INFORMATION REGARDING THE INCLUSION OF CLIMATE CHANGE MATTERS IN MANAGEMENT SYSTEM STANDARDS

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), recognizing the need to consider the impact of climate change on the ability to achieve the intended outcomes of management systems, has decided to add two new text expressions to a series of existing management system standards and to include them in all new standards being developed/revised, in support of the "Londond Climate Change Declaration". (IAF and ISO Publish Joint Communiqué - IAF)

In accordance with this decision, changes have been published for more than 30 ISO standards, examples of which are provided below ( https://www.iso.org/climate-change and Combating Climate Change with Standards - IAF)

ISO 9001:2015/Amd 1:2024 ISO 14001/Amd 1:2024 ISO 45001 Amd 1:2024 ISO 22000 Amd 1:2024 ISO 50001 Amd 1:2024 ISO IEC 27001 Amd 1:2024.

The newly added clauses with the changes are:

4.1 Understanding the organization and its context.

The organization shall identify internal and external issues that are relevant to its purpose and affect its ability to achieve the intended outcome(s) of XXX 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 relevant interested parties related to the XXX management system.

• the relevant requirements of these interested parties.

• which of these requirements will be addressed through the XXX management system.

Added: NOTE: Interested parties may have requirements related to climate change.

Expectations from Certified Organizations

Certified organizations must ensure that they consider climate change issues and risks within the scope of their own management system development, maintenance, and effectiveness. Whether climate change is relevant should be determined, and if so, it should be assessed within the scope of management system standards regarding risk assessment. In cases where an organization operates multiple management systems (e.g., Quality Management and Health and Safety Management), if it is determined to be relevant, climate change should be assessed within the scope of each management system standard.

It is noted that some climate change issues and risks may be general in nature, independent of the current management system scope or sector (e.g., compliance with regulations or operational compatibility and corporate resilience), while others may be specifically indexed to climate change. This depends on the requirements of management system standards, specific sectors (e.g., energy production, agriculture, and fisheries), and organizational characteristics (e.g., geographical location, nature of the supply chain, or workforce dynamics).

Effective Date Information

Changes to standards started to be published on February 23, 2024. Climate change-related issues that affect the context of an organization's management systems are generally already being assessed by organizations. Therefore, after the document is published, the organization should incorporate the new text into its documentation and into its audits related to context.

As is the normal practice, if a certified organization fails to demonstrate that all identified internal and external issues, including climate change, are taken into account, an appropriate finding must be made.

Impact on Third-Party Audits and Certification Process

In management system audits conducted by ALBERK QA TECHNİC, issues affecting the organization and its context related to climate change will be questioned in accordance with the latest published text. In cases where it cannot be demonstrated that all identified internal and external issues, including climate change, are taken into account, an appropriate finding will be made.

Management system standards will undergo the ISO change process, but a revised certificate will not be issued when the following are considered:

• The publication year of each Management System standard will not change.
• There are no changes in the scope of application of the Certified Management System.
• There is no significant impact on the effectiveness of the Certified Management System.
• The methods and actions to be ultimately implemented by certified organizations due to the new requirements will be similar to those applied in the future in other contextual issues already addressed within the scope of the Management System.