In response to the rising concerns regarding climate change, the International Standards Organisation (ISO) has taken a major step forward to make it a key consideration for certified companies.
The Affected Standards
The ISO standards affected by these updates include ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, ISO 27001:2022, ISO 45001:2015 ISO 22301:2019, and ISO 50001:2018.
The Updates
To boost organisational awareness and continual improvement to climate change, ISO has introduced two key changes within Clause 4:
Original Clause: 4.1: “Understanding the organisation and its context. The organisation shall determine external and internal issues that are relevant to its purpose and that affect its ability to achieve the intended result(s) of its management system.”
This clause now includes the statement: “The organisation shall determine whether climate change is a relevant issue.”
Original Clause: 4.2: Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties. The organisation shall determine:
• The interested parties that are relevant to the management system.
• The relevant requirements of these interested parties.
• Which of these requirements will be addressed through the management system.”
This clause now includes the statement: “Note: Relevant interested parties can have requirements related to climate change.”
What Does This Mean for Your Business
If the organisation already holds certification to one of these standards, they will not need a new certificate issued and there is no need to transition to a new version of the standard. The focus is on enhancing the scope and effectiveness of existing certifications to encompass climate change considerations.
However, the organisation is now required to ensure that climate change considerations are embedded within the fabric of their management system(s).
The approach acknowledges that the relevance and impact of climate change can vary significantly across different industries, organisational scopes, and geographical locations. Therefore, the business must determine whether climate change is relevant or not and if so, they will need to ensure that climate change aspects and risks are considered within their management system(s).
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