Centre for Advanced Research in Corporate and Insolvency Laws

Chanakya National Law University, Patna

Perspective of Sustainability and Social Responsibilities: ISO 26000

Submitted by: Submitted to:

Rashi Dubey Mrs. Nandini S. Jha

Research Intern,

CARCIL, CNLU Patna

 Objective

The work hereby entitled Perspective of Sustainability and Social Responsibilities: ISO 26000 is

my research subject for the month of May and hereby I submit the researched work wherein it covers the

vivid perspectives of social responsibilities and sustainability in the context of ISO 26000, its latest

developments and concluding it with relevant remarks. The study thereby provides the reader with an

insight of the present status of ISO 26000 following the proposals for change and suggestions.
 Table of Contents

Background.................................................................................................................01-03

Chapter 1 : ISO 26000................................................................................................03-10

1.1. Core subjects of ISO 26000...................................................................................04-07

1.2.Principles of ISO 26000..........................................................................................08-10

Chapter 2: Sustainable development through ISO 26000......................................11- 21

2.1 Examples of Organizations in compliance with ISO 26000...................................12-16

2.2 Goal of sustainable development through ISO 26000.............................................17-18

2.3 Misuse of ISO 26000..............................................................................................19-19

2.4 New development 2021- ISO 26000.......................................................................20-21

Chapter 3 Critical Analysis .......................................................................................21- 23

Chapter 4 Suggestions................................................................................................23-25

Chapter 5 Conclusion.................................................................................................26-28
 Background: Evolution of International Organization for Standardization

The organization had begun in the 1920’s with the name as International Federation of the National

Standardizing Associations. It was suspended during world war in the year 1942 but post the war

ISA was approached by the UNSCC (United Nations Standards Coordinating Committee) which

was formed newly with the proposal of forming a new global standards body in the year 1946

proposing to form a new body of global standards. In October 1946, UNSCC and ISA delegates

from the 25 countries met in London and had agreed to join the forces in order to create the new

International Organization for Standardization. Finally, the new organization officially began its

operations in the year February 1947. ISO also called the International Organization for

1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Organization_for_Standardization#/media/File:Memory_plaque_of_f
ounding_ISA_in_Prague_cropped.jpg (last visited on 04th May 2021)

1
Standardization was formed on 23 February 1947 and it is a non-governmental organization. The

headquarters of ISO is at Geneva, Switzerland and the current president being Eddy Njoroge. There

are 165 members of ISO, also it is the largest developer of voluntary international standards and

facilitates the world trade by providing common set of standards among the member nations. The

three official languages of the ISO are English, French, and Russian. In the year 2002, the

COPOLCO which is a Committee on Consumer Policy had played an essential part in the history

of ISO 26000; they had called an ISO to consider development of Corporate Social Responsibility

standard as a complement to the management standards of ISO 14001 which pertains to the

environmental management system and ISO 9001 which is quality management system standard.

ISO Technical Management Board in 2003 had set- up an advisory group on social responsibility

which used to report their findings to the Board, and at a Conference in 2004 at Stockholm. The

conference had concluded that it was possible for ISO for developing a ‘CSR’ standard but had

recommended that the standards should not focus merely on the corporates. Also, the process must

adhere to the directives of ISO but is flexible to accommodate the new stakeholders. The TMB

had decided to go ahead and issued NWIP- New Work Item Proposal to the membership, NSB’s,

to vote and the vote came out in its favour. It had taken 5 years and 8 international meetings for

handling the 25000 and more written comments that was received from the 450 experts that is

coming from 99 participating countries and around 40 international organizations. Though the ISO

process is based on stakeholders, but the procedures developed by the Working Group developed

procedures beyond the traditional process of ISO, all for strengthening the engagement of the

stakeholders. All the decisions of the Working Group were taken by the consensus and not unity

wherein the absence of any sustained opposition is not considered as unanimity. Balanced

participation was being focused on regard to the developed or developing countries, language,

2
gender, and stakeholder categories. Also, the final vote as of the date 13 September 2010 was 93%

of the present eligible votes and were in favour.

