ISO 20400: Meaning, Standard and Requirements

Amidst climate change and the current state of the planet is pushing companies to take bigger strides in their efforts to improve the efficiency and eco-friendliness of their businesses, and one of the many ways to do that is to seek global accreditation to certify their efforts – one of those being one of the many certifications in the ISO series. 

There are so many different types of ISO certifications in the ISO series, such as the ISO 5001, ISO 9001, ISO 14067,and ISO 14001 that seek to improve business management, environmental standards, energy efficiency, investor appeal, and ultimately fight against climate change.

Businesses are becoming more aware of the importance of sustainability if they want to attract new investors for their projects – but how do they choose between the different ISO certifications? 

What is an ISO 20400, and how is it different from all of the ISO certifications mentioned before?

As awareness regarding sustainability continues to grow, an ISO 20400 is more than likely to be a valuable asset for any business seeking to achieve both their environmental targets and successful business revenue. 

Is an ISO 20400 more valuable than other certifications in the ISO series?

In comparison to other certifications available in the ISO series, such as the ISO 14067, ISO 5001, ISO 9001, ISO 14001 – the ISO 20400 is the only certification of these other ISO certifications that can directly or indirectly benefit the main goals of these other ISO certifications.

This is because several of these ISO certifications seek to improve the management of systems of businesses – something that an ISO 20400, which helps companies who train to acquire the certification improve their knowledge upon sustainability across all areas, can help immensely to achieve.

For instance, the ISO 9001 aims to help a company improve their Quality Management System, or a QMS. An ISO 20400 can help to improve customer loyalty through efforts to improve sustainability – which will indirectly improve a company’s Quality Management System. Another example is with the ISO 14001, which is dedicated to improving a company’s Environmental Management System, or an EMS, by implementing new environmental goals.

An ISO 20400 can help a company determine which environmental goals will prove most viable, achievable, and correlate to their other sustainable development goals. A final example is with the ISO 5001, which seeks to improve the Energy Management System of a company in order to improve their energy efficiency.

An ISO 20400 can motivate companies to alter their energy usage, and seek to utilize more renewable energy resources – directly improving the Energy Management System of a company. 

When it comes to the different ISO certifications, it is clear that acquiring more than one ISO certification is most optimal – as the different management systems they seek to improve can directly affect and potentially benefit one another if each is running as smoothly as they can.

However, given an ISO 20400 seeks to improve all three pillars of sustainability – it could be viewed as the “ultimate” ISO certification in the series for its potential to improve all aspects of the company.

Sustainability is when a group or an individual makes an effort to alter the use of their resources in order to protect both the planet and future generations. In short, sustainability is the act of maintaining the durability of something in otherwise turbulent times – such as climate change.

For example, think of someone who runs outdoors. This person would need a good pair of running shoes, but if they run everyday – it’s likely that those shoes will get worn out easily. An action in order to sustain the quality of their shoes could be either to change their running route to a smoother pavement, or alternate between two pairs of running shoes in order to sustain the quality of each pair. Either way, the pair of running shoes are likely to last longer and therefore will be sustained and won’t need to be replaced as quickly – illustrating the concept of sustainability. 

Sustainability is often referred to as the three pillars of sustainable development: economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, and social sustainability. All three pillars of sustainability are crucial for any company seeking to achieve global recognition for their efforts towards sustainability – and an ISO 20400 can help to make that possible. 

There are numerous benefits to be had for any company that seeks an ISO 20400. Given awareness and importance on implementing sustainable business practices is growing by the day worldwide, due to both new legislation and worrisome fears over the current global predicament of climate change – improving upon sustainability can reap a multitude of rewards for everyone involved.   

Becoming a sustainable company doesn’t just mean keeping the environment in mind, but it could help your business become more stable both economically and socially.

