ISO Standards Do Good:

A New Perspective on Sustainable Development Goals

Tzvetelin Gueorguiev

and Irina Kostadinova

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Ruse “Angel Kanchev”,

8 Studentska Street, Ruse, Bulgaria

Faculty of Business and Management, University of Ruse “Angel Kanchev”, 8 Studentska Street, Ruse, Bulgaria

Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations, International Standards, ISO.

Abstract: The paper presents a new perspective to looking at ISO standards. Standards are usually considered as best

practices or state-of-the-art industrial norms. For some, they are a source of vital information, and for others-

standards are inhibitors for human creativity and innovation. Regardless of personal opinions and preferences,

the greater good should unite humankind in pursuit of sustainability. In 2015, the United Nations (UN)

adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In 2018, ISO engaged with its contribution to the UN SDGs. This paper focuses on the relationship between

SDGs and some of the most popular ISO standards for management systems.

1 INTRODUCTION

The recent years have transformed the way we look

at our world. The constant pursuit of increased profits

and productivity are now increasingly balanced by a

more holistic approach. Ordinary people,

organizations and governments worldwide are

becoming more conscious about the implications and

effects of their activities on a global scale.

Back in 2015, the United Nations (UN) made

publicly available its 2030 Agenda. As the 2019 UN

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Report put

it, ‘the 2030 Agenda has provided a blueprint for

shared prosperity in a sustainable world – a world

where all people can live productive, vibrant and

peaceful lives on a healthy planet’ (UN, 2020).

The UN has established 17 SDGs that range from

some basic human needs like ‘zero hunger’ and ‘no

poverty’, through ‘quality education’ and ‘decent

work and economic growth’ to ‘sustainable cities and

communities’ and ‘climate action’ (UN, 2018). Each

of the SDGs is made more concrete by specifying

targets to be achieved. In addition, the 2019 report

examines the trends in the implementation of the

SDGs and the how likely it is to achieve these targets

by year 2030.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2023-6032

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8845-7598

Even though there are some positive

developments, there are still many areas which need

further improvement and more focused actions. Such

areas are the deteriorating natural environment,

increasing poverty and hunger, educational

inequalities, etc. No single nation can successfully

tackle these issues on its own. Instead, an integrated

action plan with the support of other international

organizations can help solve this complex challenge.

One such organization that creates global

consensus and promotes economic growth is the

International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

With more than 160 national standards bodies as its

members and more than 22000 published

international standards ISO is a stakeholder that can

enhance the visibility of the SDGs.

In March 2018, ISO published a special brochure

explaining how it contributes to the UN SDGs (ISO,

2018). This document explains how ISO standards

support the three pillars of sustainable development-

economic, social and environmental sustainability.

Furthermore, the brochure details how many ISO

standards contribute to creating a favourable context

for achieving the SDGs.

Gueorguiev, T. and Kostadinova, I.

ISO Standards Do Good: A New Perspective on Sustainable Development Goals.

DOI: 10.5220/0010658000003064

In Proceedings of the 13th International Joint Conference on Knowledge Discovery, Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management (IC3K 2021) - Volume 3: KMIS, pages 133-137

ISBN: 978-989-758-533-3; ISSN: 2184-3228

133

2 ISO STANDARDS AND

SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT GOALS

In September 2018 ISO created a specific webpage

dedicated to ISO standards that are directly applicable

to each of the SDGs (ISO, 2018).

The analysis is based on monitoring relevant ISO

publications and summarizing the trends in the

development of SDG related standards. The source

information is available on the official web page of

the International Organization for Standardization. In

order to look up a specific ISO standard, one must use

the embedded search engine by typing the standard’s

reference number. Along with general information

such as the latest edition of the standard, the date

when it was published and the Technical Committee

(TC) which has developed it, the specific results page

also contains a listing of icons with hyperlinks to the

applicable SDGs. The stakeholders and contributors

involved in the TCs of ISO are coming from the

following groups: standardizers, industry

representatives, academia, auditors and accreditation

bodies, lead implementers, etc. For example, Fraga et

al. (Fraga, 2019) discusses the work of ISO/TC 184

in order to assure interoperability of international

standards. It is necessary to note that even standards

that are still under development (at stages like

Committee draft- CD, Draft International Standard-

DIS, or Final Draft International Standard- FDIS) are

considered in respect to the UN SDGs.