Chapter 1: International Standard Organization 26000:10

ISO 26000 provides guidance and recommendations regarding how any organization can improve

its Social Responsibility and thus contributes to the sustainable, environmental, social, and

economic development. It is not certifiable as it does not have any requirements. For whatsoever

reasons those who seek to improve their operating processes and impacts through a socially

responsible behavior, Iso appeals to them. The framework of ISO 26000 is to work in all the

organizational and cultural contexts in any country or region. Also, it is flexible, and the user

basically decides how to use it. It incorporates the real-life experiences of its contributors and on

the other hand build itself on international norms and agreements that pertains to Social

Responsibility. It also enumerates the following:

1. The terminology, definitions and terms related to ‘Social Responsibility’.

2. The features, background, and trends of the ‘Social Responsibility’.

3. The practices and principles inculcated in ‘Social Responsibility’.

4. The issues and major subjects of ‘Social Responsibility.

5. Synthesis, implementation, and promotion of a responsible social behavior within the

organization and through the way of practices and policies within its sphere of influence.

3
Usage of ISO 26000: It can be used by the following-

1. Large MNC’s

2. SMSE’s

3. Public Sector (hospitals/ schools/ others)

4. NGO’s, Foundations and Charities

5. Extractive Industries- Mining and Fossil Fuel Companies

6. Financial Industries and services (banks, it, insurance)

7. Municipalities

8. Government

9. Agri- business and farmers

10. Consultancies

1.1 The Core subjects and the issues that pertains to social responsibility are:

Organizational Governance

Human Rights

Environment

Labour Rights

Fair Operating Practices

Consumer Issues

Community Development and Involvement

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1. Organizational Governance

It is the system by which an organization makes and implements the decisions in the pursuit

of its objective. It is the most crucial factor in enabling an organization to take the

responsibility for the impacts for the decisions and activities. It should be the starting point

to integrate the social responsibility within the organization. The effective governance

should be based upon incorporating the principles of the social responsibility i.e.,

accountability, ethical behaviour, transparency, etc.) into the decision making and

implementation.

2. Human Rights

It is the basic rights to which all the human beings are entitled. There are two vivid

categories of human rights. The first category concerning the civil and political rights and

involves such rights as the right to life and liberty, equality before the law and the right to

freedom of speech and expression. The second category involves the social, economic, and

cultural rights and includes such rights as the right to work, right to food, right to the highest

standard of health, right to education and the right to social security. Issues that pertain to

human rights are due diligence, risks of human rights situation avoidance of complicity

resolving of the grievances, discrimination and vulnerable groups, civil and political rights,

social and cultural rights, economics, fundamental principles, and rights at work.

3. Environment Responsibility

It is a precondition for the survival and progress of the human beings. As the global

population and consumption continues to increase, many social and environmental threats

have been posed. Pollution, usage of natural resources, destruction of natural habitats,

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 climate changes and loss of the ecological biodiversity are few of the environmental issues

covered by the ISO 26000. In the last few years several organizations are stepping up and

taking steps towards becoming environmentally and socially responsible.

4. Labour Rights

It is a term that includes all the policies and practices that related to the work performed on

behalf of the organization that includes the recruitment and promotion of workers,

grievance and disciplinary procedures, transfer and relocation of the workers, termination

of employment, skill, and training development; health, industrial hygiene and safety and

any other policy or practice that affects the work conditions. One of the most important

socio- economic contributions of an organization are job creations, wages, and other

compensations forms of payment for the performance of the work, amongst all other things.

5. Fair Operating Practices

It related to the way an organization generally an organization uses its relationships with

the other organization in order to promote positive outcomes. It includes the relationships

between government agencies and organizations as well as between the organizations and

their partners, contractors, suppliers, customers, competitors, and associations with which

they belong to. The fair operating practices issues covered by the ISO 26000 are political

involvement responsibility, anti- corruption, fair competition, promotion of social

responsibility in the value chain and the respect for the property rights.

6. Consumer Issues

With respect to the social responsibility among other matters, the fair marketing

practices, protection of health and safety, dispute resolution and redressal, sustainable

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 consumption, data and privacy protection, access to the essential products and services,

need of disadvantaged consumers and vulnerable consumers and education.

7. Community Development and Involvement

The two are the essential and important initiatives that all the organizations, private and

public can take forward towards developing a sustainable society. Social responsibility

issues through which an organization can contribute to their communities including their

involvement in and support for the civil institution promotion of the culture and

education, creation of employment opportunities and the provision of full and safe access

to the modern technology. It also contributes through the social investment, wealth and

income creation and health promotion.

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 1.2 Principles of ISO 26000

Seven Principles of ISO 26000

RESPECT FOR THE RESPECT FOR

ETHICAL RESPECT FOR THE RESPECT FOR
ACCOUNTABILITY TRANSPARENCY STAKEHOLDER INTERNATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR RULE OF LAW HUMAN RIGHTS
INTERESTS NORMS OF
BEHAVIOUR

1. Accountability:

AIM: Responsible organizations are accountable for their impacts on society, economy,

and environment.

