Following The London Declaration to combat climate change through standards, ISO has published an amendment to many of its existing and new management systems standards.
The changes emphasise the importance of addressing the effects of climate change within the framework of management systems standards. BM TRADA, a leading UKAS-accredited independent management systems certification provider, highlights that the changes are presented as additional text within the organisational context in clauses 4.1 and 4.2 of the management system concerned.
The new requirement specifies that organisations shall determine whether climate change is a relevant issue and whether relevant interested parties have requirements related to climate change. If found to be a relevant issue, climate change needs to be considered in the development and implementation of the organisation’s management system.
The climate change amendment applies to all Type A ISO management system standards, i.e. those that specify requirements and to which companies can be certified. This includes the following standards: ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 50001, and ISO 27001.
ISO has added two key changes within clause 4 of all management system standards. The additional wording is as follows:
- Clause 4.1: “The organisation shall determine whether climate change is a relevant issue.”
- Clause 4.2: “Note: Relevant interested parties can have requirements related to climate change.”
Lee Horlock, Head of Technical & Approvals – Management Systems at BM TRADA, said: “We welcome the amendments being made to the ISO management system standards. Climate change considerations will now be placed at the front and centre of organisations minds when determining factors which influence the organisation’s purpose, objectives and sustainability.
“For organisations currently undergoing the certification process or already hold an ISO management system certification, our experts are on hand to guide you through these new amendments.”
BM TRADA, part of the Element Materials Technology group, emphasises that the overall intent of the requirements for clauses 4.1 and 4.2 remain unchanged. These clauses already include the need for the organisations to consider all internal and external issues that can impact the effectiveness of their management system, and these new inclusions are assuring that climate change is considered within the management system.
The certification provider also mentions that the standards themselves have not been revised so organisations do not need to purchase new standards. ISO has released the changes as amendments titled ISO 14001:2015/Amd 1:2024 and ISO 45001:2018/Amd 1:2024 which can be obtained free of charge from the ISO website.
Lee said: “BM TRADA clients who already have a management system certified to an ISO standard will already be conducting this type of contextual analysis and many will already be determining how climate change affects their businesses.
“We stress that our clients already holding an ISO management system certification, will not need any additional audit or a new certificate issued. For those who have yet to do so, climate change must now always be a topic that is considered in your analysis and if found relevant be part of your management system. Going forward your BM TRADA auditor will include the above new requirements in future audit activities when assessing these parts of the management system.”