Normally one standard relates to one or more of

the SDGs. Figure 1 presents the latest statistics for the

correspondence between the SDGs and ISO

standards. 5 of the 17 SDGs account for nearly 80%

of the 28040 direct citations in ISO standards.

Figure 1: SDGs in ISO standards.

The Top 5 SDGs in ISO standards are:

 SDG 9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure

(12294 standards, i.e. 43,8%) which is aimed at

building resilient infrastructure, promoting

inclusive and sustainable industrialization and

fostering innovation;

 SDG 3 Good health and well-being (2752

standards, i.e. 9,8%) which plans for ensuring

healthy lives and promoting well-being for all

at all ages;

 SDG 12 Responsible consumption and

production (2503 standards, i.e. 8,9%) whose

purpose is to ensure sustainable consumption

and production patterns;

 SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth

(2370 standards, i.e. 8,5%) promoting

sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic

growth, full and productive employment and

decent work for all;

 SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities

(2276 standards, i.e. 8,1%) designed to make

cities and human settlements inclusive, safe,

resilient and sustainable.

The focus of this paper is to analyse the most

popular series of standards for management systems

and their contribution to the latest Sustainable

Development Goals of the United Nations. The

proposed method for achieving this purpose is to

establish the most widely used ISO standards and to

highlight their relevance to the UN SDGs.

Yearly, the International Organization for

Standardization produces ‘The ISO Survey’ of the 12

most popular management systems standards (ISO,

2020). The most recent edition of this survey was

published in September 2020 and covers the period

from 1 January 2019 till 31 December 2019. The

overall conclusion based on the explanatory note of

the survey is that ‘The overall results show an

increase, from 2018, of 3.8% of the total number of

valid certificates.’. Table 1 presents the Top 6 of the

12 Management Systems Standards (MSS) included

in the ISO Survey.

Table 1: Total number of sites for each management system

standard.

Management System

Standard

Total Number of Sites

ISO 9001:2015

Quality

1 217 972

ISO 14001:2015

Environmen

487 950

ISO/IEC 27001:2013

Information security

68 930

ISO 45001:2018

Occupational health and

safety

62 889

ISO 50001:2018

Energy managemen

42 215

ISO 22000:2018

Food safety management

39 651

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It can be seen that ISO 9001:2015 ‘Quality

management systems — Requirements’ is by far the

most widespread MSS with 61.7% of all certificates.

ISO 14001:2015 ‘Environmental management

systems — Requirements with guidance for use’

ranks second with 24.7%, and the other standard

frequently used to create an integrated management

systems- ISO 45001:2018 ‘’Occupational health and

safety management systems — Requirements with

guidance for use’ comes fourth with 3.2%. The main

reason it falls behind ISO/IEC 27001:2013

‘Information technology — Security techniques —

Information security management systems —

Requirements’ currently ranked third with 3.5%, is

the fact that ISO 45001:2018 is in its first edition. It

builds on the best practice of its predecessor BS

OHSAS 18001:2007 ‘Occupational health and safety

management systems. Requirements’. The top half of

the MSS ranking is completed by ISO 50001:2018

Energy management systems — Requirements with

guidance for use’ with 2.1%, and ISO 22000:2018

‘Food safety management systems — Requirements

for any organization in the food chain’ with 2% of the

total number of sites having ISO certification. The

MSS not included in Table 1 account for less than 3

% of the total number of certificates.

