RIO 20 Forging Action With Agreement

8/3/2019 RIO 20 Forging Action With Agreement

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Rio+20How ISO standardstranslate good intentionsabout sustainabilityinto concrete resultsForging actionfrom agreement

International

Organization for

Standardization


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ISO business, government

and society on the same team

Since the Earth Summit in 1992, voluntary ISO

International Standards, developed through the strength

of consensus among s takeholders from business, govern-

ment and society, have provided tools for translating the

global desire for a sustainable world into practical actions

that achieve positive results.

ISOs current portfolio of more than 18 600 s tandards

provides solutions in all three dimensions of sustainable

development environmental, economic and societal.

What makes ISO the International Organization for

Standardization so effective is that it provides a non-

political, non-partisan platform where standards are

developed through open, transparent processes by rep-

resentatives of the people that need them, implement

them, are affected by t hem and who can review and

continually improve the results of their implementation.

Agreements reached at events like the Earth Summit

and the for thcoming Rio+20 at the intergovernmental

level, between public and private sectors , and with civil

Rio+20


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society still need to be translated into practical actions

that can be implemented worldwide.

ISO is where expert representatives from these stake-

holder categories work together to develop globally

relevant standards that provide concrete responses for

tackling the challenges facing the international community.

ISO is where people from around the world who want to

make a positive difference put on the same team colours

and strive to forge tools for transforming global agree-

ment and willpower into global action.

ISO standards in action

Before a concise description of ISO and how it works,

here are some examples of achievements by the interna-

tional community, represented at Rio+20, working within

the ISO system. The examples illustrate how ISO stand-

ards serve as tools in the three dimensions of sust ainable

development. Further examples, including the experience

of users of ISO standards, can be accessed on the ISO

Website, under ISO magazines .

Talk is good.

Talk followed by action is bet ter.

Action followed by positive results is best.

ISO enables positive results.


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EnvironmentEnvironmental managementOne of the concrete results following on from the United

Nations Conference on Environment and Development,

in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992, was the development by ISO

of the ISO 14000 family of st andards for environmental

management which translates into action ISOs commit-

ment to support the objec tive of sustainable development

discussed at the first Earth Summit.

In essence, the ISO 14000 family provides a framework

for organizations large and small, in manufacturing and

services, in public and private sectors, in industrialized,

developing and transition economies, to :

Minimize harmful effects on the environment

caused by their activities

Meet regulatory requirements

Achieve continual improvement of their environ-

mental performance Improve business performance through more effi-

cient use of resources.


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Has the ISO 14000 family actually made a difference ?

The increasing number of users is an important element

in the answer. At end of December 2009, 13 years after

publication of the first edition of ISO 14001, which

gives the requirements for environmental management

systems, the standard was being implemented by users in

159 countries and economies. These include both public

and private sector organizations, large and small, in

manufacturing and services, in developed and develop-

ing economies.

Case studies on how ISO 14001 has been imple-

mented around the world, in the users own words,

are available free of charge on the ISO Website at :

www.iso.org/iso/iso-magazines .

In addition to ISO 14001, the ISO 14000 family includes

24 other standards addressing specific challenges such as

life cycle analysis, environmental labelling and greenhouse

gases (see next s ection).


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Climate change

The ISO 14064:2006 and ISO 14065:2007 standards

provide an internationally agreed framework for measur-

ing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and verifying claims

made about them so that a tonne of carbon is always a

tonne of c arbon . They suppor t programmes to reduce

GHG emissions and also emissions trading programmes.

Beyond their welcome by the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change, they are now being imple-

mented on a day-to-day basis by users as varied as a

New Zealand printer, a Norwegian shipping company, anIndian construction company and the Spanish organization

that is one of the worlds largest transport infrastruc ture

providers.


