (the former working group)

• 2010 October: ISO 26000 is publishedwww.iso.org/sr (the current ISO-site)

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The process

April 2001 ISO Council requests ISO Committee on Consumer Policy (COPOLCO) to deliberate on the development of CSR standard

May 2001 ISO/COPOLCO Plenary – CSR Feasibility Study

June 2002 ISO/COPOLCO workshop, on Corporate Social Responsibility

Sept. 2002 ISO Council adopts COPOLCO Report and establishes Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) on Social Responsibility

April 2004 Final Report and recommendation from SAG to ISO Technical Management Board (TMB)

June 2004 Stockholm Conference & pre-Conference for Developing Countries

June 2004 ISO TMB decision to proceed with development of ISO SR Guidance Standard

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The process – cont’d

Sept. 2004 ISO TMB assigns leadership responsibilities to ISO member bodies SIS (Sweden) & ABNT (Brazil) – (Twinning)

Oct. 2004 New Work Item Proposal (NP) circulated among ISO MBs

Jan. 2005 Votes : Yes - 29; No – 4On starting the development of a ISO standard (guidance) for SR

Mar. 2005 ISO concludes Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with International Labour Organization (ILO), later UN Global Compact and OECD.

Mar. 2005 1st. Plenary Meeting, Salvador, Brazil: issues papers, CAG, Draft structure

Sept. 2005 2nd. Plenary Meeting, Bangkok, Thailand (co-hosted by Japan): design Specification, 1000 comments on structure, Task Groups 1,2,3,4,5,6 and Editing Committee

May 2006 3rd Plenary Meeting, Lisbon, Portugal: WD1 + 2140 expert comments, TGs4,5,6 Key Topics, Liaison Task Force (LTF) formed

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The process – cont’d (2)

Jan. 2007 4th Plenary Meeting, Sydney, Australia: WD1 + 5176 expert comments, TGs4,5,6 Key Topics, Liaison Key Topics between TG’s4,5,6

Nov. 2007 5th Plenary Meeting, Vienna, Austria: WD3.2 + 7250 expert comments, TG 4,5,6 Key Topics and Liaison Key Topics, LTF closed and to Integrated Drafting Task Force (IDTF)

Sept. 2008 6th Plenary Meeting, Santiago, Chile: WD4.2 + 5225 expert comments

May 2009 7th Plenary Meeting, Québec, Canada: CD + 3411 expert comments

May 2010 8th Plenary Meeting , Copenhagen, Denmark: DIS + 2482 consensus comments

October 2010 ISO 26000 published. Working Group SR disbanded and PPO (post Publication Organization) launched.

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The scope of the ISO 26000(According to the ISO New Work Item Proposal)

• To assist organizations in addressing their social responsibility;

• To provide practical guidance related to operationalizing social responsibility, identifying and engaging with stakeholders, and enhancing credibility of reports and claims made about social responsibility;

• To emphasize performance results and improvement;

• To increase confidence and satisfaction in organizations among their customers and other stakeholders;

• To be consistent with and not in conflict with existing documents, international treaties and conventions and existing ISO standards;

• Not be intended to reduce government's authority to address the social responsibility of organizations;

• To promote common terminology in SR field and broaden awareness of social responsibility.

The initial scope of ISO 26000 in plain language

• Title: Guidance on Social Responsibility • Designation: ISO 26000 (just an available number)• Type of standard: ISO standard providing practical

guidance, not intended for third-party certification• To be applied by all types of organizations, not only for

corporates ”C”SR • Not a management system standard• Not a substitute for legal and other requirements

• Process: to be developed through a stakeholder dialogue

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The Working Group• One national SR-expert from each of the six stakeholder categories:

– Industry, Government, Consumer, Labour, Non-governmental organization (NGO), Service/Support/Research/Others

• 2 experts from each of the Liaison organizations e.g. Consumers International, UN Global Compact, Global Reporting

Initiative, ICC, IOE, ILO, OECD, Social Accountability Int., UNIDO, WBCSD

• In the end the working group, that was set up directly under ISO Technical Management Board, involved approximately 450 experts and 200 observers from 99 countries and 40 international organizations during 8 international plenary meetings handling close to 25 000 written comments.