2.1 Quality Management Systems

The ISO 9000 series of standards are in existence

since 1987. For more than 30 years these standards

have shaped generations in the way they approach

management. Strictly considered, the ISO 9000 series

currently includes:

 ISO 9000:2015 Quality management systems

— Fundamentals and vocabulary;

 ISO 9001:2015 Quality management systems

— Requirements;

 ISO/TS 9002:2016 Quality management

systems — Guidelines for the application of

ISO 9001:2015;

 ISO 9004:2018 Quality management —

Quality of an organization — Guidance to

achieve sustained success.

The chronological development of the ISO 9000

series is closely followed by the guidelines for

auditing management systems set out in ISO 19011.

In order to reap the complete benefits of quality

management systems organizations are supported by

a set of 15 additional quality management standards

(Fig.2). They relate to:

 Customer satisfaction- ISO 10001, ISO 10002,

ISO 10003, ISO 10004, ISO 10008;

 Quality plans- ISO 10005;

 Quality management in projects- ISO 10006;

 Quality Tools and their application- ISO

10009;

 Measurement systems- ISO 10012;

 Documented information- ISO 10013;

 Realizing financial and economic benefits- ISO

10014;

 Competence management and people

development- ISO 10015;

 Statistical techniques for ISO 9001:2015- ISO

10017;

 People engagement- ISO 10018;

 Selection of quality management system

consultants and use of their services- ISO

10019.

Figure 2: SDGs in ISO 9000 series of standards for quality

management.

Similar tables have been developed also for the

other series of ISO management systems standards.

Quite expectedly, the main standard in the ISO

9000 series- ISO 9001:2015 covers the largest

number of UN Sustainable Development Goals.

These include: SDG 1, SDG 9, SDG 12 and SDG 14.

For the remainder of the quality management

standards, SDG 9 ‘Industry, innovation and

infrastructure’ dominates. It is closely followed by

SDG 8 ‘Decent work and economic growth’ and SDG

10 ‘Reduced inequalities’.

2.2 Environment Management Systems

This second most widespread set of MSS is the ISO

14000 series. The core standard ISO 14001:2015

‘Environmental management systems —

Requirements with guidance for use’ relates to 12 of

the 17 UN SDGs with the exception of SDG 5, SDG

10, SDG 11, SDG 16 and SDG 17.

As for the remaining 9 international standards for

environmental management systems, the most

frequently cited SDG is SDG 13 ‘Climate Action’ (5

standards). It is followed by SDG 11 ‘Sustainable

cities and communities’ (2 standards), and SDG 12

(ISO 14053:2021) and SDG 14 (ISO/AWI 14002-2).

ISO Standards Do Good: A New Perspective on Sustainable Development Goals

135

2.3 Occupational Health and Safety

Management Systems

The main standard in this series is ISO 45001:2018

‘Occupational health and safety management systems

— Requirements with guidance’. It supports 7 SDGs:

SDG3, SDG 5, SDG 8, SDG 9, SDG 10, SGD 11 and

SDG 16. The ISO 45000 series also includes:

 ISO 45003:2021 ‘Occupational health and

safety management — Psychological health

and safety at work — Guidelines for managing

psychosocial risks’- covering identical SDGs

as ISO 45001;

 ISO/PAS 45005:2020 ‘Occupational health

and safety management — General guidelines

for safe working during the COVID-19

pandemic’.

ISO/PAS 45005 was developed and published in

record-breaking time. The project for this standard was

approved on 15 September 2020, it became a draft

international standard on 2 December 2020, and on 7

December- a final draft international standard. Only 3

months after the initiation of the standard’s lifecycle it

was officially published on 15 December 2020.

Without any exaggeration, the urgency of

developing a guideline against the COVID-19

pandemic, turned the UN SDGs and Agenda 2030

into reality. For comparison, ISO 9001:2015 took

nearly 3 years (from 5 October 2012 to 22 September

2015) to complete the same steps.

