Will ISO provide a North Star for corporate net-zero strategies?

Real Economy Progress speaks to the experts working to set a new global climate standard for companies 

ISO’s recent promise to merge its emissions accounting standards with the GHG Protocol has been hailed as the start of a “new era” for carbon accounting.

The move has been backed by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), and is widely seen as a step towards simplifying global climate rules.

But in a few weeks’ time, companies will be asked for their input into an even bigger ISO project: a corporate net-zero standard.

Joining the dots  

Right now, best practice for net zero strategies is defined by different bodies.

“You have the GHG Protocol telling you how to measure [emissions], the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) telling you how to set a target, and the Transition Plan Taskforce telling you how to do a transition plan,” says Andrew Griffiths, policy director at sustainability certification consultancy Planet Mark.

“And then there’s the ISSB and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive telling you how to do risk assessments.”

Griffiths is one of more than 200 experts working on the new ISO standard, which is being spearheaded by the British Standards Institute (BSI), with input from groups like SBTi and the GHG Protocol.

“If you’re certified against the standard, [it means] your organisation has done the right thing on measuring emissions, setting targets, articulating your plan and having suitable governance in place to do it,” he says.

Emily Faint, the policy manager in charge of the project for BSI, describes it has an attempt to “help codify all the good practice innovated in the market through voluntary efforts into a credible, internationally-agreed framework for net zero action”.

Buy in from countries and companies

That international agreement is perhaps where ISO’s true value lies.

The organisation is comprised of 173 national standard-setters and all its standards must be signed-off by a majority in order to be published.

This means it takes years to create an ISO standard, and they’re not easily amended once in place – reassuring for companies who are growing tired of the goalposts moving suddenly.

Meta insisted in its sustainability report last week that its net-zero goals will only be reached if there is “clarity on external guidance for companies”, hinting at frustration over ambiguity and evolutions in the expectations laid out by bodies like the SBTi and Race to Zero.

“The private sector has been calling for clarity, simplification, and an independently verifiable net-zero standard for many years now,” says Faint, adding that ISO’s work will “dramatically accelerate” companies’ ability to set and manage their climate goals and give them more confidence in their decisions.

It’s worth noting that ISO’s sustainability efforts have received a lukewarm response in the past: its standards for sustainable finance and green bonds, for example, are generally accepted to have had minimal uptake.

But Griffiths and Faint say their efforts will provide the clarity, global buy-in, and governance structures that many firms are looking for as they develop their climate strategies.

An official draft of the net-zero standard is expected to be published for public consultation at COP30 in November.