Accountability includes an obligation on the management to be answerable to the

controlling interests of the organization. Also, it includes that the obligation of the

organization which is to be answerable to the legal authorities with respect to the laws and

regulations.

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 2. Transparency

AIM: Responsible organizations are transparent in their decisions and the activities that

impact on the society and environment.

The responsible organizations express in a clear, complete and accurate manner and to a

sufficient degree the policies or decisions and the activities for which they are responsible. For

the purpose of it this information should be readily available, understandable and directly

accessible to those who have been affected significantly by the organization. It should be

timely and as per facts and be presented in a very clear and objective manner in order to enable

the stakeholders to accurately assess the impact that the organizations decisions and activities

have on their respective interest.

2. Ethical Behavior

Aim: Responsible organizations must behave ethically.

An organization’s behavior should be based on equally important values of equity, integrity,

and honesty. These values implies a concern for the people, animals, environment and the

commitment to address the impact of the activities and decisions on the interest of the

stakeholder.

3. Respect for the stakeholder interest

Aim: The responsible organizations must respect, consider and respond to the interests of their

Stakeholders.

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 They should consider the views of the stakeholders wherein the interests are likely to be

affected by a decision or the activity even though they have no official role in the

governance of the organizations or are unaware of the interests they have.

4. Respect for Rule of law

Aim: Responsible organizations must be respectful, considerate and respond to the

shareholder’s interests

Rule of law refers to the supremacy of law. For the reasons that organizations accept the

idea that neither the individual nor the organization stands above law and that the

government is also subject to the law.

5. Respect for international norms of behavior

Aim: Responsible organizations respect the international norms of behaviour while

following to the principle of respect for the rule of law.

6. Respect for human rights

Aim: Responsible organizations exclusively respect the human rights and recognize both

their universality and importance.

When no protection is provided to the human rights, take steps to respect the human rights

and avoid taking advantage of these kind of situations. Moreover, where the law or its

implementation does not provide adequate protection of human rights they follow the

principle of respect for the international norms of behaviour.

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 Chapter 2: Sustainable development through ISO 26000

The following diagram depicts how an organization can maximize its contribution towards

sustainable development:

11
 2.1 Examples of Organizations in compliance with ISO 26000

1. Chile- Sodimac commitment to sustainability

2
Modern labour relations that aim to maintain transparent and constructive relationships with

employees, implementation of various development programmes for human capital, such as

prevention, training, comprehensive well-being, working environment and internal

communications.

2
An introduction to ISO 26000 and Social Responsibility, Bulletin No. 90/2014, International Trade Centre

12
Awareness of environmental impact, promoting recycling, eco-efficient products, energy

efficiency in shops. Use of lighting equipment and technology with 30% lower energy

consumption than traditional premises.

Corporate governance and business ethics, with respect for human rights, non-discrimination

and rejection of corrupt practices. Institutionalization of a corporate integrity programme and code

of ethics . Rule of order, hygiene and safety for both internal and external staff.

Commitment to community, with employees participating in support initiatives for the

community, through training and charitable organizations, raising of funds, material and logistical

support during natural disasters, discounted prices on materials and consultations for constructing

emergency homes.

Responsible business and marketing with a business policy that seeks to safeguard quality and

safety of products sold by the company, complemented by supplier requirements related to

sustainability and social responsibility. The company works to ensure there is no child or forced

labour, that occupational safety rules are enforced. Marketing communications follow strict ethical

guidelines and good faith. Responsible supply that maintains transparent relationships with

suppliers, emphasis on long-term relationships, respect and compliance with agreements and

mutual profit.

13
 2. Kalevala Jewellery, Finland

This company in Finland donates part of the proceeds from its jewellery collection ‘Gravity’

designed by Kaisaleena Mäkelä, to the Women’s Bank. The Women’s Bank supports women’s

entrepreneurship in the developing countries and provides women with opportunities to earn a

living for themselves and their families. It also helps to improve the well-being of the local

community in general. Previously, Kalevala Jewelry donated part of the proceeds of the ‘Africa’

jewellery collection to a project providing basic education to young girls in Ghana. The Women’s

Bank is a fund coordinated by Finn Church Aid.

