INNI
Online Update | Issue #2
April 2003
| INTRODUCTION
LETTER UPDATES BY
ISSUE AREA HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE Dear INNI member, Welcome to the second issue of the International NGO Network on ISO (INNI) - Online Update. Much has occurred within (and outside of) the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) since the launching of INNI late last year. ISO is pressing forward with its standards-making activities in the areas of water management, climate change, corporate social responsibility, and environmental communications, and the implications of some of these efforts are now coming into sharper relief. It has been our longstanding conviction that environmentalists and social justice advocates cannot continue to ignore ISO's rapid push into these new areas of standardization, but instead must get involved in shaping the development and implementation of these new standards. We hope this and future updates will help serve as the basis for action in your respective fields of activity. For those of you who are new to the INNI, our overarching goal is to ensure that any ISO-created standards serve the public interest by enhancing social well-being and our environment. We aim to do this by providing timely information on the activities of ISO to you, the network's organizations, so that you can activate your constituents, influence policymaking, and shape public opinion. More detailed information on INNI can be found at: www.pacinst.org/inni. While the first electronic bulletin was intended to simply provide a factual status update on the various developments within ISO, in this issue we begin to provide slightly more analysis of the pros and cons of these developments as we see them. Please feel free to forward this bulletin onto other NGOs you think may find it of value. Also, as we are in the formative stages of this initiative, we encourage your feedback regarding content, format, frequency, and tone of these informational updates. Please submit any comments you may have to: inni@pacinst.org Best regards, Jason Morrison UPDATES BY ISSUE AREA Water Committee Struggles to Plot Its Course The four Working Groups (WGs) of ISO TC 224 met individually and collectively in Paris from March 25-28, 2003, following on the first meeting of TC 224 in the same location six months prior. TC 224 was formed in late 2001 to develop standards on service activities relating to drinking water supply and sewerage. The most recent meetings revealed sharp differences of opinion about the goals and objectives of the standard (or standards), such as whether the standards should be targeted toward internal management or the outputs of the services themselves, and whether a right to drinking water and sanitation should be included. The meetings also demonstrated the lack of consensus within individual country delegations, as differences arose over language and even regarding such basic concepts as the ultimate objective of the standard(s). On the positive side, consensus appeared to be reached that the concept of "service provider" or "operator" must be applicable to both public and private sector entities. Each TC 224 Working Group (the four being "Terminology," "Service to the Consumers," "Drinking Water," and "Wastewater Systems") will produce a complete working draft for its particular scope. These drafts may stand alone or may be merged with the others; potentially, there may be up to three separate standards (WG1 - terminology - would be expected to be included within the other WG drafts, if that is the case). WG2 changed its name from "Service to Consumers" to "Service to Users" to encompass non-billable and non-consumptive uses, and accepted several other minor changes the WG felt clarified its scope. The French standard's definition of customer - "a natural person or corporate body using the water supply or sewerage services" was expanded to "a person, corporate or public body using the water supply or wastewater service." Despite the consumer focus of this Working Group, participation of consumer organizations has been limited to date. Only one consumer organization (a French consumer group) has submitted comments to WG2. On a positive note, WG2 noted that a right to water should be included as a customer expectation. Malaysia was the only developing country represented in Working Group 3 - water supply. WG3 discussions focused on the inclusion of "cost" or "price" within the standard, and whether or not to preserve a "black box" around internal operations. France suggested that the output of service was more important than the organization of function, and that objectives should include environmental protections, quality of service and product, and cost recovery. The discussion of system outputs included considerable overlap with the scope of WG2. WG3 discussed protection of the environment, including pollution control, consumption of resources, and source protection (e.g., watershed protection, etc). The next meeting of TC 224 will be held in Ottawa, Canada in September 2003. Greenhouse Gas Standard Being Developed at Blistering Pace ISO/TC 207's efforts within Working Group 5 (WG5) to develop a standard on quantification, reporting and verification of greenhouse gases continues at a rapid pace, with meetings in Germany and Malaysia in November 2002 and March 2003, respectively. At the Malaysia meeting, the group agreed upon a general structure for the standard, and has set as a goal the completion of a first "working draft" of the document by July 2003. The single standard (assigned the number ISO 14064) will consist of three parts: entity quantification and reporting, project quantification and reporting, and entity and project validation and verification. At the Malaysia meeting, the group also reaffirmed its commitment to developing a "regime-neutral" standard and agreed to pursue alignment between the project and entity sections of the standard and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development and World Resources Institute (WBCSD/WRI) Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The latter development can be considered a step in the right direction by those concerned about the market confusion that will likely occur if ISO produces a standard that is inconsistent with the WBCSD/WRI protocol. Outside of ISO, the petroleum industry, in a March 10 letter by its trade association, International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA), to the leadership of Working Group 5, announced its intention to develop sector-specific guidance on measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions. The letter is also noteworthy for IPIECA's indication of its concern regarding the pace of work within WG5. IPIECA's letter adds to the mounting chorus of voices (including many NGOs) calling for ISO to slow down the work on the greenhouse gas standard so as to ensure more thoughtful and inclusive development of the document. Environmental Communications "Guidance" Standard May Not Include Any Requirements After two years of deliberations, experts developing the environmental communications standard, ISO 14063, have yet to reach consensus regarding whether the standard will, in fact, contain any minimum requirements for organizations that use it. At its most recent meeting in London in February 2003, the group agreed to defer the decision on whether mandatory elements, in the form of "shall" statements, will be included in the standard. The long-standing debate revolves around differences of opinion as to whether the standard should be used strictly as an internal guidance tool, or also have meaning for stakeholders external to the organization. NGOs and some government entities within the working group have argued in favor of minimum requirements, suggesting that they will serve as the credibility linchpin for external audiences that may wish to know what can be expected of organizations that eventually claim to be in accordance with the standard. The Pacific Institute agrees that minimum requirements are crucial if the standard is to add value for stakeholders external to the implementing organization. The next meeting of WG4 will be held in Berlin in early September 2003. ISO Decides
to Further Study CSR Issue While temporarily stalled, the American National Standards Institute's effort to develop a new work item proposal for a business conduct management system standard has been rekindled as of late. The ad hoc group within ANSI tasked with drafting the justification analysis for the proposal has recently resumed activity after months of dormancy. NGO Participation In Voluntary Standards Development Improving
NGO Involvement in ISO/TC 207 Code of Good
Practice for the Development of Voluntary Standards New Publication
on NGO Role in International Environmental Cooperation For
the Abovementioned Documents and More Information
|
|
This material is intended for an NGO audience, please use discretion when circulating it to others. The INNI Online
Update is a quarterly bulletin on the activities of the International
Organization for Standards. If you do not wish to receive future
communications, please go to the "click here to change or remove
your subscription" button at the bottom of this message and
follow the instructions, or reply to this email message with the
word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. For problems or questions: newsletter_editor@pacinst.org This update was created by the Pacific Institute of Oakland, CA. Copyright 2003 |
|