In short, acquiring an ISO 20400 is a great way to maintain the three pillars of corporate sustainabilitya great way to maintain the three pillars of corporate sustainability. This is because the training sessions in order to receive an ISO 20400 in the first place often require the person in training to study the most sustainable protocols on worker rights, environmental regulations, and economic prosperity – all in order to ensure that every working part of the supply chain continues to operate as efficiently as it can. 

It is easy to use convenient marketing tactics, like greenwashing, to convince consumers and potential investors that a business is more sustainable or eco-friendly than they actually are – but acquiring a globally recognized certification like an ISO 20400 can put any doubts on the validity of a company’s efforts towards sustainability to rest.

Holding an ISO 20400 certification will ultimately allow businesses to improve their sustainable procurement system with newfound knowledge on the three pillars of sustainable development, acquire newfound expertise on the importance of economic, social, and environmental aspects, better understand the intent behind the 30 sustainable development goals as delineated by the UNGC, improve their supply chain management, improve resource management and improve the life-cycle of their products, carefully consider risk management, comply with new regulations, and gain international recognition.

Seeing as an ISO 20400 is so multifaceted in how it can benefit a company and aid the possible approval of other ISO certifications, how does an ISO 20400 work? 

The main goal of an ISO 20400 is to provide companies with assistance on sustainable procurement, and in order to help other businesses accomplish this – the ISO 20400 operates on four main principles to adhere to its varied goals towards sustainable development. 

1. Understand the basics of sustainable acquisition and social responsibility
2. Incorporate sustainability into the entity in question through the use of both policy and strategy 
3. Organize all moving parts of the organization to improve sustainability 
4. Implement sustainable practices throughout the entire process 

An ISO 20400 is multi beneficial for all components of any aspiring business, but does that mean it’s difficult to qualify and receive an ISO 20400? 

Similar to many other certifications in the ISO series, many companies or stakeholders seeking to acquire an ISO 20400 will seek the help of a third party to ensure proper training and documentation is in order to adequately follow the guidelines provided in the certification. However, this is not necessary in order to procure sustainability – as an ISO 20400 is more of a guidance document than it is a requirements standard.

An ISO 20400 encourages stakeholders and companies seeking to follow the guidelines of the certification to build better strategies to improve upon their sustainable development.

Therefore, the best steps to take for those seeking an ISO 20400 certification are to develop new, sustainable management policies for their supply chains, encourage the engagement of their employees (especially the procurement team or those who have the largest impact on sustainable procurement activity) through the use of workshops and trainings to solidify the importance of sustainability, and develop improved procurement infrastructure.

This includes revamping the method of developing new policy and strategy creation, improving risk management, seeking to measure KPIs and other various progress, reorganizing each strategy towards sustainability into the appropriate categories, and seeking third-party support when necessary. 

It may seem time consuming to follow the guidelines provided by an ISO 20400, but it’s one of the best things any organization looking to improve upon the three pillars of sustainability can do.

Out of all of the accreditations we’ve mentioned on our blog at Greenly before, an ISO 20400 may be one of the most valuable ISO certifications to acquire. This is because an ISO 20400 can help open the doorway to achieve almost all of the other ISO certifications previously mentioned, and simultaneously – help to improve the requirements necessary to maintain many of the ISO certifications mentioned above. 

Procuring sustainability is a goal for many in this day and age, but it’s nearly impossible to implement sustainability, let alone maintain it – without the proper guidance. Think of incorporating sustainability to be a lot like weight loss. Sure, it’s easy enough to go to the gym and change your diet for a few weeks – but changing your lifestyle over the long-term can prove to be more challenging.

The same goes for sustainability, and with an ISO 20400 – companies can receive the guidance they need to take and maintain this monumental step towards sustainability to reap the benefits for themselves, as well as the planet. 

If reading this article about an ISO 20400 has made you interested in reducing your carbon emissions to further fight against climate change – Greenly can help you!

Greenly can help you make an environmental change for the better, starting with a carbon footprint assessment to know how much carbon emissions your company produces.

Click here to learn more about Greenly and how we can help you reduce your carbon footprint.