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 3. Kiilto, Finland

It is a chemical industry enterprise and its main product is adhesives. Finland’s largest solar power

plant is located on the roof of Kiilto’s production plant with 332 solar panels. These panels produce

around 60,500 kWh of electricity per year, equivalent to around one per cent of Kiilto’s own energy

consumption. The enterprise has invested in environmental responsibility in both its own

development and that of its products.

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 4. Dalmia Bharat Limited- Indian Cement Company

Dalmia Bharat Limited is the first Indian Cement Company and world-wide one of the first

few to have imbibed the ISO 26000 guidance in its process of CSR and had also brought

out the CSR report on these guidelines. The Company’s CSR initiatives have been

classified as a multi-stakeholder approach and taking into account the material issues to the

company and the community. The company has implemented its CSR through an

independent foundation, Dalmia Bharat Foundation that focuses on the conservation of Soil

and Water, Skill Training and Access to Clean Energy. The company’s CSR is very closely

aligned to the UN SDG’s and also the national campaigns.

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 2.2 Sustainable Development through the goal of ISO 26000

4
There is a real potential for ISO 26000 to make a positive contribution to sustainable

development. The standard covers the majority of direct sustainable development issues,

such as environmental impacts and human rights. Indeed, it has a broader scope than

most sustainable development standards. It shares the general objective of fostering

sustainable development and the conceptualization of sustainable development,

recognizing the economic, social and environmental dimensions and their

interdependence.

3
ISO 26000 and the SDGs, Available at https://www.iso.org/files/live/sites/isoorg/files/store/en/PUB100401.pdf,
last visited (05th May 2021)
4
ISO 26000 in the post- 2015 Development Agendahttps://www.iso.org/news/2016/01/Ref2039.html

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 The analysis has shown that the ISO 26000 provides a comprehensive guidance that in

majority addresses many of the potential violations of the principles of social sustainability of the

framework for strategic sustainable development. It is vitally important to increase the global use

of ISO 26000, and, in so doing, enable partnerships among governments, private sector and civil

society. These will be key to ensuring the SDGs are met and our planet’s sustainability is secured.

Last but not least, environmental issues are also a major theme that runs through the SDGs and a

core subject contained in ISO 26000. It constitutes a valuable tool for the implementation of the

post-2015 development agenda.

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 2.3 Misuse of ISO 26000

ISO 26000 does not contain requirements and is therefore not suitable for any kind of

conformity assessment. Nevertheless, by evidently disregarding its scope, various certification

offers came up and were proudly communicated on the Internet. Examples are

• A Hong Kong-based certification body issued an ISO 26000 certificate on the basis of the

ISO 26000 working draft WD4; they obviously could not wait for the publication of the

final “International Standard”

• A Swiss certification service issued an ISO 26000 certificate

• Many cases showed that ISO 26000 as a guidance standard was listed jointly with ISO’s

well-known certifiable management system standards 9001 and 14001 (this even appeared

on ISO’s own website for a period of time before it was clarified), thus giving the

misleading impression as if ISO 26000 was a certifiable management system standard

• Assessment and certification offers, where the recommendations of ISO 26000 were

transposed into measurable requirements in order to have a certifiable document “based on

ISO 26000” and to offer related services.

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 2.4. New Development- ISO 26000 recent development in 2021

5
Joint IOE- ITUC Statement on the Systematic Review of ISO 26000: 2010 “ Social Responsibility”, January 2021,
Available at
https://www.ioe-
emp.org/index.php?eID=dumpFile&t=f&f=148247&token=2f54232bad11a710f70ee0b8cbadbf0e392dcc11, last
visited 07th May 2021)

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 Systematic review takes place pertaining to the decisions of the ISO Technical

Management Bord for creation of a Task Force to advise the TMB on the proposal of the

French Standardization Organization AFNOR for creating an ISO Technical Committee

on Social Responsibility. “systematic review” takes place in the context of the decision of

the ISO Technical Management Board (TMB) to create a Task Force to advise the TMB

on the proposal of the French standardisation Organisation AFNOR to create an ISO

Technical Committee on Social Responsibility. The mandate of this ISO Technical

Committee is to revise ISO 26000 and to create ISO standards on the topic of social

responsibility. The results of the systematic review will be taken in account by the Task

Force for the account of when they will develop the recommendations to TMB and while

reacting to the AFNOR proposal.

