In recent years, ISO has been actively developing standards that address climate change and sustainability. Some new standards, such as ISO 14097 or ISO 14098 have been developed to address carbon emission and GHG, but now International Organisations of Standardization has introduced a new amendment applicable to the popular standards like ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001.
This is what ISO organisation says about it:
“As part of ISO’s commitment to action on climate change, approved unanimously by all ISO Member Bodies in the so-called London Declaration (https://www.iso.org/ClimateAction.html), amendments to over 30 of ISO’s Management System Standards, including ISO 9001, have now been issued to include climate change considerations”
International Organization for Standardization Web: www.iso.org
But what this amendment is about and how your organisation can address this. It is an auditable clause in the standard now, and from February 2025, the auditors will check this item during their audit.
Let’s overview what you must do in order to address this new requirement in your management systems:
It is a new amendment added to the Clauses 4.1 and 4.2:
4.1 Understanding the organization and its context.
The organization shall determine external and internal issues that are relevant to its purpose and that affect its ability to achieve the intended result(s) of its quality management system.
Added: The organization shall determine whether climate change is a relevant issue.
4.2 Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties.
The organization shall determine:
• the interested parties that are relevant to the quality management system.
• the relevant requirements of these interested parties.
• which of these requirements will be addressed through the quality management system.
Added: NOTE: Relevant interested parties can have requirements related to climate change
Main Purpose of the Amendment:
The amendment wants to make it obvious that climate change is an external issue that the organisation with Quality Management Systems must consider.
The primary intentions of the 4.1 and 4.2 clauses have not changed. However, it is now to be sure the issue of "climate change is firmly fixed on the radar screen of the organisation."
How to audit? Key Auditing Guidance:
Auditors’ role is to determine whether:
The organization has decided whether or not the climate change issues are relevant to their QMS
It is mandatory for the “Construction, "Manufacturing”, and “Transport and Logistics” industries to address climate change in their scope.
The organisation has decided whether or not the climate change issues are relevant to their QMS
If the latter is the case, how are the topics handled within the QMS? Also, the organisation must be able to explain why this is not applicable to their operation.
The auditors are expected to uphold their objectivity and neutrality while dealing with climate change issues. Their role is not to express their personal beliefs about climate change.
Implementation Notes:
A specific transition program is not needed for third-party certification
The changes are there for the world to see
The provision applies to first, second, and third-party audits
Contextual Consideration:
This amendment notes that in some regions climate change can be a sensitive issue. Thankfully, it is more of an acceptable subject these days, and Australian organisations are expected to have a better understanding of climate change nowadays.
If your organisation is certified for multiple ISO standards, for instance, if you have an IMS system, the climate change considerations must apply to all three standards and be evaluated for each standard requirement.
These standards are subject to amendment, including, but not limited to:
ISO 9001 Quality Management System
ISO 22000:2018 Food Safety Management
ISO 45001:2018 OH&S Management
ISO 27001:2022 Information Security Management
ISO 14001:2015 Environment Management
ISO 5001:2018 Energy Management
While it is mandatory to include these amendments into your ISO systems, it is also understandable that it might take time for organisations to prepare and analyse these requirements.
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