BSI launches new ISO standard for climate change adaptation

The British Standards Institution (BSI) has published its first standard on climate change adaptation, creating a framework for how businesses can develop measures and report and assess strategy and plans which increase resilience against climate impacts.

The BSI has this week launched the BE EN ISO 14090 Adaptation to climate change – Principles, requirements and guidelines. The ISO standard has been designed to provide a framework that enables corporates of all sizes to consider climate change adaptation when creating new policies, strategies, plans and activities.

BSI’s head of sustainability sector David Fatscher said: “There has never been such pressure on organisations to demonstrate that they are acting responsibly to mitigate their impact on the environment, whilst also showing foresight in adapting to climate change.

“BS EN ISO 14090 helps organisations to proactively address this challenge by guiding them in developing appropriate measures and reporting on adaptation activity in a verifiable way.”

BE EN ISO 14090 is the first in a range of ISO standards in this area, and was developed with stakeholder insight from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Environment Agency, the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), Institution of Civil Engineers and the Met Office.

The standard also sets out how organisations can prioritise measures that will increase resilience against future climate shocks, by demonstrating robust and credible risk management.

Notably, the standard not only aims to highlight the risks of failing to adapt to climate change, but also the opportunities that may be presented by developing and implementing robust climate mitigation policies.

SDG alignment

BSI claimed that the standard is relevant for all users across the value chain, as it impacts purchasing, insurance and investment. Implementation of the standard also allows companies to contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal on climate action (SDG 13).

Earlier in the year, edie launched a report that maps out exactly how the business community can collectively achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 – Climate Action – within the next decade.

This edie report, sponsored by renewable energy company Ørsted, sets out exactly how the business community can collectively achieve SDG 13 within the next 10 years. The report combines an array of real-life case studies with expert viewpoints, key facts and stats, and look at how Goal 13 aligns with other SDGs – providing readers with the insight, inspiration and motivation needed to achieve what is arguably the most critical Goal of them all.

• By Edie Newsroom