Chapter 3: Critical Analysis

1. The strengths of ISO 26000

6
It is this identification of "stakeholders" that makes the ISO 26000 an important step

forward in solving the dilemma presented by corporations still in pursuit of single bottom

line accountability, moving the discussion beyond Triple Bottom Line Accountability. It is

also an important step in the development of business-led social responsibility initiatives

which evidence suggests is much more effective than government-regulated social

6
Effects of corporate social responsibility and irresponsibility policies, Armstrong, J. Scott and Green, Kesten C., 1
December 2012, Available at https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/43007/1/MPRA_paper_43007.pdf (last visited 07th
May 2021)

21
responsibly policies.It is a broad international consensus and does not mean unanimity.

Also, it helps it enhancing the international Social Responsibility debate, building on the

reputation of ISO. It attempts to address all kinds and sizes of the organizations and not

only for the industry. It offers guidance wherein the users may select from the parts judged

relevant at a particular point of time. It also focuses on 7 core subjects, which probably

may be the most important ones at the international level. It offers rather detailed

explanations and suggestions for the 37 issues. It provides a good orientation for the

organization that kicks off their social responsibility journey. Also, it is a good basis for

company for its external discussions for example the stakeholder dialogues. It also forms

a good basis for the cross-border dialogues.

2. The weaknesses of ISO 26000

The Scope of the ISO 26000: 2010, Clause 1, p.1 entails that "This International Standard

is not a management system standard. It is not intended or appropriate for certification

purposes or regulatory or contractual use. Any offer to certify, or claims to be certified, to

ISO 26000 would be a misrepresentation of the intent and purpose and a misuse of this

International Standard. As this International Standard does not contain requirements, any

such certification would not be a demonstration of conformity with this International

Standard." It confers that the ISO 26000 cannot be used as a basis for conformity test or

any audit or for any compliance statements. The main value can be seen wherein the CEO

can use it as a statement of intention. Mainly the weakness includes purchase of the

documents while the other documents like the UNGC, GRI and many others are available

freely. There also is an explicit inclusion of the micro-organizations i.e. less than 10

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 persons. There lie weak definitions like the organization, stakeholder, international norms

of behaviour. There is a language problem in many parts. While limiting the considerations

of social responsibility to 7 core subjects and 37 issues. The documents are quite complex

and too much focus is on the organization that is the internal operations instead of the

identification of the possible contributions to the society. Opening of a wide range of

misconceptions and misuse of certifications eg. BV or assessment SGS. The practical value

of ISO 26000 has been debated and might be limited if it merely provided a common

understanding of a social responsibility instead of facilitating the management routines and

practices that leads to the social responsibility. Also since there is a lack of certification,

the potential to decouple and isolate corporate social responsibility issues in the

organization. Also, it appears to be one among too many social impact reporting standards

that is available to the corporations.

Chapter 4: SUGGESTIONS

1. A revision of ISO 26000: 2010 should rely on the data of practical experience by all the

sectors and not only the industries and services

The next edition of ISO 26000 should only be revised if it can be based on the practical

experiences made by representatives of the real organizations. The study should be a

comprehensive study, example, by ISO and the involvement of all the ISO bodies and along

with a professional market research institute. Comprehensive here means that all the sectors

gets included as revision based on the industry experiences only would not be considered

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 sufficient and that the data also present why the ISO 26000 is almost not or not used by a

particular sector. Society or sector generally includes education, labour or public

administrations etc. It is also suggested that the data includes the users’ sector, size and type

of the organization and the way how ISO 26000 is used. Also, an estimation should be made

as to how many users in a sector can be expected.

2. Less is more- smaller document may find many more readers and users

Vast majority of the organizations are small and medium sized ones- and at least in the services

and industries- their primary goal is to survive in the market competition, it seems strange to

believe that the owners of such organizations takes his or her time to study 480 around

recommendations in order to resume that most of them would probably not really apply to his

or her organization. An eye can be kept on balancing the chapters. It is worth noting that other

codes and standards that carry similar messages as ISO 26000 on either 20 pages or less. Also

during the development process of ISO 26000:2010 it had been repeatedly stated that the

similar content could be summed up in 50 pages for a possible revision the next opportunity

can be used.

3. Put more emphasis on why an organization should care for its social responsibility

Though 26000:2010 describes elaborately what and how organization should perform actions

in order to realize the selected issues, but why an organization should care for its social

responsibility is done in 26000:2010 in a rather general manner. If a revised ISO 26000 would

lay more focus on the WHY it will significantly increase its acceptance and later the use.