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ISO and the environment

The ISO 14000 family is the most visible part of ISOs

work for the environment. In addition, however, ISO offers

a wide-ranging portfolio of standardized sampling, testing

and analytical methods to deal with specific environmental

challenges. It has developed more than 650 International

Standards for the monitoring of such aspect s as the quality

of air, water, soil and nuclear radiation. These s tandards

are tools for providing business and government with

scientifically valid data on the environmental effects of

economic activity. They may also be used as the technicalbasis for environmental regulations. Other environment-

related work includes standards for designing buildings, or

retrofitting existing ones, for improved energy efficiency.


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ISO standards provide solutions and achieve benefits for

almost all sectors of activity, including agriculture, con-

struction, mechanical engineering, manufacturing, distribu-

tion, transport, healthcare, information and communication

technologies, food, water, the environment, energy, quality

management, conformity assessment and services.

Efficiency, effectiveness, innovation

These standards contribute to sustainable economic

development by increasing efficiency, effectiveness and,

therefore, conserving resources. They keep the wheels ofindustry turning by providing specifications, dimensions,

requirements and testing and maintenance regimes for

engineering, construction, production and distribution.

They ensure compatibility and interoperability of the

information and communications technologies that have

become the backbone of almost every sector.

They speed up the time to market and diffusion of prod-ucts and services derived from innovation, such as nano-

technologies and vehicles powered by electrical bat teries

or hydrogen. They facilitate trade, providing a basis for

Economy


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agreement between business partners and the technical

support for regulation.

Economic benefits

A German study has found that the economic benefits

of standardization represent about 1 % of gross domestic

product, while a study in the United Kingdom showed that

standards make an annual contribution of GBP 2.5 billion

to the economy, and attributed 13 % of the growth in

labour productivity to standards.

Es t im a te s b y t h e O rg a n i sa t i o n f o r Eco n o m ic

Co-operat ion and Development (OECD) and the

US Department of Commerce both show that standards

and related conformity assessment (checking that products

and services measure up to standards) have an impact on

80 % of the worlds trade in commodities. It is therefore

not surprising that the World Trade Organization (WTO)

requires its members to use international standards ofthe type developed by ISO in order t o avoid the technical

barriers to trade that can be caused by differing national

or regional standards.


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Management standards

ISO 14001, referred to above, is a management sys-

tem standard like the pioneer in this field, ISO 9001 for

quality management. These are among ISOs best-known

standards and are thoroughly integrated with the global

economy. At the end of 200 9, there were at least a mil-

lion users of ISO 9001 alone in 178 countries. Beyond

their immediate objectives of helping organizations large

and small to improve, respectively, environmental and

quality management performance, they are widely used

to establish confidence between business partners, as acondition to participate in global supply chains, and to

qualify to tender for procurement contracts.

The management system approach pioneered by

ISO 9001 and further developed by ISO 14001 has since

been followed by other standards for the needs of specific

sectors, or to address specific issues.


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They include :

Information security(ISO/IEC 27001)

Food safety(ISO 22000)

Supply chain security(ISO 28000)

Energy management (ISO 50001) and

Road traffic safety management (ISO 39001

under development).

Although the ISO 31000 standard for risk managementis not a management system standard, it shares with this

category the attribute of being generic, providing benefits

for any organization in public or private secto r.

These benefits may be economic, environmental or

societal, making it an import ant tool for sus tainability.


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SocietyISO standards help governments, civil society and thebusiness world to translate societal aspirations, such as

for social responsibility, health, and safe food and water,

into concrete realizations. In so doing, they support the

United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Social responsibility

1 November 2010 saw the publication of ISO 26000

which gives organizations guidance on social responsibil-

ity, with the objective of sustainability. The standard was

eagerly awaited, as shown by the fact that a mere fourmonths after its publication, a Google search resulted in

nearly five million references to the st andard.

This indicates there is a global expectation for organiza-

tions in both public and private sectors to be responsible

for their actions, to be transparent, and behave in an

ethical manner. ISO 2600 0, developed with the engage-

ment of experts from 99 countries, the majority fromdeveloping economies, and more than 40 international

organizations will help move from good intentions about

social responsibility to good action.


