The joint statement of the International Accreditation Association and the International Organization for Standardization regarding the addition of climate change considerations to the management of systems standards.
On February 22, 2024, the International Association for Accreditation and the International Organization for Standardization released a joint statement to highlight the upcoming publication of climate action amendments to existing and new ISO systems management standards.
Two new statements were added to the existing management system standards, which include all standards under development/review, to address the needs of climate change on the ability to achieve management system results. Changes are initially introduced as amendments to this published standard. The Technical Committee of the International Accreditation Association will publish a response to the changes as a formal decision, to clarify the impact of the amendments on accreditation bodies, to clarify the impact of the amendments on accreditation bodies, certification bodies and certified organizations.
The abstract is as follows:
“The final decision of the International Accreditation Association after 30 days of consultation on the addition of climate change notes to the management systems standards”
Introduction
The International Association for Accreditation (IFA) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) have published a joint statement in which there are changes to a number of management systems standards, in the form of additional text emphasizing the importance of climate change as a consideration in the concept Organization of the relevant management system. As explained in the joint statement, the changes have been made in response to the London Declaration on Climate Action.
The purpose of this IAC collaboration is to respond to the IAC Technical Committee, paper presented at Montreal 2023, to clarify the system expectations of certification bodies, certification bodies and accreditation bodies, noting that as This joint statement states:
The general purpose of the requirements for clauses 4.1 and 4.2 remains unchanged. These clauses currently include the organization’s need for all internal and external issues that can affect the effectiveness of their management system. This new inclusion ensures that climate change is considered within the management system and is considered an important external factor for the association that requires organizations to consider it as an organizational need of the day.
As mentioned in the above statement, the general and comprehensive meaning of the requirements remains unchanged and this change is considered more as an explanation rather than a new requirement. It is considered that a complete transfer plan is not required, however, the following guide should be followed. be considered
Expectations from certified organizations (CERTIFICATE)
Certified organizations must ensure that climate change aspects and risks are considered in their development, maintenance, and effectiveness in their management system(s). Climate change, along with other issues, should be determined as relevant or unrelated, and if so, it should be considered in risk assessment within the scope of management systems standards.
Where an organization implements more than one management system (e.g. quality management and health and safety management), it should ensure that climate change, if identified as relevant, is considered within the scope of each management system standard. will be
It is noted that some aspects of climate change and risks may be general in nature, independent of the applied management system domain or industry (e.g. when related to regulatory compliance or operational adaptation and organizational resilience).
While other cases will be added to the requirements of the management system standards in some industries (for example, energy production, agriculture, fisheries) and the characteristics of the organization (geographical location, nature of the supply chain or workforce dynamics).
Expectations from certification bodies
Certification bodies must ensure in advance that all internal and external issues are determined by the organization to be relevant or not relevant and, if so, taken into account in the development and effectiveness of the management system(s), as required by clauses 4.1 and 4.2. has been
In new reviews on climate change, certification bodies are expected to ensure that climate change is taken into account and, if identified as a relevant issue for the management system, any mitigation targets and activities by The organization should be included as a requirement. If it is not considered as a relevant issue for your organization, it is expected that the ISO certification authority should ensure the efficiency of the organization’s process to determine and implement related measures, if needed.
Expectations from accreditation bodies
Accreditation bodies shall, as part of the continuous (progressive) accreditation cycle, ensure that certification bodies certify that their management system certification clients have taken into account climate change aspects together with the other aspects of clauses 4.1 and 4.2.
Timing
Amendments to the standards are expected to be published on February 23, 2024. As mentioned above, climate change issues affecting an organization’s management system(s) were previously considered by organizations. Therefore, after publication, the certification bodies must include the new text in the audit of the organization itself, as well as in its context.
As a general practice, the approved organization cannot demonstrate that all external and internal issues identified as relevant factors, including climate change, should be considered as an outstanding appropriate finding.
