Ere-S - ISO 26000

ISO 26000

Issued by the International Organisation for Standardisation, ISO 26000 is a framework of principles and integration methods for social responsibility that have been developed to encourage organisations to make voluntary commitment and contribution to sustainable development. ISO 26000 provides guidelines on concepts, definitions and methods of evaluation that organisations can refer to, regardless of their nature, size and varying levels of development of the society in which they operate.

The standard is developed around clauses that set out business approach to sustainability. The major clauses are the Principles of Social Responsibility, the Fundamental Practices of Social Responsibility, the Social Responsibility Core Subjects and the Integration of Social Responsibility through an Organisation.

The most significant part of ISO 26000 is represented by its core subjects mentioned below. For each of them, the standard defines a set of issues in social responsibility and sustainability (for example, human rights risk situations; conditions of work and social protection; climate change mitigation and adaptation; wealth and income creation) and the related actions and expectations (for example, developing a human rights policy; preventing the release of GHG emissions, etc.).

ISO 26000 Social Responsibility Core Subjects:

Organizational governance
Human rights
Labour practices
The environment
Fair operating practices
Consumer issues
Community involvement and development

Note that ISO 26000 is not a management system standard and, as it does not contain requirements, is not intended or appropriate for certification or assurance purposes.

The AA1000 Assurance Standard, ISAE 3000 and GRI Standards can be chosen instead for assuring your sustainability report or verifying your performance measurement processes.

ISO 26000 does not conflict with other corporate sustainability instruments such as the GRI Standards and AA1000 standards; rather, they complement each other. Ere-S recommends their combination as the key to a solid sustainability framework.

See www.iso.org/iso-26000-social-responsibility.html for more details.

How ISO 26000 is used in our services

Through our strategy, reporting and validation services, we assist organisations in assessing the application level of ISO 26000 and maximising its usefulness and impact in the context of the client’s industry, priorities and management strategies.