• Memorandum of Understanding with ILO, UN Global Compact, OECD to structure and facilitate timely flow of information

Organization of the Working Group

CAG Chairs Advisory Group

TG 4Introduction, Scope,

SR context & SR principles

TG 5Guidance on coreSR subjects/issues

EditingCommittee

TG 6Guidance for

organization on implementing SR

Strategic Task Groups Standard Setting Task Groups

ISO/TMB/WG SR

Language Task Forces e.g.• Spanish TranslationTask Force (STTF)• French speaking Task Force (FTF)• Arabic Translation Task Force (ATTF)• Russian Translation Task Force (RTTF)

TG 1Funding and stake-holder engagement

TG 2Communication

TG 3Operationalprocedures

Integrated Drafting

Task Force

ISO/TMB/WG on Social ResponsibilityLeadership Secretariat

Chair : Jorge E.R. Cajazeira (Brazil) Vice-Chair : Staffan Söderberg (Sweden)

Secretary : Kristina Sandberg (Sweden) Co-Secretary : Eduardo Campos de São Thiago (Brazil)

More information on the invididual persons involved in the many sub-groups, please visit:http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/fetch/-8929321/8929339/8929348/3935096/06_contacts/contacts.html

All documents from the project:www.iso.org/wgsr

1. Click and then go to ”SR Home” and ”home.html” to visit the old public websiteOr click HERE

Here you will find all project documents!

Growth

225270

315355

395426 435 450

43 53 64 73 78 84 91 99

24 30 32 34 37 40 42 420

50100150200250300350400450500

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ExpertsCountries (NSBs)D-Liaisons

Stakeholder balance

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IndustrySSROGovernmentNGOConsumerLabour

Gender Balance

61 5863

39 4237

67 66 6562 60

33 34 35 38 40

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%

Regional balance

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Developingcountries

Developedcountries

Some keys to success when we developed ISO 26000

• Spend enough time on developing process consensus around representativeness, decision making, transparency, meeting rules

• Confirm consensus decisions in 177 resolutions through 8 international meetings and more than 100 000 hours of work

• Use regional workshops to engage for example developing countries, and increase participation. Used twinned leadership: co-convene between developed and developing countries

• Include representatives from other important initiatives: e.g. ILO, UN Global Compact, OECD Guidelines, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the Global Reporting Initiative.

• Resolve all 23 083 comments Final vote: 93% in favour

A few words on the content of ISO 26000

ISO 26000, the structure

1. Scope2. Terms and Definitions3. Understanding SR4. Principles of SR5. Recognizing SR and engaging stakeholders6. Guidance on SR core subjects 7. Guidance on integrating SR throughout and organizationAnnex: Examples of voluntary initiatives and tools for SR

100 pages, 7 chapters, 27 definitions, 7 principles, 7 core subjects with 37 issues, 7 steps to integrate

400+ recommendations

Definition of Social Responsibility

responsibility of an organization for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society and the environment, through transparent and ethical behaviour that• contributes to sustainable development, including health and the

welfare of society;• takes into account the expectations of stakeholders;• is in compliance with applicable law and consistent with international

norms of behaviour; and• is integrated throughout the organization and practised in its

relationships

NOTE 1 Activities include products, services and processes.

NOTE 2 Relationships refer to an organization's activities within its sphere of influence (2.19).

Tabl

e oc

Con

tent

s

7 main principles to be kept in mind as a fundamental basis

1. Accountability2. Transparency3. Ethical Behaviour4. Respect for stakeholder interests5. Respect for the rule of law6. Respect for international norms of behaviour7. Respect for humans rights

+ some subject specific principles

7 core subjects to be addressed to find relevant or significant sub-issues

1. Organizational governance2. Human rights3. Labour practices4. The environment5. Fair operating practices6. Consumer issues7. Community involvement and development

37 underlying issues

ISO 26000 is an International Standard that can be volontarily used by all types and sizes of

companies/organizations. It helps you increase your understanding of social

responsibility through agreed definitions, principles, core subjects, methods for integration, stakeholder

engagement and communication.All organizations can behave more socially responsible and use the guidance in ISO 26000 and contribute to current sustainable development towards the future

sustainability of society.

ISO 26000 boilerplate?

A few words on how ISO 26000 is handled

post publication

04/09/2023

Post Publication Organization

• ISO 26000 was published in November 2010

• ISO 26000 Post Publication Organization was established in 2010, by SIS (Sweden) and ABNT (Brazil) upon request from ISO Technical Management Board.

