ISO/TC 207/SC 2 - Environmental auditing and related environmental investigations

This document specifies principles and requirements for the competence, consistent operation and impartiality of bodies performing validation/verification of declared sustainability information. This document is an application of ISO/IEC 17029, which contains general principles and requirements for the competence, consistent operation and impartiality of bodies performing validation/verification as conformity assessment activities. This document includes specific requirements related to bodies performing validation/verification of declared sustainability information in addition to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17029. Any programme requirements related to bodies are additional to the requirements of this document.

This document specifies requirements and gives guidance on the verification of declared sustainability information, including information presented in quantitative and qualitative formats. NOTE 1 Declared sustainability information can include reporting on environmental, social, governance and other sustainability matters. NOTE 2 A verification programme can include a combination of validation and verification activities, and result in mixed engagements.

This document specifies general principles and requirements for the validation/verification of declared sustainability information, including reporting on environmental, social, governance and other sustainability matters. This document is applicable to quantitative and qualitative information. NOTE These principles and requirements complement the set of rules and procedures that are provided in validation/verification programmes. This document is also applicable as the basis for validation/verification activities that support other conformity assessment schemes. This document is applicable to validation/verification bodies operating in accordance with ISO/IEC 17029.

This document specifies principles, requirements and guidelines for the verification and validation of water statements. It is applicable to organizational, product and project water statement verification and validation, and can also be used to provide confidence in reported water information on a local, regional or national level. This document is programme neutral. If a programme is applicable, requirements of that programme are additional to the requirements of this document. NOTE Legislation can differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. It is the user’s responsibility to determine how applicable legal requirements relate to this document.

This document gives guidance on how to conduct an environmental due diligence (EDD) assessment through a systematic process of identifying environmental aspects, issues and conditions as well as determining, if appropriate, their business consequences. This document does not provide guidance on how to conduct other types of environmental assessment, such as: a) environmental audits; b) environmental impact assessments; c) environmental performance, efficiency, or reliability assessment; d) intrusive environmental investigations and remediation.

This document gives principles and guidelines for assuring the environmental information an organization includes in its environmental reports. This document is applicable to assuring other types of reports in principle provided that special consideration is paid to identifying the competence needed by the assurance provider.

ISO/TS 17021-2:2012 specifies additional competence requirements for personnel involved in the audit and certification process for Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and complements the existing requirements of ISO/IEC 17021.

ISO 19011:2011 provides guidance on auditing management systems, including the principles of auditing, managing an audit programme and conducting management system audits, as well as guidance on the evaluation of competence of individuals involved in the audit process, including the person managing the audit programme, auditors and audit teams. ISO 19011:2011 is applicable to all organizations that need to conduct internal or external audits of management systems or manage an audit programme. The application of ISO 19011:2011 to other types of audits is possible, provided that special consideration is given to the specific competence needed.

ISO 19011:2002 provides guidance on the principles of auditing, managing audit programmes, conducting quality management system audits and environmental management system audits, as well as guidance on the competence of quality and environmental management system auditors. It is applicable to all organizations needing to conduct internal or external audits of quality and/or environmental management systems or to manage an audit programme. The application of ISO 19011 to other types of audits is possible in principle provided that special consideration is paid to identifying the competence needed by the audit team members in such cases.

This International Standard provides guidance on how to conduct an EASO through a systematic process of identifying environmental aspects and environmental issues and determining, if appropriate, their business consequences. This International Standard covers the roles and responsibilities of the parties to the assessment (the client, the assessor and the representative of the assessee), and the stages of the assessment process (planning, information gathering and validation, evaluation and reporting). The process for conducting an EASO is shown in Figure 1.