Incorporating climate change into ISO management systems

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has long provided frameworks for effective management systems, helping businesses achieve operational excellence, compliance and sustainability. ISO management systems, such as ISO 9001 for quality management, ISO 14001 for environmental management and ISO 45001 for Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), follow a harmonised structure known as Annex SL.

This is a common framework that allows for seamless integration across standards, making it easier for organisations to adopt multiple systems should they choose. 

Photograph: iStock
 
Therefore, one technical amendment in one standard is normally reflected in changes to the others. One such major amendment was published on 23 February 2024, and was prompted by the escalating urgency to explicitly incorporate climate change considerations in standards such as ISO 9001, 14001 and ISO 45001.

In essence, the changes mean organisations seeking to comply with these standards must now consider the effect of climate change on their ability to achieve the intended results of the relevant management system (for example, ISO 45001). 

In addition, the changes mean businesses seeking to meet the various standards must consider whether relevant interested parties (such as employees, customers and suppliers) have requirements related to climate change that may need to be addressed when designing and operating the relevant environmental, OHS or quality management system. 

The overall aim is to ensure climate change issues are not overlooked but considered by all organisations in the design and implementation of the relevant management systems.

In an era where climate change poses unprecedented risks to global economies, ecosystems, workers, worldwide supply chains and society itself, the new requirements are a clear example of the increasing pressure on organisations to adapt and mitigate their climate and environmental impacts and to build resilience against climate-related disruptions.

The amendments are driven by ISO’s commitment to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement. As of February 2024, the changes apply to over 30 management system standards, affecting millions of organisations globally that are either formally certified under the standards or seek to align with them without certification.

Keith Whitehead: "The new requirements are a clear example of the increasing pressure on organisations to adapt and mitigate their climate and environmental impacts."

However, it is quite surprising that many certified organisations are still unaware of these major amendments, despite ISO and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), a worldwide association of accreditation bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment, jointly communicating them, and emphasising that climate change must now be considered in the context of the organisation’s own systems and in relation to the needs and expectations of stakeholders connected to the business (the ‘interested parties’). 

ISO’s decision to evolve its standards to explicitly incorporate climate change considerations is therefore designed to ensure management systems not only address quality, safety or environmental concerns but also build resilience against climate-related disruptions.

The need for climate integration

The journey toward integrating climate change into ISO standards began with the London Declaration on Climate Change in September 2021. This declaration, adopted by ISO members, pledged to embed climate action into all standards and publications, aligning with global efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. It recognised that standards must evolve to address emerging risks like extreme weather events, supply chain disruptions and regulatory shifts.

Prior to 2024, ISO standards like ISO 14001 already emphasised environmental management, including aspects related to climate impacts. However, other standards, such as ISO 9001 (quality) or ISO 45001 (OHS), did not explicitly require consideration of climate change issues, challenges and impacts. The 2024 amendments rectified this by amending the Harmonized Structure in Appendix 2 of Annex SL, ensuring consistency across all standards. The amendments came into effect immediately for new certifications and transitions to any of the relevant standards, that took place on, or after, the publication date of 23 February 2024. 

For organisations that hold certifications under the affected standards, these changes should have been assessed during surveillance or recertification audits that took place on or after 23 February 2024. However, for those organisations, there is a transition period for compliance, meaning they have until the next audit cycle to ensure they are complying with the new climate change considerations. 

Key amendments: what has changed?

The core updates are concise but impactful, and were added to Clauses 4.1 and 4.2 of the Harmonized Structure. They are:

• Clause 4.1: Understanding the organisation and its context – this clause now includes the statement: “The organisation shall determine whether climate change is a relevant issue.” Organisations must evaluate internal and external issues that could affect their ability to achieve intended outcomes, explicitly including climate change. For instance, a manufacturing firm might assess how rising sea levels and severe weather events could disrupt logistics and affect staff, or how carbon legislation could impact CAPEX and OPEX costs.
  
  
• Clause 4.2: Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties – a new note states: “NOTE: Relevant interested parties can have requirements related to climate change.” This prompts organisations to identify stakeholders – such as employees, regulators, customers, suppliers, or communities – who may impose climate-related expectations, such as net-zero commitments or emissions reporting.

These additions apply universally to standards like ISO 9001, ISO 45001 and ISO 14001, but also ISO 22000 (food safety), ISO 27001 (information security management systems), and ISO 50001 (energy management). For environmental-focused standards like ISO 14001, the amendments reinforce existing requirements, while for others, they introduce a new layer of risk assessment.

ISO also provides supporting tools, such as ISO 14090 for climate change adaptation and ISO 14064 for greenhouse gas management, and, in January 2026, published ISO/PAS 45007:2026, Occupational health and safety management ISO 14090 Risks arising from climate change and climate change action. Guidance for organizations to aid implementation.

This latter document is a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) that provides guidance and practical, risk-based recommendations for organisations to identify, assess and manage OHS risks and opportunities linked to:

• Direct effects of climate change (for example, extreme heat, wildfires, flooding, storms, changing disease vectors)
• Indirect effects from climate change adaptation and mitigation actions (for example, new technologies, changed work processes, green infrastructure projects, or shifts to renewable energy that introduce new hazards).

