Participating in ISO TC207's Future Vision Task Force

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the world's largest and most important body developing international standards. Together with its sister organization, the International ElectroTechnical Commission (IEC), ISO produces over 85 per cent of all international standards. Most of the standards that ISO develops are technical standards for industrial products and services. But in 1993, ISO created a new technical committee on environmental management standards and tools (TC207).

Since that time, ISO has also been developing international standards that guide corporate environmental management. ISO TC207 has published international standards on environmental management systems, eco-labelling, life-cycle assessment, environmental auditing and many others. The best known of these standards is the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System standard, to which over 30,000 companies have obtained certification.

TC207 was established when environmental management standards were seen as tools to help companies better control their environmental impacts, and very little else. Today, these standards are becoming more and more important for domestic environmental policy, trade and investment policy, and market incentives. In addition, corporate attitudes towards environmental management have evolved, becoming more closely related to sustainable development and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The world has changed since TC207 began and there is a need for TC207 to consider its place in this new world.

At its 2001 Annual Meeting, ISO TC207 established a Future Vision Task Force (FVTF) to develop strategic policy advice to inform and facilitate this evolution. Specifically, it was to address three issues:

1. Taking stock of international trends in environmental and sustainable development standardization, including CSR, and to reconsider TC207's mandate and objectives.

2. Making process-change recommendations to help ensure that ISO remains responsive to the needs of the user community.

3. Guiding ISO involvement at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, including recommendations on how to re-orient TC207's mandate to support the outputs of the WSSD.

IISD participated on this FVTF, along with 19 other experts on international environmental standards. Building on its past work in this area, and with the financial support of the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and Industry Canada, IISD conducted research to support the work of the FVTF and to help TC207 evolve into a stronger, more relevant organization. IISD also helped to draft ISO TC207's new strategic plan.

Outputs

The ISO TC207 Strategic Plan (119 kb) outlines a new Vision for TC207, a new scope of activities, key trends that TC207 must address and a proposal for ongoing strategic planning.

An Executive Briefing (120 kb) targeted at Canadian businesses and at Canadian government agencies working with industry to develop strategies and policies to promote sustainable development. It presents an overview of the implications of the development of international standards on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), with particular focus on the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) work on Social Responsibility (SR).

The work of the FVTF ended at the July 2003 TC207 Annual Meeting, when the TC207 Plenary accepted its final report. Since then, ISO TC207 has established a new group—the Strategic Planning Group—whose mandate is to make recommendations on how ISO TC207 can implement the strategic plan. IISD has applied for membership to this new group. The composition will be decided in October 2003.

For more information, please contact Tom Rotherham.