PAS 53002 Guidelines for contributing to the UN SDGs

Continuing my last article with the ISO ESG principles, this is about the ‘ISO/UNDP PAS 53002 Guidelines for contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’.

Availability

The document is freely available both on the ISO’s website, here, and the UNEP’s site, here.

The targets and indicators of each SDG can be found here and downloaded either in PDF or Excel version.

Summary

The purpose of this document is to provide guidelines to better align with the SDGs. It claims to guide on:

• setting impact objectives and targets;

• interested parties engagements;

• data collection on actual and expected impacts;

• generating options that support innovation;

• decision-making based on risk tolerance and appetite; and

• understanding and managing trade-offs, achieving SDGs and meeting the needs and expectations of those experiencing impacts.

Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)

Typically, the ISO documents are found on the concept of Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) and this is no exception. This approach is said to support a continuous improvement mindset.

Interest parties

The organisation should identify, analyze and assess its internal and external interest parties. Chapter 5 includes helpful questions to consider interest parties related to the SDGs matters. The interest parties who contribute to impacts and the ones who are affected by the impacts should be both considered.

What should be included?

It states: ‘When determining how to optimize its contribution to the SDGs, the organisation should include all activities, products and services within its control or influence that can impact sustainable development, including throughout its value chain(s) and business relationships.’

Responsible business principles

The management should ensure that the organisation's activities to optimize contributions to the SDGs are grounded in responsible business principles. The principles are based on the social responsibility principles provided in ISO 26000 and the three universal values of the UN (human rights-based approach; leave no one behind; gender equality and women’s empowerments), and they are:

1. accountability;

2. transparency;

3. ethical behaviour;

4. respect for interested parties' needs and expectations;

5. respect for international norms of behaviour;

6. respect for human rights; and

7. leave no one behind.

Processes for contributions to the SDGs

The organisation should establish, implement and maintain processes for development, planning, implementation, performance evaluation and actions for improving its contributions to the SDGs. The processes can be implemented to:

1. inclusive and accessible mechanisms for consultation and participation;

2. the needs and expectations of relevant interested parties;

3. the SDG management policy;

4. the legal and other requirements;

5. the SDG objectives and how to achieve them;

6. assess impacts, risks and opportunities;

7. assess risk appetites and tolerances for unexpected impacts;

8. actions to reduce risks;

9. competence requirements, training needs, and training evaluations;

10. what should be communicated and how this will be done;

11. control measures and their effective implementation and use;

12. applicable controls for outsourcing, procurement and contractors;

13. the design process for products and services;      

14. what should be monitored, measured and evaluated);

15. continual improvement;  and

16. incidents and nonconformities and determine corrective actions.                             

Collaboration and partnerships

The organisation should recognize that sustainable development and achieving the SDGs is a shared responsibility and requires collaboration, partnerships and reciprocity with relevant interested parties such as:                         

1. government bodies;

2. peers, experts and other actors;

3. local, national, regional, global or sector-based initiatives;             

4. finance opportunities;

5. technology opportunities;

6. sharing data, findings and lessons publicly;

7. standardize terminology, conventions and indicators;

8. mentoring and enabling others;

9. building the capacity;

10. open-source tools and resources; and

11. value-adding intermediaries, platforms and networks;     

Planning

When planning how to achieve its SDG objectives, the organisation should determine:

• what will be done;

• what resources will be required;

• who will be responsible;

• when it will be completed;

• how they will be monitored;

• a logical set of KPIs to support the achievement of the objectives;

• how the results will be evaluated.

Setting targets  

The organisation should set measurable targets using indicators related to the prioritized expected impacts to achieve its SDG objectives and plan actions to achieve them. The organisation should ensure its targets:

1. consider the need for collective action, if relevant;

2. specify the SDGs to which they relate;

3. address adverse impacts in its direct operations, value chain(s) and business relationships;

4. consider the potential for unintended consequences and seek to limit the potential for adverse impacts.

Selecting indicators

The organisation should consider which indicators to use including, selecting and using decision-useful indicators that consider external and internal issues and the needs and expectations of interested parties. The indicators should:

1. reflect what matters most to interested parties including the magnitude and duration of the impacts;

2. value impacts consistently, using well-being as a common measure to the degree practicable;

3. provide the required level of confidence that targeted impacts are being achieved; and

4. align with the related SDG targets and relevant SDG indicators.

Planning of changes

When the organisation determines the need for changes, the changes should be carried out in a planned manner:

1. changes in its own context and the sustainability context;

2. planned changes to products, services, processes, operations, equipment or facilities;

3. changes in workers including throughout the value chain, external providers or contractors;

4. changes in requirements;

5. feedback from interested parties; and

6. performance towards achieving the SDG objectives and identified opportunities for improvement.

Reporting

The organisation should report at least annually on:

1. its activities to optimize contributions to the SDGs and exclusions;

2. the evaluation criteria;

3. an integration of the SDG processes and activities;

4. risks and opportunities;

5. the external and internal context;

6. relevant interested parties;

7. the known and expected impacts of its decisions and activities;

8. the list of prioritized impacts and a process to prioritize them;

9. SDG objectives and related targets;

10. performance against the SDG objectives;

11. trade-offs made in decisions;

12. deviations from expected performance; and;

13. complaints and how they were resolved.

Data verification and impact assessment             

The organisation should take a risk-based approach to the question of whether and when independent data validation or comprehensive impact assessments are required for certain activities and decisions. This approach can based on criteria such as:

1. the size of the activity or project;

2. the expected impact and risk;

3. the country and sector risk;

4. the learning potential;

5. the strategic importance of the activity or project; and

6. the newness of the intervention.

​Assessing and prioritizing expected impacts       

The organisation should assess all expected impacts in its direct operations, value chains and through its business relationships:

1. assessing and valuing impacts;

2. set acceptable baselines, counterfactuals and thresholds;

3. assessing the expected impacts on interested parties; and

4. uncertainty when it is unable to quantify impacts.

Innovations

The organisation should have an innovation-supporting culture to improve sustainable development performance, reduce adverse impacts, and increase beneficial impacts:

• new solutions and technologies;

• efficiency gains and resource optimization;

• partnerships and collaborations;

• inclusive and participatory approaches;

• new financial models and mechanisms;

• data and analytics;

• communication strategies;

• resilience and adaptation innovations;

• capacity building and education methods; and

• policy frameworks, regulations, standardization and governance mechanisms.

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Disclaimer: I do not work for any of the organisations mentioned in this article or the report. Additionally, I do not have any other connection to them either. I am a GRI-certified professional and have worked with enterprise risk management frameworks. Thus, I am interested in sharing best practices and sources. From the SDG site due to use of the picture: The content of this publication has not been approved by the United Nations and does not reflect the views of the United Nations or its officials or Member States”.