ISO Announces New ESG Implementation Principles to Be Used Around the Globe
The International Organization for Standardization has introduced its new ISO ESG Implementation Principles-a totally comprehensive framework enabling companies across the globe to improve their level of ESG integration, performance, measurement, and reporting. The international standard comes at a very important time when the business world is being held under increasing scrutiny around ESG practices in an ongoing shift in the regulatory environment and varied reporting standards.
In light of and in conjunction with increasing stricter compliance measures driven by frameworks such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, the UK’s Modern Slavery Act, and the ISSB’s IFRS S1 and S2 disclosure requirements, ISO principles address an emerging need for uniformity and clarity in sustainability reporting. These principles look to structure sustainability reporting in a standardized manner on the part of all organizations, regardless of their sectors or sizes-small businesses, multinational corporations, ESG consultants, academic institutions, research bodies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The new principles, according to ISO’s statement, have been designed so that it would bring about effective and transparent sustainability practices. New principles enable organizations to achieve their goals for ESG, regardless of a company’s current standing. Such an initiative reflects ISO’s commitment toward aligning with global frameworks to make sustainability practices and, at the same time, empowering organizations to set up their KPIs, integrate existing ESG requirements, and evaluate their maturity level in ESG practices.
The principles are designed to address various primary aims, such as enhancing the management of ESG performance, ensuring consistency in measurement and reporting, and allowing for comparison across jurisdictions and sectors. They are set to promote interoperability by aligning with existing standards for disclosure, thus supporting global consistency in ESG reporting. In ISO’s words, this harmonization will allow organizations to transparently report their sustainability efforts to various stakeholders, including governments, investors, and consumers.
Sergio Mujica, ISO Secretary General said, “ISO’s ESG implementation principles will foster a lasting culture of ESG that will bring real value to organizations, governments, investors, and consumers. These guidelines will speed up the adoption of sustainable business practices because it benefits diverse communities and the environment.”.
The development of the ISO ESG Implementation Principles was undertaken through extensive collaboration with national standards bodies, including the British Standards Institution, the Standards Council of Canada, and the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards. Indeed, over 1,900 experts from some 70 countries chipped in on this framework, ensuring thus that a given set of considerations comprising comprehensive, or all-rounded, sustainability practices had been put together.
Susan Taylor Martin, Group Chief Executive of BSI, commented on the prospects of the framework. She said: “I am pleased that BSI has co-led the development of these Implementation Principles in order to help organizations of all types embed ESG in a measurable and consistent way. This can help society drive real change in areas including emissions, biodiversity protection, mobilizing green investments and fostering inclusivity, and ultimately can help accelerate progress towards a fair society and sustainable world.”.
The ISO ESG Implementation Principles will empower organizations to address critical environmental and social challenges as they align strategies for sustainability with the world’s best practices. The principles are now available on the ISO website, ready to help businesses and institutions everywhere take their ESG ambitions to the next level and contribute to a sustainable future.