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Health

ISO offers more than 1 200 standards for facilitating

and improving healthcare. These are developed within

19 ISO technical committees addressing specific aspects

of healthcare that bring together health practitioners and

experts from government, industry and other stakeholder

categories. Some of the topics addressed include health

informatics, laboratory equipment and testing, medical

devices and their evaluation, dentistry, sterilization of

healthcare products, implants for surgery, biological

evaluation, mechanical contraceptives, prosthetics andorthotics, quality management and protecting patient data.

They provide benefits for researchers, manufacturers,

regulators, healthcare professionals, and, most important

of all, for patients. The World Health Organization is a

major stakeholder in this work, holding liaison status with

61 of ISOs health-related technical commit tees (TCs) or

subcommittees (SCs).


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Food

There are some 1 000 ISO food-related standards ben-

efitting producers and manufacturers, regulators and

testing laboratories, packaging and transport companies,

merchants and retailers, and the final consumer. In recent

years, there has been strong emphasis on standards to

ensure safe food supply chains. At the end of 2009, only

four years after the publication of ISO 22000, the stand-

ard was being implemented by users in 127 countries.

At least 13 880 certificates of conformity, attesting

that food safety management systems were being imple-

mented according to the requirements of the standard,

had been issued, an increase of more than 69 % over the

previous year.

The level of inter-governmental interest in ISOs

food standards is shown by the fact that the UNs Food

and Agriculture Organizations has liaison status with

41 ISO TCs or SCs.


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Water

The goals of safe water and improved sanitation are

ingrained in the UN Millennium Development Goals. ISO

is contributing through the development of standards for

both drinking water and wastewater services and for water

quality. Related areas addressed by ISO include irrigation

systems and plastic piping through which water flows.

In all, ISO has developed more than 430 water-related

standards. A major par tner in standards for water quality

is the United Nations Environment Programme.


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ISO the standards

ISOs voluntary standards ensure desirable character-

istics such as quality, environmental friendliness, safety,

reliability, efficiency, effectiveness, interchangeability and

interoperability and at an economical cost. Standards

can be applied to products, services, materials and pro-

cesses, as well as to personnel. These strategic tools are

based on consensus on definitions, measurements, met-

rics for testing and other parameters. ISO International

Standards distil international expertise and best practice

and are regularly reviewed to ensure they are at the stateof the art.

ISO the organization

ISO a network of the national standards institutes of

more than 160 countries in all regions of the word, a

majority of which are developing or transitional economies.

Although ISO is nongovernmental, many of its members

are either part of the governmental structure in their

countries, or have a mandate from their governments to

engage in standardization. Still others are completely pri-

vate sector bodies originating from industrial associations.

ISO in brief


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As a result, ISO has a unique position as a bridge

between public and private sectors enabling it to chan-

nel input from a broad range of stakeholder groups into

standards and to ensure that these benefit business, gov-

ernment and society at large.

ISO the system

ISO launches the development of new st andards in

response to sectors and stakeholders that express a clearly

established need for them.

ISO standards are developed by technical committees,(subcommittees or project committees) comprising experts

from the industrial, technical and business sectors which

have asked for the standards and which subsequently

put them to use. These experts may be joined by repre-

sentatives of government agencies, testing laboratories,

consumer associations, nongovernmental organizations,

academia and other stakeholders.

Experts participate as national delegations, chosen by

the ISO national member body for the country concerned.

National delegations are required to represent not just

the views of the organizations in which their participating

experts work, but those of other s takeholders too.


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Most ISO members have some form of public review pro-

cedures for making proposed work items and draft standards

known and available for comment by interested par ties.

A wide cross-section of stakeholders including indus-

try, regulators and consumer representatives participate

in the process of developing ISO International Standards

which distil international expertise and best practice.

ISO standards are based on consensus, which is defined

as the absence of sustained opposition. Sometimes per-

ceived as technocratic, standardization as practised by ISO

is, in fact, based on one of the oldest of human activities :

people communicating with people until they agree, This

is the right thing to do !