Photograph: iStock

Practical steps for incorporation

Integrating climate change into ISO management systems requires a systematic approach, aligned with the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle inherent in ISO frameworks. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Assess relevance (plan phase): Begin by conducting a climate risk assessment. Use tools like scenario analysis to evaluate physical risks (for example, floods, droughts) and transition risks (for example, policy changes, market shifts). Determine if climate change affects the organisation’s strategic direction or operational outcomes. For example, under ISO 27001, a tech company might consider how data centres’ energy use contributes to emissions or is vulnerable to extreme weather. Meanwhile, a construction company should assess how severe weather can affect the occupational health and safety of workers, for instance.
   
   
2. Identify stakeholder requirements: Map interested parties and their climate expectations and potential impacts. This could involve surveying suppliers for sustainable sourcing, reviewing customer demands for low-carbon products, and understanding the impact of severe weather on workers. Update the organisation’s register of ‘interested parties’ to include these insights.
   
   
3. Integrate into management processes (do phase): Embed climate considerations into risk and opportunity registers, objectives and operational controls. For ISO 9001, this might mean redesigning processes to reduce waste or incorporate sustainable materials. For ISO 14001, the organisation should consider enhancing environmental aspects to include lifecycle emissions and, where necessary, set measurable targets, such as for reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions. For ISO 45001, meanwhile, climate risk assessments should be incorporated in general OHS risk assessments, making use of ISO/PAS 45007:2026, Occupational health and safety management – Risks arising from climate change and climate change action – Guidance for organizations, to aid implementation.
   
   
4. Document and train: Update policies, procedures and training programmes to reflect climate integration. Ensure top management demonstrates leadership by incorporating climate goals into strategic planning.
   
   
5. Monitor, measure and audit (check and act phases): Establish KPIs for climate performance, conduct internal audits of climate performance and review progress towards these KPIs and the audit results during management meetings. Use data from tools like ISO 14064 for emissions tracking. If any gaps are found in climate considerations, systems and performance, implement corrective actions and take steps to ensure continual improvement.

Organisations can leverage external resources, such as ISO Guide 84 for standards developers or IWA 42 for net-zero guidelines, to refine their approach. For sectors like food (ISO 22000 sets food safety management system requirements), this might involve assessing climate impacts in and on supply chains, such as crop yields being affected by changing weather patterns.

Benefits of integration

Incorporating climate change into existing ISO standards offers multifaceted advantages. It enhances resilience by identifying risks, potentially avoiding costly disruptions – estimated by the World Economic Forum to reach US$ 12.5 trillion annually by 2050. Secondly, it drives innovation, such as adopting renewable energy under ISO 50001, leading to cost savings and competitive edges.

Incorporating climate risk into an organisation’s management systems delivers tangible benefits, including:

• Protecting the organisation’s infrastructure and workers, and strengthens worker wellbeing
• Reducing unplanned downtime from climate events
• Enhancing compliance with emerging regulatory expectations
• Supporting reputation, stakeholder confidence and ESG commitments.

Challenges and Solutions

Despite the benefits, challenges persist. Smaller organisations may lack resources for comprehensive assessments that incorporate climate change considerations, while others face data gaps on climate projections or even leadership sceptical about the value of considering climate change issues in the context of the effectiveness of various management systems for a variety of risks and aspects of business operation.

Resistance to change or a perceived irrelevance of the value of considering climate change issues when seeking to comply with non-environmental standards like ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 can also hinder adoption.

To overcome these, EHS practitioners should start by conducting a high-level screening of the likely impact of climate change on their various business management systems and operations – and their existing level of preparation for these impacts. There are a variety of free resources that can be used for this purpose, such as IPCC reports or ISO’s climate resources. 

Another option is to seek advice and audits from consultants or certification providers, like British Safety Council. In particular, British Safety Council offers a Climate Risk Gap Analysis service that assesses an organisation’s current OHS framework to identify areas impacted by climate risks and offer ideas for climate action by business. As part of its services, British Safety Council also offers advice and help on integrating climate-related safety requirements into the company’s existing OHS documentation and workflows.

There is also an Internal Audit Support service to ensure an organisation’s OHS system evolves and remains robust through regular review cycles.

When seeking to consider and incorporate climate change issues in the context of the OHS risk management system, it is a good idea to start with a phased implementation, focusing first on high-risk areas of OHS that could be affect by climate issues and risks.

Also, training programmes and leadership buy-in are crucial to embed a culture of climate awareness and an understanding of the impact of climate change on the occupational health and safety of workers, and the risks climate issues pose to the safety of people in the company’s supply chain and more widely to its products and services.

Conclusion

The incorporation of climate change into ISO management systems marks a paradigm shift toward holistic sustainability. By mandating an evaluation both of how climate issues will affect various aspects of the organisation’s operations and risks, and how relevant interested parties connected to the organisation may have requirements related to climate change, these amendments empower businesses to navigate an uncertain future. As climate risks intensify, proactive integration not only ensures compliance but also unlocks opportunities for efficiency and innovation.

Looking ahead, ISO continues to refine standards, with ongoing reviews in sectors like transport and energy. Organisations that embrace this now will lead in a low-carbon economy. Ultimately, this evolution of ISO frameworks is a call to action: climate change is no longer optional – it’s integral to effective management.

For more information about British Safety Council’s environmental and sustainability products and services, see:
britsafe.org
E: [email protected]
T: +44 (0)20 3510 8355
Connect with Dr Keith Whitehead C. Env on LinkedIn