National foreword

This Published Document is the UK implementation of ISO/UNDP PAS 53002:2024.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee SES/1, Environmental management.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

This publication is not to be regarded as a British Standard.

Compliance with a Published Document cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This Published Document was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 October 2024.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

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For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Project Committee ISO/PC 343, Sustainable development goals management in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is based on the UNDP's SDG Impact Standards, related guidance documents and relevant ISO standards. This document is aligned to and supports the UNDP SDG Impact Standards for Enterprises.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

0.1 General

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for an equitable future — peace and prosperity for all people and the planet.^[²²^]

At its heart are the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries — developed and developing — in a global partnership. However, governments alone cannot achieve the SDGs.

Achieving the SDGs requires all countries and sectors (individuals, governments, the public sector, civil society, not-for-profit organizations and the private sector) to work together in new ways, to make the goals a reality. Creativity, knowledge, innovation and financial resources from all of society are needed to develop new solutions, business models, and ways of working and being, which support sustainability, regeneration, inclusion, equality and ultimately, achievement of the SDGs.

As much as the SDGs need the private sector to realize the aspiration of the 2030 Agenda, increasingly the private sector also needs progress to be made on the SDGs in order to survive and to thrive in the future. Organizations depend on the ongoing viability and stability of environmental and social systems, which are increasingly under pressure. This is creating both risks and opportunities for organizations.

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, wars and the increasing effects of climate change, the SDGs are more relevant at the time of publication of this document than when the SDGs were launched in 2015. It is easy to become discouraged by the many setbacks which hinder progress towards achieving the goals. Nevertheless, there have been extraordinary achievements. Between 2015 and 2022, the amount of people with internet access worldwide rose from 3,2 billion to 5,3 billion. Such improvements show how technology and innovation can be effective enablers for sustainable development and achievement of the SDGs. While there is still progress to be made, focus should be placed on what works and where public and private sector decisions can make the most difference. Wise and bold decisions with foresight matter.

This document provides guidance on how an organization can manage and optimize its contribution to the SDGs and how it can embed sustainability into its operations and decision-making processes, thus giving organizations confidence that their contributions are performed in a holistic and systematic way. By actively managing how it contributes to the SDGs, an organization can optimize its impacts on interested parties and related SDG targets by minimizing negative impacts and maximizing positive ones, thereby strengthening organizational resilience and future performance.

This document does not provide requirements for implementing a management system. An organization does not need to have a formal management system in place to use this document. However, organizations with a management system can find it useful to implement these guidelines within such a system. For that reason, this document is broadly aligned to the ISO Harmonized Structure for management system standards.

This document includes guidance on:

setting ambitious impact objectives and targets, aligned with the relevant SDG targets and indicators where practicable, to optimize impacts on interested parties and contributions to the SDGs;
engaging with relevant interested parties to identify and prioritize actual and expected impacts, whether beneficial or adverse;
collecting data on actual and expected impacts;
generating options that support innovation, and making informed choices between those options;
making decisions that take into account the risk tolerance and appetite of those experiencing the impacts of the organization’s decisions and activities;
understanding and managing trade-offs to increase impact at a rate commensurate with planetary needs, and to achieve the SDGs and meet the needs and expectations of those experiencing impacts.

This document is intended to help shift an organization from SDG alignment to SDG action: from thinking about the SDGs as a mere “add-on”, to placing SDGs at the core of business operations.

This document can assist organizations to better align business purpose, strategy and results with societal needs, and to shift expectations. It can help organizations to be more accountable for their impacts on people and the planet, while also strengthening business performance. It encourages organizations to explore different business models and new ways of working that accelerate innovation (e.g. by driving the development of new products, services and solutions that can lead to new customers and market opportunities) and allocate resources more effectively. Implementing the recommendations in this document can enable organizations to anticipate risks and opportunities related to sustainable development earlier and manage them better. This document can also help organizations to communicate more effectively with governments, regulators, NGOs, partners, investors and other interested parties, including those impacted most by the organization’s decisions and activities. It can also help organizations to meet the requirements and expectations of these aforementioned parties, in terms of the growing and various needs for disclosure, reporting and audit.

