IWA 48:2024
What is IWA 48?
ISO's ESG Implementation Principles (IWA 48) is a high-level structure and set of principles designed to guide organizations in implementing and embedding Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices within their organizational culture. This document supports the management of ESG performance and facilitates measurement and reporting under existing frameworks, enabling consistency, comparability, and reliability of ESG reporting and practices globally.
Why are the ISO ESG Implementation Principles important?
These principles serve as a universal language for ESG practices, establishing an international reference model that ensures global interoperability and reliability in ESG reporting and practices. This standardized guidance is key to fostering a lasting culture of ESG within organizations and businesses worldwide. The ISO ESG Implementation Principles not only helps individual organizations improve their ESG performance but also accelerates the global adoption of sustainable business practices, contributing to a more resilient and responsible business ecosystem worldwide.
Benefits
- Gain a competitive edge: By implementing robust ESG practices, organizations can attract socially conscious customers and investors, potentially opening up new markets and funding opportunities
- Enhance reputation and trust: Improved ESG performance leads to greater transparency and stakeholder trust, bolstering an organization's reputation in the market and community
- Mitigate risks: A comprehensive approach to ESG helps organizations identify and address potential environmental, social, and governance risks before they become costly issues
- Contribute to global sustainability: By aligning with global sustainability goals, organizations can play a meaningful role in addressing pressing global challenges, from climate change to social inequality
FAQ
ISO's ESG Implementation Principles are designed for use by organizations of all sizes and sectors worldwide. They are particularly beneficial for:
- Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
- Organizations in developing countries
- Top-level decision-makers in any organization looking to embed ESG practices
SMEs constitute a significant portion of the world's businesses, making them pivotal in advancing ESG principles for a more sustainable future. However, SMEs often lack the resources and expertise to navigate complex ESG integration processes on their own. Providing standardized guidance will help them overcome these challenges and facilitate smoother implementation of ESG practices.
Moreover, demonstrating a commitment to ESG through adherence to ISO’s ESG Implementation Principles not only enhances the marketability and international competitiveness of SMEs, but also ensures wider adoption of ESG practices, ultimately contributing to the global sustainable development agenda.
This guidance helps identify existing high-level requirements that cover all elements of 'E', 'S' and 'G' in a holistic way to provide integrated solutions, including requirements that specify measurable key performance indicators to support the assessment of maturity levels within the organisation.
The document encompasses a holistic perspective on ESG, incorporating not only climate action and conformity, but also essential principles of social inclusion and sound governance.
The ISO ESG Implementation Principles are intended to be complementary and interoperable with existing voluntary and regulatory reporting frameworks to facilitate global harmonization and alignment on ESG principles and approaches.
It provides guidance to users engaging with the ESG ecosystem to support compatibility with other ESG frameworks, including, for example, IFRS/ISSB’s S1 and S2 disclosure standards as well as the European Commission's ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards).
It is not in itself a ESG reporting framework but signposts relevant ISO standards that can be used to evidence performance in ESG reporting.
The development of the ISO ESG Implementation Principles has been jointly led by ISO members for UK (BSI), Brazil (ABNT) and Canada (SCC).
Over 1,300 individuals, representing 128 countries, participated in the development of the document.
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General information
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Status: PublishedPublication date: 2024-11Stage: International Standard published [60.60]
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Edition: 1Number of pages: 55
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Technical Committee :ISO/WS ESG
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In support of global sustainability efforts, ISO is making the ESG Implementation Principles (IWA 48) available at no charge.