Corporate Social Review Magazine 1st Quarter 2012 | Page 46

Review
International

REVIEW

Trends

REVIEW

ISO 26000: An ambitious global standard aimed
at promoting sustainable development
Jonathon Hanks; Incite Sustainability

I

n November 2010, the International Organization
for Standardisation (ISO) launched one of its most
eagerly awaited standards: ISO 26000, an international guidance standard on social responsibility. The
standard reflects the outcome of a five-year process
of building consensus among more than 450 experts
representatives from 99 countries. The global standard seeks to encourage the implementation of best
practice on social responsibility amongst all types of
organisations, with the explicit goal of promoting sustainable development.
ISO 26000 is a voluntary guidance standard. Unlike ISO 9001:2008 (quality management) and ISO
14001:2004 (environmental management), it is not a
management system standard and it is not intended
or appropriate for certification purposes or regulatory
or contractual use. The standard is quite explicit on
this aspect and maintains that “any offer to certify, or
claims to be certified, to ISO 26000 would be a misrepresentation of the intent and purpose and a misuse of this International Standard. As this International Standard does not contain requirements, any such
certification would not be a demonstration of conformity with this International Standard.”
The publication of the standard represents the culmination of the largest multi-stakeholder negotiating
process ever undertaken by ISO, involving the participation of more than 450 experts and 210 observers from 99 countries and 42 “liaison organizations”,
including, for example, the UN Global Compact, the
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and various international business, trade union, NGO and civil society organisations. The experts involved in drafting
the standard represented six different stakeholder
groups: industry; government; labour; consumers;
nongovernmental organizations; and national standards bodies and academia.
The negotiation process provided an extremely valuable opportunity for experts from different countries,
cultures and stakeholder groups to develop deeper

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understanding and build consensus on what constitutes socially responsible behaviour across all cultures and regions. Although it was at times a difficult
and contentious process – which was inevitable given
the range and complexity of the issues – the negotiation process resulted in one of the highest levels
of approval for any ISO standard. A significant value
of the standard is that it is the product of such consensus across the wide range of countries and stakeholder groups.

What is the scope of “social
responsibility”?
Social responsibility means voluntarily adopting certain standards of individual and organisational behaviour with the aim of promoting sustainable development. It should not be confused with an organisation’s
philanthropic and charitable activities; while it might
include these aspects, its focus is much broader,
with the emphasis lying on integrating social and environmental considerations into every aspect of the
organisation’s activities and throughout its sphere of
influence.

Social responsibility
– The ISO 26000 definition
“The responsibility of an organization for the
impacts of its decisions and activities on society
and the environment, through transparent and
ethical behaviour that:
• contributes to sustainable development,
including health and the welfare of society;
•