International Trade Forum - Issue 3/2010
Recognition of the need for more ethically responsible business
practices has seen the emergence of a strong global movement to
embrace and promote the concept of social responsibility (SR).
Although initially focusing on adoption by business and
requiring businesses to look beyond short-term profitability to the
needs of the wider community, SR should be seen in a wider context,
being applicable to all types of organizations, both public and
private.
In the debate about the reach and relevance of SR there have
been faltering attempts to arrive at agreed definitions and ways to
expand its spread. However, the ISO has taken a major step forward
in the wider adoption of SR by opening the way for the publication
of ISO 26000, which gives guidance on social responsibility as an
International Standard by the end of 2010.
The future International Standard ISO 26000 'Guidance on social
responsibility' will provide harmonized, globally relevant guidance
for private and public sector organizations based on international
consensus among expert representatives of the main stakeholder
groups and so encourage the implementation of SR worldwide.
The multi-stakeholder ISO Working Group on Social Responsibility
(ISO/WG SR) approved the draft ISO 26000 for processing as a Final
Draft International Standard (FDIS) at its 8th plenary meeting from
17 to 21 May 2010 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
During the meeting, ISO Secretary-General Rob Steele underlined
the value of broad stakeholder input, including the significant
input by developing countries. 'One of the key arguments that
resulted in the recommendation to proceed with the development of
ISO 26000 was that the ISO standards development process would
maximize involvement,' he said. 'One of the key groups advocating
this argument was developing countries, and the point resonated
with everyone.' He also reiterated the market expectations for ISO
26000, which include:
- Global agreement on SR definitions and on the
principles of SR
- Global agreement on the core subjects of SR
- Guidance on how to integrate SR throughout an
organization.
What is ISO 26000?
ISO 26000 is intended for use by organizations of all types, in
both the public and the private sectors, in developed and
developing countries, as well as economies in transition. It will
encourage socially responsible operations in the manner society
increasingly demands. ISO 26000 contains guidance, not
requirements, and is therefore not suitable for use in third-party
certification. ISO will be vigilant in seeing that this is
respected.
Why is ISO 26000 important?
Sustainable business for organizations means not only providing
products and services that satisfy the customer, without
jeopardizing the environment, but also operating in a socially
responsible manner. Pressure to do so comes from customers,
consumers, governments, associations and the public. Far-sighted
organizational leaders recognize that lasting success requires
credible business practices and the prevention of such activities
as fraudulent accounting and labour exploitation.
There have been a number of high-level declarations of principle
related to SR and there are many individual SR initiatives. The
challenge is how to put the principles into practice when even the
understanding of what 'social responsibility' means may vary.
Previous initiatives have tended to focus on corporate social
responsibility, while ISO 26000 will provide SR guidance not only
for business organizations, but also for public sector
organizations of all types.
ISO's expertise is in developing harmonized international
agreements based on double levels of consensus - among the
principal categories of stakeholder and among countries (ISO is a
network of national standards bodies of 163 countries). ISO 26000
will distil an understanding of what social responsibility is and
what organizations need to do to be socially responsible.
How will ISO 26000 help
organizations?
ISO 26000 will help all types of organization to operate in a
socially responsible manner by providing guidance on:
- Concepts, terms and definitions
- The background, trends and characteristics of social
responsibility
- Principles and practices
- Core subjects and issues
- Integrating, implementing and promoting socially
responsible behaviour throughout organizations
- SR's sphere of influence
- Identifying and engaging with stakeholders
- Communicating commitments and performance related to
social responsibility.
The guidance in ISO 26000 is intended to be understandable -
even to non-specialists - as well as objective.
How does ISO 26000 relate to existing good
work?
The guidance in ISO 26000 draws on best practice developed by
existing public and private sector SR initiatives. It is consistent
with, and complements, relevant United Nations declarations and
conventions and its constituents, notably the International Labour
Organization (ILO), with whom ISO has established a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) to ensure consistency with ILO labour
standards. ISO has also signed MoUs with the United Nations Global
Compact Office and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development to enhance their cooperation on the development of ISO
26000.
Who is developing ISO 26000?
Experts and observers from 99 ISO member countries, of which 69
are from developing countries, and 42 organizations with liaison
status are participating in the ISO/WG SR under the joint
leadership of the ISO members for Brazil (ABNT) and Sweden (SIS).
Six main stakeholder groups are represented: industry; government;
labour; consumers; non-governmental organizations; and service,
support, research and others; as well as a geographical and
gender-based balance of participants.
When will ISO 26000 be
published?ISO 26000 has been released for a two-month FDIS vote by ISO
member countries from mid-July to mid-September, followed by the
publication of an ISO International Standard.
ISO 26000
Guidance on social responsibility
ISO 26000 is due to be published in late 2010.
For more information on ISO 26000 and the ISO/WG
SR, see www.iso.org/sr.
Working documents including the latest available draft
of the standard can be accessed at: www.iso.org/wgsr.
TACKLING ENVIRONMENTAL
CHALLENGES
with the ISO 14000 family of International
Standards
Since first released in 1998, the ISO 14000 standards have
achieved a worldwide impact in providing comprehensive solutions to
the range of environmental challenges facing business, government
and society.
The best known of these standards is ISO 14001:2004. It is
currently used by organizations in more than 150 countries as a
framework for environmental management systems (EMS) to manage
better the impact of their activities on the environment and to
demonstrate sound environmental management.
ISO 14004:2004 gives general EMS guidelines with other standards
and guidelines in the family addressing specific environmental
aspects, including labelling, performance evaluation, life-cycle
analysis, communication and auditing.
ISO has also launched an updated CD-ROM collection of the ISO
14000 family of environmental management standards that includes
new or updated standards for use in climate change programmes,
environmental labelling, life-cycle analysis and environmental
communication.
Environmental management - The ISO 14000 family of
International Standards and the CD-ROM, ISO 14000, Environmental
management, are available from the ISO store at www.iso.org/iso/store.htm.