0.2 Sustainable Development Goals

The SDGs comprise 17 integrated and indivisible goals grounded in human rights, set across five dimensions (people, prosperity, planet, partnership and peace) and backed by 169 targets.^[²²^] The central vision of the SDGs is to “leave no one behind”. The SDGs recognize that action in one area will impact others, and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability. Ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all the while tackling climate change and working to preserve life on land and under water.

The SDGs are:

End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.
Reduce inequality within and among countries.
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.

The 169 targets associated with the SDGs represent the minimum sustainable development thresholds that all United Nations Member States have agreed upon to ensure a more sustainable and inclusive future for all. In effect, failing to achieve the SDGs is a major systemic risk for the world, as it jeopardizes the social and ecological systems which are relied upon to live, work, produce, consume and invest.

Significant investment and activity should be specifically redirected towards achieving the SDGs and new solutions at the scale where they are needed most. At the same time, a more holistic approach should be taken and the economic and political system should be transformed, creating a more sustainable and regenerative growth model, where no one is left behind.

This document has been developed in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is based on the UNDP's SDG Impact Standards,^[²⁰^]related guidance documents and relevant ISO standards. Together these documents provide organizations with a common approach to fully integrate sustainable development and the SDGs into all business and investment decision-making processes and serve a basis for providing assurance to key interested parties.

This document is founded on the concept of Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA). The PDCA concept is an iterative process used by organizations to achieve continual improvement. It can be applied to an organization to support development of a mindset of continual improvement and to each of its individual elements, as follows:

Plan: determine and assess risks and opportunities, establish SDG objectives and processes necessary to deliver results in accordance with the organization’s SDG policy and ambition;
Do: implement the processes as planned;
Check: monitor and measure activities and processes with regard to the SDG policy and SDG objectives, and report the results;
Act: take actions to continually improve performance to achieve the intended results.

1 Scope

This document provides guidance for an organization to manage and optimize its contributions to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to:

identify, prioritize and manage its impacts on interested parties;
embed sustainable development into its strategy, operations and decision-making, in all its activities, in a systematic and holistic way;
enhance and demonstrate its work and performance towards achievement of the SDGs, notably by maximizing its beneficial impacts and minimizing adverse impacts on interested parties, especially under-recognized and vulnerable groups.

NOTE 1 This document supports the current SDGs and any subsequent Global Goals that supersede the 2030 SDGs.

NOTE 2 This document is aligned to and supports the UNDP SDG Impact Standards for Enterprises.^[²¹^]

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Understanding external and internal issues and the overall context of the organization

4.1 General

4.2 External issues

4.3 Internal issues

5 Interested parties

5.1 General

5.2 Interested parties that experience impacts

5.3 Interested parties that contribute to impacts

6 Integration

6.1 General

6.2 Integration of SDG activities into core business

7 Leadership and commitment

7.1 General

7.2 Principles for responsible business

7.3 Innovation

7.4 Interested party engagement

8 Policy

8.1 General

8.2 Human rights policy

8.3 Equity and justice

9 Roles, responsibilities and authorities

9.1 General

9.2 Governance and oversight

10 Planning

10.1 General

10.2 Determination of legal requirements and other requirements

10.3 SDG objectives and planning to achieve them

10.4 Planning of changes

11 Support

11.1 Resources

11.2 Competence

11.3 Awareness

11.4 Communication

11.5 Documented information

12 Operation

12.1 Operational planning and control

12.2 Externally provided processes, products and services

12.3 Data management

12.4 Impacts

13 Performance evaluation

13.1 Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation

13.2 Internal audit

13.3 Management review

14 Improvement

14.1 Continual improvement

14.2 Deviations from expected impact and corrective action

Bibliography

PD ISO/UNDP PAS 53002:2024

Guidelines for contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Current

Published:

31 Oct 2024