Ensuring sustainability through the SDGs
The United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a target at which any organisation around the world is invited to aim to make our planet and human communities sustainable and enjoyable in the long run.
The future international standard for a management system for SDGs is a big step in the right direction. The Belgian standards committee NBN/I343 is therefore working hard to develop this new standard.
What is a management system for SDGs?
A management system for SDGs is an internal system whereby an organisation defines and establishes a sustainable development strategy, clear criteria for selecting relevant SDGs, and relevant measure, monitoring activities, follow-up, and improvement to ensure proper deployment and performance improvement.
Why is this important?
This management system standard (MSS) will provide an integrated, holistic framework for an organisation’s ability to define and deliver according to a sustainable strategy based on the SDGs, and thereby create the foundation for transparent and fact based non-financial SDG- and ESG-reporting.
If deployed by a significant share of organisations already certified or complying to an existing management system standard, it will have a huge impact on contribution to the SDGs worldwide.
Start-ups, SMEs and rapidly growing organizations and companies might see this MSS as an opportunity to differentiate themselves and use this as a guidance document for their first management system to be deployed as this standard is meant to respond to the current SDGs as well as future SDGs, which are expected to be further developed beyond 2030.
Consistent with the SDG policy of the organisation, the intended outcome and benefits of an SDG management system for the organisation are the following:
- Facilitating opportunities to enhance stakeholder satisfaction
- Enhancing the opportunity to become a preferred partner
- Increasing credibility, enhancing the chance for getting e.g. better external financing
- Addressing risks and opportunities associated with its context and objectives
- Avoiding SDG-washing
- Enhancing confidence
- Enhancing the organisation’s performance
- Fulfilling compliance obligation
- Achieving selected SDG objectives
- Increasing success
- Creating trust and confidence to relevant existing and future stakeholders
What are ‘management system for SDGs’ standards committees working on?
Experts join forces in relevant standards committees to develop a certifiable management standard for SDGs. At issue is the future standard ISO 53001 'Management systems for the UN Sustainable Development Goals - Requirements for each organisation'.
This standard will use the process approach, PDCA and risk-based thinking.
It will be a horizontal management system standard and not a vertical standard relevant for a specific discipline. This means it will set requirements for an organisation to define and establish a sustainable development strategy, clear criteria for selecting relevant SDGs and define relevant measure, monitoring activities, follow-up and improvement to ensure proper deployment and performance improvement.
Would you like to help develop standards yourself? But would you rather learn more about it first? Then follow the Webinar 'Standardisation - The Basics'. There we will give you more insight of what standards development is.
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What standards committees are there and when do they meet?
- The international standards committee "Sustainable Development Goals management" ISO/PC 343 is developing an international standard for a management system for SDGs.
- ISO/PC343 meets once or twice a year. Next meeting: 2024 (TBD)
- The Belgian standards committee "SDG management" NBN/I343 brings together all Belgian stakeholders interested in the future management system for SDGs. It closely follows and contributes to the ISO work. Anyone in Belgium can join.
- NBN/I343 meets twice a year. Next meeting: 16/10/2024 in Brussels.