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4. ISO guidance standard on social responsibility would increase its credibility if it talks

of real claims

All organizations includes the standard bodies (such as national member bodies and ISO )

NGO’s, certifications and institutes of assessments as mentioned but so far the usage of ISO

26000 by these organizations is not at all evident. 7As regards the 37 issues, one can read at

various instances that “not all issues are necessarily relevant to an organization.” From there,

this is logical: if all issues listed under a core subject are considered not relevant, then the core

subject in its entirety cannot be claimed to be relevant. For example: a manufacturer of

components for high-voltage grids can determine categorically without hesitation that the

whole core subject “consumer issues” is not relevant.

5. Neutralizing the bias of industries

The majority of the examples are taken from the industry and primarily is taken from the

multinational enterprises As regards to the size of the organizations a revised ISO 26000

should be better taken into account that only a mere 2% are the larger organizations and 98%

are small and medium sized ones, the claim that the ISO 26000 is applicable to all the sizes of

the organizations should be dropped. 8If the guidance standard should be open for revision,

the practical examples should be selected in such a way that they fairly represent all types of

organizations including governmental administrations and agencies, education related

organizations like schools and universities, health care related organizations like hospitals and

7
ibid

8
ibid

25
other service providers, NGOs, non-profit organizations, administrative organizations like

standardization bodies, certification institutes, etc.

6. Overcoming of language and definition problems

The usage of the terms is not precise and that is a major cause for misunderstandings,

misconceptions and its misuse and all of which is easily avoided. The efficient usage is

determined by a precise use of a standard’s language.

7. ISO should send a message to the outside world that its standards related to the

society are not just for profit

With all the national member bodies and working groups at the national and international level

needs to get financed in one way or the other. The practice is to finance to the larger part by

revenues from the sales of standards and to a lesser extent by the members fees that the national

member bodies pay to the ISO Central Secretariat. The expenditure of the ISO system are a

tiny portion of the standardization costs and the larger portion are the voluntary efforts by all

the experts, the travel costs and their man- hours.

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION

To conclude, ISO 26000 in many ways is a great achievement. It is comprehensive,

internationally agreed-upon and recognized. There is tremendous value in it. This value

could be enhanced were the Guidance to be paired with a framework that allows users to

plan and act systematically with a long-term view towards sustainability, as the Guidance

otherwise may become a time-consuming ‘check the boxes’ exercise that does not lead

strategically closer to sustainability, which after all is its intended aim. As a guidance

26
 document the ISO 26000 is an offer, voluntary in use, and encourages organizations to

discuss their social responsibility issues and possible actions with relevant stakeholders.

As service providers, certification bodies do not belong to an organization's stakeholders.

ISO 26000 encourages its users to reconsider an organization's social responsibility or

"socially responsible behaviour" and to identify/select from its recommendations those

where the organization could/should engage in contributions to society. ISO 26000

encourages its users to report to their stakeholders, and get feedback, on actions taken to

improve their social responsibility. It is this identification of "stakeholders" that makes the

ISO 26000 an important step forward in solving the dilemma presented by corporations

still in pursuit of single bottom line accountability, moving the discussion beyond Triple

Bottom Line Accountability. It is also an important step in the development of business-

led social responsibility initiatives which evidence suggests is much more effective than

government-regulated social responsibly policies.9 ISO 26000 is the most comprehensive

and concise guidance of what an organization should do to contribute to sustainable

development – for that reason, it is extremely useful. It constitutes a valuable tool for the

implementation of the post-2015 development agenda. It is vitally important to increase

the global use of ISO 26000, and, in so doing, enable partnerships among governments,

private sector and civil society. These will be key to ensuring the SDGs are met and our

planet’s sustainability is secured.10 There are shared values and concerns between

peoples; and there are

9
ibid

10
Is ISO 26000 Ready for Revision? Available at http://www.26k-
estimation.com/html/is_iso_26000_ready_for_revisio.html#8-conclusion (last visited on 08th May 2021)

27
 subjective and objective differences which have to be respected if this world and the
11
universe is to be habited peacefully by peoples, animals, and plants. I believe that all

these are mutually interdependent. I do believe you and I, and many others, share these

concerns. So there are “standards” of conduct, action, and demands that should be

formulated if these concerns could be mutually identified. Such effort could continue, and

as you suggested once, ISO 26000 could be seen as one such a step. The search should

continue on a more sound basis, and with an open mind.... we need some future action in

the search of an international social behaviour or conduct (not “standards” in the sense

of “sanctions“) in order to protect and promote sustainability of life on earth – for

mankind, plants and animals.”

11
ibid

28