2022 part3

84/ Live: ISO Annual Meeting 2022

19 September 2022

Welcome to the ISO Annual Meeting 2022. We will be bringing you the inside story of this event as it unfolds in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Keep an eye on this page for regular updates.

It’s not too late to register for virtual sessions.

Thursday 22 September

Highlights from the ISO General Assembly 2022

The General Assembly always delivers exciting outcomes to the ISO community, and 2022 was no exception: here are the top 4 highlights.

New ISO President elected

Assembled delegates were given the chance to cast their votes to determine the next ISO President. Several candidates presented, but a substantial majority confirmed Dr Sung Hwan CHO for a two-year term (2024-2025). Dr Hwan, who will serve as President-elect in 2023, was nominated by the ISO member for South Korea, KATS.

Award recognizes the people who help keep us safe at work

Every year the LDE Award, named in honour of long-serving, late ISO Secretary-General Lawrence D. Eicher, recognizes a group of standardizers who have delivered excellence. This year, it was won by the ISO committee that deals with occupational health & safety. Find out more about their work and how they’re helping people get home safe and sound.

Annual Meeting 2023 heads south

Delegates responded enthusiastically when the location for next year’s Annual Meeting was revealed as Brisbane, Australia. Hosted by ISO Member Standards Australia, you can check out this sneak preview if you can’t wait until 2023!

Climate commitments confirmed

Building on the London Declaration, ISO members approved a resolution to promote International Standards in their respective countries as a means of accelerating progress on climate action.

How can we really achieve sustainability for the tourism sector 

For the first time in over two years, people are making travel plans. The world has changed since COVID, however. Today, people are looking at tourism with a sustainability lens. Yet not all sustainable tourism is equal.

Today’s session on sustainable tourism explored what good tourism looks like, and how we can help consumers distinguish between the wide plethora of sustainability claims. As panellists pointed out, when it comes to sustainable tourism and travel, most people don’t think about the complexities – the water, energy, food safety – and the long chain of services that are interconnected. These are all important considerations, making it difficult to “pin down” any proper guidelines to avoid “fake claims”.

Equally as complex, though perhaps less obvious, is the expectations of travellers which are not necessary aligned with a true sustainability agenda. The “comfortable” accommodation may entail certain costs – with negative impacts on local communities and the environment. Tourism providers may tailor their sustainability claims to consumer expectations, which often demand a certain level of quality and comfort.

As panellists suggested, claims must be substantiated by readily available information for consumers to make their informed choice. Travel providers are also more likely to act on sustainability if they expect that the customers will reward them. By making a conscious effort to choose sustainably, each and every one of us has the power to “nudge” the sector to take more concrete action.

Panellists agreed that support from ISO standards on sustainability is key to giving direction to the sector. By setting best practice – all the while being incorporated in policy and regulations – International Standards can be leveraged to harmonize the notion of sustainable tourism for a more just and fairer world for all travellers.

Together in climate action for a better world

For the first time since ISO’s commitment to achieve the climate agenda by 2050, members of ISO came together to discuss the progress made over the past year. Its adoption of the London Declaration in September 2021 enabled, for the first time, a coherent action plan to tackle the climate crisis among its global membership.

With pannelists representing the national standards bodies (NSBs) of ISO – Australia, Brazil, Fiji, Germany, and South Africa – the session was also an opportunity to foster a sense of camaraderie, collective purpose and common destiny.

The climate crisis is at our doorstep. Each one of the countries represented on the panel  is being impacted by extreme weather, from floods to hurricanes to landslides. The need for urgent measures to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change is overwhelming. As Brazil’s Jorge Cajazeira, Head of International Affairs, Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas (ABNT), highlighted efforts to mitigate the impacts of forest fires and how the use of standards can bring effective improvements.

For South Africa, stakeholder engagement has been key. According to Sadhvir Bissoon, Executive Standards, South Africa Bureau of Standards (SABS), “we need to ensure we have a balanced representation.” What has been lacking, he said, is regulatory and policy maker participation, especially from developing countries.

“We need to come together…to combine our forces,” Michael Stephan, Chief Operations Officer, Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V. (DIN), highlighting the importance of stakeholder engagement.  Coming together at an international level is key, he said, stating that 80% of standards in Germany are International Standards.

“Collaborating for good,” was exemplified by a concrete partnership. Karen Batt, Head of International, Standards Australia (SA), explained how Australia supported Fiji, a country increasingly prone to cyclones, in creating their own version of wind loading standards. The benefits of this partnership were reiterated by Fiji’s Ajeshni Lata, Standards Officer, Department of National Trade Measurement and Standards (DNTMS). She highlighted that sharing resources, know-how and experts were key to its success.

All agreed that strong and solid standards exist. However, raising awareness and effective communication are still lacking. As one panellist pointed out: “It’s up to us – the national standards bodies – to lead the dialogue or to be a leading part in the dialogue.” Afterall, we are much more connected and interdependent than we realize. International Standards can, and should, contribute to climate action. Each and every member of ISO needs to deploy the portfolio of standards, and together build and protect the future of our world.

Source: iso.org