(ISO: Geneva) -- The way is now open for the publication of ISO 26000, which gives guidance on social responsibility, as an international standard by the end of year.

The multistakeholder ISO Working Group on Social Responsibility (ISO/WG SR), which includes experts and observers from 99 ISO-member countries, and 42 public and private sector organizations, approved the draft ISO 26000 for processing as a final draft international standard (FDIS) at its eighth plenary meeting on May 17 in Copenhagen.

The document is now being edited to take account of the consensus reached at the Copenhagen meeting, prior to which 2,482 written comments had been received for processing. ISO 26000 will be released for a two-month FDIS vote by ISO-member countries in August and September, followed by publication as a fully fledged ISO international standard by November.

The ISO/WG SR has a joint leadership provided by the ISO members for Brazil (ABNT) and Sweden (SIS). “ISO 26000 will provide organizations in both public and private sectors with a new paradigm for helping them to operate in the socially responsible way that society now expects. It will assist them in achieving long-term economic benefits with minimal social costs and minimal harmful impacts on the environment,” says its chair, Jorge E.R. Cajazeira, after the successful conclusion to the Copenhagen meeting.

“It was a truly heart warming moment when the 100 pages finally found consensus and the 400 experts and observers stood up and clapped their hands. The ISO Working Group on Social Responsibility has delivered a fantastic result and it is time to hand over this valuable guidance standard to the market and all organizations out there,” says vice chair, Staffan Söderberg.

ISO secretary general Rob Steele, speaking at the meeting’s opening ceremony, paid tribute to the ISO/WG SR for its efforts, which included eight meetings since the first in 2005 and the treatment of more than 25,000 comments.

He underlined the value of the broad stakeholder input that has gone into developing ISO 26000, including the significant input by developing countries. “One of the key arguments that resulted in the recommendation to proceed with the development of ISO 26000 was that such a broad subject would benefit from the widest participation possible and that using the ISO standards development process would maximize this involvement,” says Steele. “One of the key groups advocating this argument was developing countries, and the point resonated with everyone.”

Steele underlined that ISO 26000 is a guidance standard, not a specification document intended for third-party certification, and that ISO would be vigilant in seeing that this was respected. The ISO secretary general reiterated the market expectations for ISO 26000, which include:

• Global agreement on social responsibility (SR) definitions, and on the principles of SR

• Global agreement on the core subjects of SR

• Guidance on how to integrate SR throughout an organization

The meeting was hosted by the ISO member for Denmark, Danish Standards, and the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs. “We have today achieved broad global support on the meaning and practices of social responsibility,” says Brian Mikkelsen, minister of the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs. “This is a huge step forward. Companies and organizations around the world will have a mutual starting point for working with social responsibility.”

For more information on ISO 26000 and the ISO Working Group on Social Responsibility, see the dedicated web site www.iso.org/sr.

Working documents including the draft standard can be accessed at www.iso.org/wgsr.