Climate Action Amendments to ISO Management System
February 2024 the ISO published an amendment for climate action changes to all ISO Management System Standards. By all ISO Management System Standards is meant; ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environmental), ISO 27001 (Information Security), ISO 45001 (Health and Safety), etc. (in total over thirty standards).
AMENDMENT 1: Climate action changes, requires organisations who policy is to meet the requirements of these standards must consider the impact of climate change on their operations and interested parties’ requirements, emphasizing organizational responsibility toward climate-related issues.
ISO paragraph 4 Context of the organization
- 4.1 Understanding the organization and its context. Add the following sentence at the end of the subclause: “The organization shall determine whether climate change is a relevant issue.”
- 4.2 Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties. Add the following note at the end of the subclause: “NOTE Relevant interested parties can have requirements related to climate change.”
This change should not be yet another imposition, but a great opportunity to contribute to reducing our impact on climate change. A duty which we and all organisations have.
Managing the Climate Action Change (PDCA)
- Identify what the climate change impacts can be by education, communication, review, risk assessment and establishing the data.
- Plan the roadmap associated with these reducing the impact of climate change.
- Establish roles and responsibilities, resources and data requirements to fulfil the climate change policy.
- Communicate to the stakeholders the climate change policy and plan.
- Montor against the roadmap
- Celebrate and broadcast the success of your organisations impact on climate change.
Examples of the Impact on the key Management System Standards
| Standard | Climate change relevance to the organisation | Climate change relevance to the interested parties |
| ISO 9001 (Quality) | Ability of processes to maintain consistent quality standards. Availability of resources; materials, services, data, etc. due to climate change. Effects on equipment performance. |
Climate change impact on delivered quality for customers, shareholders, regulators, and society. Opportunities for performance improvement from saved resources. |
| ISO 14001 (Environmental) | Control of emissions and waste due to changing environmental conditions. The impact on resource use, availability people of climate change. Risk of extreme weather events on maintaining product and services. |
Managing customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, regulators, and society expectations associated with climate change and environmental responsibilities. Responding to legal and regulatory changes as a consequent of climate change. Marketing opportunities from improved environmental credentials. |
| ISO 27001 (Information Security) | Risk of extreme weather events on IT infrastructure, system vulnerabilities, business continuity and disaster recovery. Disruption due to climate-induced events on operational resilience. Impact of global warming on IT infrastructure and equipment. |
Regulatory and customer demands on data security due to increased risk. Vulnerabilities due to lack of proactive vendor activities. Impact on service level agreement. An opportunity to identify any additional risks due to climate change. |
| ISO 45001 (Health and Safety) | Ability of processes to maintain health and safety standards. Risk of resources; materials, services, data, etc. availability impacting Health and Safety standards. Effects on equipment safety performance. |
Climate change impact on delivered safety standards for customers, shareholders, regulators, and society. |
Sources:
Publication of Climate Action Amendments to ISO Management System Standards
Climate action changes ISO amendment — Is it relevant for our management system? (advisera.com)