Assess and advise ISO/TMB on any proposals to revise ISO 26000

Advise ISO/CS on requests for interpretation of ISO 26000 from NSBs

Advise ISO/CS on promotion, communication and training activities

Gather information to identify good and bad practices in using ISO 26000, and report to ISO/CS

Review and assess results of the systematic review and advise ISO/TMB.

ISO 26000 PPO Terms of

Reference

1. PPO Secretariat

Secretariat: SIS, Kristina Sandberg

Co-secretariat: ABNT, Eduardo Campos de São Thiago

Chair: appointed by ABNT, Jorge Cajazeira

Vice Chair: appointed by SIS, Staffan Söderberg

PPO Composition

2. PPO Stakeholder Advisory Group (PPO SAG)Members: 38 delegates + 27 alternates+ 4 secretariat

3. PPO National Standards Body Information Network (PPO NIN)

64 members (Chairs and Secretaries) from 36 National Standards Bodies

The PPO Secretariat may call upon other competences as needed, including for example language resources.

PPO Composition (cont. )

1.PPO Secretariat gathers information from PPO SAG and PPO NIN

2. Meetings and communications should be conducted through electronic means as far as possible.

3. One physical meeting per year is often needed.

PPO Way of working

20 Dec. 2010 1st teleconference06 April 2011 2nd teleconference21-22 Nov. 2011 Rio de Janeiro08 Feb. 2012 3rd teleconference21 March 2012 4th teleconference 13 June 2012 5th teleconference13 Sept. 2012 6th teleconference09 Nov. 2012 Geneva

PPO SAG meetings

Surveys:

2011 and 2012 of post publication activities related to ISO 26000

Documents produced:

Operating guidelines for ISO 26000 PPO

ISO 26000 Communication protocol

How the ISO 26000 PPO identifies good examples of ISO 26000

usage and tools

Please contact me or anyone else in PPO or PPO SAG / NIN to

retrieve these documents

PPO activities

Terms of reference, objectives and operational guidance for PPO

The issues of certification, verification, claims

ISO 26000 surveys, adoption in the world

Good and bad examples of how ISO 26000 has been used

Rio+20

International ISO 26000 Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, 2012

Issues discussed in the PPO, examples

A few words on how ISO 26000 is used by

ISO national member bodies- survey 2012

04/09/2023

Survey of ISO 26000 - background

• Developed by the ISO 26000 PPO Leadership in consultation with PPO Stakeholder Advisory Group (PPO SAG)

• Sent by ISO Central Secretariat to all ISO members (163 members) 31 August – 1 October 2012

•Same questions as in the 2011 survey with two exceptions:

– Some additional questions to the developing countries were added by DEVCO

– one additional question on the perceived demand for developing new standard on certification was added

• 74 countries responded (66 in 2011), 64 % were developing countries

• 44 countries (59 %) replied that they have

adopted* ISO 26000 as a national standard

(36 countries in 2011) approximately 50 %

are developing countries

• 17 countries (23 %) responding that they

are planning for/in process of adoption

• 13 counties (17 %) responded

“decided not to” or “not yet decided”

*adopted=made it into a national standard

through its ISO-member body (translated,

available to the market)

Survey 2012: Adoption of ISO 26000 as a national standard

17 % not yet decided/dec. not to –

13 countries

23 % in development – 17 countries

59 % have adopted - 44 countries

60+ adopters and 20+ on their waySurvey 2012 + additional information

Have adopted

In progress

Not adopted

04/09/2023

Interesting changes 2011 – 2012

New Adopted: Algeria, Bolivia, Ecuador, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Korea (Republic of), Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Malawi, Malta, Mexico, Moldova (Republic of), Mongolia, Oman, Panama, Peru, Saint Lucia, South Africa, Spain, USA

New In Progress: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burundi, Dominican Republic, Gabon, Georgia, Indonesia, Jamaica, Macau (China), Montenegro, Poland, Surinam, Swaziland, Vietnam

Early Stages: Myanmar; Buthan

Unsure due to lack of complete data, may have adopted or be in progress:

Cuba. Canada, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria

An interesting regional example: The European Union

• In general: The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) + legislative work has moved an estimated 170 000 national standards to 20 000 European Standards, many of these being ISO-standards.

