The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), whose Spanish member is the
Spanish Association for Standardization, UNE, has published the
first global standard that contains the
guidelines for helping organisation around the world to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the
United Nations 2030 Agenda. This standard is the result of the partnership agreement signed between
ISO and the
United Nations Development Programme.This standard has gained great interest. Sixty-six countries took part in its development, including Spain through UNE, which provided the official translation into Spanish; this will allow the standard to expand its scope to a market of more than 600 million Spanish speakers and ensure its homogeneous application.
The standard, which is freely accessible within the framework of the agreement between ISO and UN, is available on the UNE website as UNE-ISO/UNDP PAS 53002 “Guidelines for contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)".
In the words of Javier García, Director General of UNE and Vice-President of ISO:“These guidelines allow us, for the first time, to establish a common approach for organisations to accelerate their progress towards meeting the SDGs, and moving from alignment to action. They demonstrate how standards provide an effective response to the major challenges we face as a society, allowing us to move towards sustainable development and shared progress."
Six years from 2030, only 17% of the goals are in the process of being met, according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Report 2024. This standard will therefore enable organizations to contribute positively to the SDG.
The guidelines, which place the SDGs at the centre of an organisation's operations, provide practical advice, allowing sustainable development into all investment functions and processes; and complement existing sustainability standards by aligning organizational strategies, business operations and decision-making processes with the SDGs.
Discover this Standard, intended for all types of public and private sector organizations, regardless of their size, business activity or location. You can download the Spanish version using the form on this page.
Spain has actively participated in the development of this pioneering Standard through the UNE Committee on Sustainable Development Management Systems of the United Nations (CTN-UNE 343), chaired by the Director of the Department of Industry, Energy, Environment and Climate of CEOE, Cristina Rivero. More than 70 organisations have participated, many of which are UNE members.
The ISO is also developing the future standard ISO/UNDP 53001 standard, which will provide the requirements for implementing a Management Systems for UN Sustainable development goals, compatible with other management system standards. The standard is due to be published in 2025.
