Advancing Sustainability through Strategy, Standards and Partnerships

We successfully hosted our latest Expert Talk, bringing together members and guests to discuss how international standards and strategic collaboration can accelerate the transition toward sustainable, circular, and climate‑positive value chains.

In her presentation, Noelia Garcia Nebra from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) provided valuable insights into the role of global standards in supporting companies on their sustainability journey.

Key insights included:
• An overview of ISO’s role as a global, multi‑stakeholder system that develops internationally recognised standards used across countries and industries.
• The ways in which international standards help companies improve quality, efficiency, risk management, and market access, while simultaneously supporting environmental and social sustainability goals.
• The importance of standards as voluntary instruments that can become essential tools for regulatory compliance and help organisations navigate increasingly complex sustainability regulation worldwide.
• Updates on ISO’s expanding sustainability portfolio, covering climate mitigation and adaptation, circular economy, SDG‑related management systems, and forthcoming net‑zero guidelines.
•Recent strategic partnerships, including ISO’s collaboration with UNDP and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol initiative, aimed at establishing a harmonised global framework for carbon accounting and strengthening alignment across value chains.
The session, moderated by Gunter Beitinger, fostered an active exchange on the relevance of internationally aligned standards for both industry and policy, and on how organisations can turn reporting requirements into actionable sustainability performance.

 

We look forward to continuing this dialogue in the next edition of the Expert Talk Series.