7 core subjects of ISO 26000
Yesterday, Rob Steele, the Secretary General of the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO), gave a presentation at the Graduate Institute’s Villa Barton entitled “Social Responsibility and ISO 26000”.
His presentation focused on ISO 26000 Guidance on social responsibility, an international standard released by ISO in 2010 providing organisations information on the concept and outlining ways they can integrate it into business practices as well as how to communicate about it.
Mr Steele opened giving an introduction to ISO, a non-governmental organisation comprised of both government agencies and private sector entities that creates voluntary international standards in a wide range of areas through a consensus system where each member votes on the documents and provides comments. “The one country, one vote principle in ISO means that the United States has the same voting power as Malawi”, he said.
ISO 26000 is an effective contribution to sustainable development, Rob Steele said. The goals of the document were to create common terminology in the field of social responsibility and raise awareness of the topic as well as increase stakeholder engagement and confidence, according to Mr Steele.
Over time perceptions of social responsibility have shifted, he pointed out. It was once considered an add-on and a topic to be addressed in the future but has increasingly become essential in the strategies of both public and private sector organisations large and small. “It is creating exciting new opportunities”, he said.
He went on to describe the principles and nature of the ISO 26000 document which focuses on issues such as accountability, transparency, ethical behaviour, respect for laws and norms as well as human rights and stakeholder interests. The standard was created to provide guidance but not to be used for certification or creating management systems as is the case with some of the most well-known ISO standards such as the ISO 9000 series for quality or the ISO 14000 series for the environment and others, he said.
Closing, Mr Steele described the long and laborious process which resulted in the creation of the document and some of the issues that were left aside due to objections from some of the groups involved which ranged from industry to consumers and governments to NGOs.
Professor Joost Pauwelyn, who introduced Mr Steele and moderated the discussion, said the topic is relevant to the Institute’s teaching and research, especially to students and researchers in the International Law master and PhD programmes and those focusing on trade. “This is a highly interesting topic because while international standards are not legally binding, they are hugely influential and often get referenced in national and international law. In addition, they are created to reduce barriers to world trade."
Rob Steele has been the Secretary-General of ISO since the beginning of 2009 and was previously the CEO of Standards New Zealand. He has many years of management experience in industry and is a chartered accountant.
Joost Pauwelyn is Professor of International Law with the institute since 2007. A Belgian national, his teaching and research focus on international economic law, in particular trade and investment.
More information is available in Rob Steele’s presentation [pdf].