ISOs public and private sector

team-mates

ISO collaborates with its partners in international stand-

ardization, the International Electrotechnical Commission

and the International Telecommunication Union.

ISO has a close relationship with the World Trade

Organization (WTO) which particularly appreciates the

contribution of ISOs standards to reducing technical

barriers to trade (TBT). ISO standards are developed in


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conformity with the WTO TBT principles of transparency,

openness, impartiality and consensus, effectiveness and

relevance, and coherence, and addressing the concerns

of developing countries.

ISO collaborates with the United Nations (UN) system

and its specialized agencies and commissions, particularly

those involved in the harmonization of regulations and pub-

lic policies, such a s : CODEX Alimentarius Commission, the

UN Economic Commission for Europe, the World Health

Organization, and the International Maritime Organization.

In addition, ISO cooperates with UN organizations that

provide assistance and support to developing countries,

such as the United Nations Conference on Trade and

Development, the United Nations Indust rial Development

Organization, and the International Trade Centre.

ISOs technical committees have formal liaison relations

with over 700 international and regional organizations.

ISO has reinforced its links, too, with internationalorganizations representing different groups of stakehold-

ers, including : the World Economic Forum, Consumers

International, the World Business Council for Sustainable

Development, and the International Federation of

Standards Users.


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Whats new, whats coming next

Since the original Earth Summit, many more peo-

ple are now in agreement that achieving sustainability

requires global, holistic and practical solutions. This iswhy ISO International Standards are proving increasingly

attractive. In addition, in response to demand from the

international community, the scope of ISOs standards is

continually increasing.

New standards published in recent years or under devel-

opment address challenges as varied as social respon-

sibility, information and societal security, responseto climate change, energy efficiency and renewable

resources, sust ainable building design and operation, fair

and transparent contract procurement, water services,

nanotechnologies, intelligent transport systems, food

safety management and health informatics.

In the next few years, ISO will be able to offer s tandards

including on the carbon footprint of products, asset man-agement, energy savings, human resource management,

natural gas fuelling stations for vehicles, outsourcing,

the safety of amusement park attractions, and biogas.


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From good intentions to concrete results

Taking stock 20 years after the Ear th Summit, ISO can

point to having developed many practical tools to help the

international community tackle the challenges of sustain-ability. At the same time, the organization is not resting

on its laurels, as the above list of new projects, which is

constantly being updated and added to, demonstrates.

But the purpose of this brochure is not to brag about

ISO. The organization has no claim to superiority over

other organizations that are concerned about sustain-

ability. The purpose is to suggest modestly what makesISO different.

ISO is where people from business, government and civil

society work together on the same team and get down to

developing practical, global solutions to the global chal-

lenge of sustainability facing our planet.


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How to keep up to speed

ISOs portfolio of standards is in constant evolution with

around 1 000 new or revised standards published each year.

To keep up to date with developments , visit the ISO Websitewww.iso.org regularly and consider subscribing to RSS

feeds on the areas you are interested in. When significant

new standards are published, ISO usually dedicates a press

release to them and may, in addition, publish brochures

and/or Website sections giving more information. Examples

are sections dedicated to Management and leadership

standards such as ISO 2600 0 (social responsibility), ISO9001 (quality management), ISO 14001 (environmental

management), etc.

In addition, there is a Hot topics section which com-

piles press releases, articles and presentations on subjects

including : accessibility, climate change, energy, health

informatics, nanotechnologies, social responsibility and

sustainable development.

Additional material is constantly being made available

on new standards such as ISO 500 01 (energy manage-

ment including a video and multimedia news release)

and ISO 14067 (carbon footprint of product s).


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ISO Central Secretariat

1, ch. de la Voie-Creuse

Case postale 56

CH-1211 Genve 20

Switzerland

Tel. +41 22 749 01 11

Fax +41 22 733 34 30

E-mail [email protected]

Web www.iso.org

ISO 2011-08/2 000

All rights reserved

ISBN 978-92-67-10555-0

International

Organization forStandardization

RIO 20 Forging Action With Agreement

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