The Director General of the Spanish Association for Standardization (UNE) and Vice-President of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), Javier García, announced on 3 July the creation of the ImpactWorks Alliance at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) held in Seville.
This is an international initiative between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and ISO, in collaboration with Social Value International (SVI), which aims to bring together organisations committed to integrating sustainability into decision-making and business management systems, with the aim of contributing to continuous improvement in economic, social and environmental performance.
The Alliance, which brings together companies, policymakers, and standards bodies, provides practical guidance, visibility, and learning to facilitate the effective integration of sustainability commitments into organisational management systems.
The key role of standards
To achieve this, the alliance will accelerate the adoption of internationally recognised sustainability standards, with a particular focus on the implementation of the future ISO/UNDP 53001 standard, which will establish the requirements for implementing a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Management System, as well as the SDG Impact Standards, promoting their incorporation into organisational management frameworks. Among others, UNE-ISO/UNDP PAS 53002, which in 2024 became the first global standard with guidelines to help organisations around the world achieve the SDGs. Both documents are the result of the alliance between ISO and UNDP. The standards provide practical guidance, visibility, and learning to help organisations move from commitments to sustainability implementation.
During his speech, Javier García emphasised that this initiative reflects ISO's commitment to developing practical, agreed-upon standards that help organisations achieve real impact. "Millions of organisations around the world use ISO standards to improve their management, and with this initiative, we can accelerate the transition from sustainability ambition to concrete and credible implementation."
For Marcos Neto, UN Under-Secretary-General and Director of the UNDP Office for Policy and Programme Support: "We are going beyond high-level goals and reporting frameworks to support a deeper transformation."
The operational launch of the alliance is scheduled for early 2026, coinciding with the publication of ISO/UNDP Standard 53001.
At the event, sustainability experts from various fields discussed the role of standards as a key tool for driving progress toward the SDGs: Kotaro Sueyoshi, Deputy Director of the Sustainable Business Promotion Department at Mizuho Financial Group; Komal Sahu, Head of Sustainable Finance at AVPN; Jacob Færgemand, Country Chief Executive Nordics at Bureau Veritas; Antonio Silveira, Vice President of the Private Sector at CAF; and Ana Peña Laseca, Global Manager of Sustainability and Climate Change at Ferrovial.
Impact management standards
In addition, Javier García also participated in the session “When innovation meets standardisation: advancing the interoperability of impact management standards", which responds to paragraph 34 of the final document of the Conference, and urges both the private sector and standardisation bodies to integrate and harmonise impact management in their processes and standards.
Organised by the Impact Management Platform, the meeting, which took place on 2 July as part of FfD4, aimed to foster dialogue with policymakers, clarify terminology and practices around impact management, and encourage standard-setters and multilateral agencies to continue moving towards interoperability.
