Management System Standards and Climate Change

Management System Standards and Climate Change

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Gist of the article written by Nigel H Croft, JTCG Chair, and published at the ISO website on 16 February 2023

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The ISO Joint Technical Coordination Group for Management System Standards (JTCG) has been actively discussing the implications of ISO’s “London Declaration on Climate Action” since early 2022. Instead of forming a Task Force, JTCG held a series of meetings to decide how ISO’s suite of Management System Standards (MSS) can contribute to climate action.

 

Nigel H Croft, JTCG Chair, outlines three categories of changes being introduced to emphasize climate change in MSS:

 

(1) Changes to Guidance for MSS Writers:

 

-     Recommendations to consult guidelines on sustainability and climate change.

-     Addition of "future generations" and climate-related considerations to interested parties' list.

 

(2) Changes to Harmonized Structure:

 

-     Introduction of text in Clause 4.1 emphasizing the organization's need to determine climate change relevance.

-     Emphasis on climate change-related requirements for interested parties in Clause 4.2.

 

(3) Inclusion of Climate Change in Justification Study:

 

-     Discussion on incorporating climate change-related questions in the justification study for new MSS proposals.

 

The focus of these changes is not to impose new climate change requirements on organizations but to highlight its potential impact on organizational context and management system effectiveness. The changes aim to address the growing importance of climate change in organizational operations and stakeholder expectations.

 

The deployment schedule for these changes into all ISO Management System Standards is yet to be defined, but there's an agreement that waiting for the next revision cycle might be impractical. ISO is also considering specific standards like ISO 14001, ISO 50001, and ISO 55001 for revision to reinforce climate change aspects.

 

Committees like TC176/SC2 are providing inputs on proposed changes relevant to ISO 9001, with decisions on ISO 9001 changes to be made by TC176/SC2 separately. It should be noted that ISO TC176 is the technical committee formed by ISO on Quality Systems. ISO TC176/SC2 is the ISO Subcommittee for TC176 Quality Systems, responsible for the development of "ISO 9001 Quality management systems – Requirements" standard, the most widely used International Standard in the world.

 

Regards,

Keshav Ram Singhal

Courtesy source of information – ISO Website