• ISO 26000: most EU member states have adopted ISO 26000 as a national standard. Possibly not Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg and Slovenia. In addition, Bosnia/Hercegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Turkey has adopted ISO 26000.

• Some examples of EU countries that are particularly active in using ISO 26000 include France, Denmark, Sweden and The Netherlands.

• The European Commission CSR communication refers to ISO 26000

04/09/2023

ISO 26000 is now available in 22 Languages

• Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Mongolian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai

• Possibly also: Italian, Estonian, Hungarian, Chinese

2011: 17 languages

Price

• Range: average 120 Euros

• A lot of money but perhaps acceptable when considering that – more than 450 experts, during 5 years, developed the 100

pages of social responsibility consensus guidance for all types of organizations

– the standard has been properly translated and made available locally

– there is an international and local infrastructure to maintain and develop the standard

• 31 countries responding • More than12.000 copies sold (including from ISO Central Secretariat) • Approximately Japan 3000+, France 2500+, Brazil 1500+, Sweden

800+, Netherlands 750, Costa Rica 400, Norway 400, USA 390, Argentina 200, Czech Republic 200, South Africa 100…

• A number of standards have also been sold through subscriptions to “areas of standardization”, as part of packages or disseminated for free

National Standards:• In addition, some 10 countries offer local standards (approx. 10

guidance standards and 10 certification standards) related to Social Responsibility or Sustainability: France, Austria, Spain, UK, Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, Israel, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Portugal, The Netherlands

• Most of them were created before the publication of ISO 26000 and many are being revised to harmonize with ISO 26000

Number of sold standards locally

04/09/2023

Evolution of interest for ISO 26000

In your opinion, the evolution of the national demand for ISO 26000 from 2010 to 2012 is: increasing, constant or decreasing?

Number of responding countries: 70• Increasing: 59 %• Constant: 38 %• Decreasing: 3 %

04/09/2023

Local Mirror Committees

Does your National Standards Body maintain a local mirror committee on social responsibility or equivalent related to ISO 26000 or related standards or tools?

• Yes: 62 countries 84 % of the respondents (62 % 2011)– They meet in average 2 times/year and have 16 members on average – Seems to be balanced with regard to stakeholder groups with the

exception of “Labour” which is a bit underrepresented

• Note: PPO experience is that there are still local challenges in the definitions of stakeholder, stakeholder categories and the allowing of stakeholders to select their own representatives and act independently

04/09/2023

Need for standard that allows for conformity assessment?

Does your National Standard Body perceive that there is a demand in your country for the development of an new International Standard related to SR that allows conformity assessment?

Please indicate 1,2,3,4 or 5 where 1 is very little interest and 5 is a great interest• Number of responding countries: 68• Average response = 2.8, i.e. medium interest• No difference between developed and developing

NB: There is no current proposal to develop additional SR /ISO 26000 related standards.

04/09/2023

Some PPO conclusions from the 2012 survey

• Growing interest in ISO 26000 world wide

• Growing number of countries that have adopted, especially among developing countries

• Growing number of translations

• Growing number of sold standard but not as many as many as could be expected

• Few cases of use involving mainly companies that wrongfully claim to be “certified according to the requirements in ISO 26000” or using the “ISO 26000 management system”

• Many examples of good use available, e.g. Latin America, Nordic Region, France, The Netherlands, MENA-region, Indonesia and by the European Commission.

A few words on the future of ISO 26000

Systematic review?• Late 2013 there will be a so called systematic review, as for all

standards after 3-5 years, launched by ISO

• ISO Members will be asked whether ISO 26000 should be kept as is, changed, or withdrawn

• ISO CS will discuss the results with many, including PPO

• My personal belief is that ISO will keep ISO 26000 as is for another period. Reason: it is a complex and young standard that needs time to build momentum.

Coming use of ISO 26000?I believe there will be

• a rising number of countries, especially developing, adopting ISO 26000

• a rising number of organizations using ISO 26000 for self-evaluation/catalysm as well as development of sector/size specific tools - without organizations necessarily issuing declarations and statements.

• an increase in national, regional and international harmonization around fewer initiatives, all in order to facilitate trade and communication, and that ISO 26000 will be part of that harmonization

I thank you for your attention

Feel free to contact me if you have additional questions or ideas

Staffan Söderberg

staffan.soderberg@amap.se

www.amap.se