Two additional standards that contribute to the

UN SDGs are in preparation by ISO/TC 283

Occupational health and safety management:

 ISO/CD 45002 ‘Occupational health and safety

management — General guidelines for the

implementation of ISO 45001:2018’- SDG 3,

SDG 5, SDG 8 and SDG 10;

 ISO/AWI 45004 ‘Occupational health and

safety management — Guidelines on

performance evaluation’- SDG 3 and SDG 8.

2.4 Energy Management Systems

The ISO 50000 series is based on ISO 50001:2018

‘Energy management systems — Requirements with

guidance for use’. The main focus is on: SDG 7

‘Affordable and clean energy’, SDG 11‘Sustainable

cities and communities’, SDG 12 ‘Responsible

consumption and production’, and SDG 13 ‘Climate

Action’.

12 additional international standards for energy

management systems support ISO 50001 and its set

of SDGs. 8 of them are active, and 4 are still under

development.

The richest palette of SDGs is in ISO/AWI 50010

‘Energy management and energy savings - Guidance

for zero net energy in operation’. It expands the

contribution of ISO 50001 with SDG 1 ‘No poverty’,

SDG 8 and SDG 9 and is well presented in the work

of Dimitrov (Dimitrov, Venelinova, 2019).

2.5 Food Safety Management Systems

The ISO 22000 series is said to support not only the

UN SDGs but also the EU Strategy ‘Farm to Fork’

which is at the heart of the European Green Deal (EU,

2020).

Three SDGs are in the spotlight of ISO

22000:2018 ‘Food safety management systems —

Requirements for any organization in the food chain’

and its 10 supporting standards:

 SDG 2 ‘Zero hunger’;

 SDG 3 ‘Good health and well-being’;

 SDG 12 ‘Responsible consumption and

production’.

2.6 Other Management Systems

It may seem surprising but the ISO/IEC series of

standards for information security which rank third in

the ISO survey are not well aligned with the UN

SDGs. The exception is the recently published

ISO/IEC TS 27006-2:2021 ‘Requirements for bodies

providing audit and certification of information

security management systems — Part 2: Privacy

information management systems’. It is considered a

contributor to SDG 9, SDG 12 and SDG 16. This

instils optimism that future standards and new

revisions of current standards for information security

will take UN SDGs into consideration.

ISO 13485:2016 ‘Medical devices — Quality

management systems — Requirements for regulatory

purposes’ covers two important SDGs: SDG 3 ‘Good

health and well-being’ and SDG 10 ‘Reduced

inequalities’.

Even though ISO 26000:2010 ‘Guidance on

social responsibility’ is not a management system

standard and is not intended for certification purposes

since it does not contain requirements, this standard

is an example for SDG contribution. 16 of the 17 UN

SDGs are covered with the only exception of SDG 17

‘Partnership for the goals’.

This ‘gap’, also seen in Figure 1, has an

explanation. This is the way that the International

Organization for Standardization justifies the

misalignment: ‘At ISO, we recognize the importance

of global partnerships because the whole ISO system

depends on it. An ISO International Standard is

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developed with the collaboration and consensus of a

wide range of stakeholders from all corners of the

Earth, including representatives from government,

industry and standardization bodies.’

The UN Agenda 2030 is SMART- specific,

measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. In the

words of the innovation management consultant Peter

Merrill ‘Achieving the SDGs by 2030 has the

potential to generate peace and shared prosperity on a

healthy planet, but they require radical solutions. The

SDGs are interconnected. There are 17 goals, 169

targets and 231 indicators to measure the SDGs.’

(Merrill, 2020).

3 CONCLUSIONS

The UN SDGs and their targets provide a roadmap to

improve the overall wellbeing on a global scale.

The ISO standards, and more specifically the

standards for management systems, support the

achievement of the 17 UN SDGs.

By following the requirements and guidelines of

ISO management system standards, organizations can

enhance their individual performance, and at the same

time- contribute to achieving a greater good for the

entire world.

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