Overview
ISO Guide 82:2019 - Guidelines for addressing sustainability in standards provides practical guidance for standards developers on how to incorporate sustainability considerations when drafting, revising and updating ISO standards and similar deliverables. It outlines a flexible methodology that supports subject‑specific decisions, promotes consistency across standards, and links standardization work to broader frameworks such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
Key topics and technical focus
ISO Guide 82:2019 is organized to help committees plan both strategy and content. Key technical topics and requirements covered include:
- Scope and purpose: Guidance for taking account of environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability without asserting that a product or activity is inherently “sustainable.”
- Methodology for standards developers: Steps to develop a subject‑specific approach to sustainability, from early planning through revision.
- Approaches to sustainability: Explanation of different analytical approaches, including:
- Systemic approach
- Life‑cycle approach
- Precautionary approach
- Risk‑based approach
- Stakeholder approach
- Principles to guide drafting: Transparency, stakeholder interests, and ethical considerations are highlighted as foundational principles.
- Identifying sustainability issues: Techniques for identifying relevant and significant sustainability issues tied to a standard’s scope.
- Addressing issues in different standards types: Practical guidance for process standards, management system standards and product standards.
- Review and revision: Recommendations on when and how to reconsider sustainability aspects during updates.
- Informative annexes: Examples and tools, including a structured list of sustainability issues, example environmental provisions, the UN SDGs (Annex C) and guidance on partnerships for SDG alignment.
Normative references include ISO/IEC Guide 2 and ISO 14050, with cross‑references to ISO 26000 for social responsibility.
Practical applications and users
Who uses ISO Guide 82:2019:
- Standards developers, technical committee chairs and convenors seeking a systematic way to integrate sustainability into standards.
- National standards bodies and project proposers preparing new standards or revising existing ones.
- Industry associations, regulators and conformity assessment bodies that reference standards with sustainability implications.
Practical applications:
- Embedding life‑cycle thinking into product standards
- Aligning management system standards with sustainability goals
- Identifying and prioritizing social and environmental impacts for standard drafting
- Demonstrating linkage between standards and the UN SDGs
Related standards
- ISO/IEC Guide 2 (vocabulary and procedures)
- ISO 14050 (environmental management vocabulary)
- ISO 26000 (social responsibility guidance)
- ISO Guide 64 (environmental issues in product standards)
Keywords: ISO Guide 82:2019, sustainability in standards, UN SDGs, life‑cycle approach, standards developers, ISO sustainability guidance.