ISO released an environmental report assurance standard. Providing guidelines on assurance for environmental reports, the ISO 14016:2020 standard will help companies build trust and confidence into the data reported.
The new standard ISO 14016:2020: Environmental management — Guidelines on the assurance of environmental reports is prepared in accordance with recognized standards and protocols for reporting.
Providing guidelines on the assurance of environmental reports, it will help clarify the process from the perspectives of assurance providers, stakeholders and organizations reporting on their environmental performance.
In addition, providing principles and guidelines for assuring the environmental information an organization includes in its environmental reports, special consideration has been paid to identifying the competence needed by the assurance provider.
The credibility of any environmental report starts with a company’s commitment and actions. The standard means that users can have confidence that the results of those actions are correctly shared. For example, that the environmental data has been collected using a credible process, are accurate and provides the necessary level of transparency
stated Antonio Astone, Supply Chain Solutions Manager in DNV GL-Business Assurance and member of the ISO working group developing the standard.
According to DNV GL, an environmental report incorporates voluntary and/or legally required disclosure by an organization of environmental information. Beyond external transparency, environmental reporting provides companies with a structured approach to data collection and improvement of their environmental performance. It also provides internal and external transparency on opportunities and risks.
While the focus of the ISO 14016 standard is environmental reports, the practices described are applicable to a wide range of reporting. This includes social, sustainability and integrated reports, for example.
