This portal aims to map standards to the Goals and Targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
It currently covers five Sustainable Development Goals - SDG 6 on Water and Sanitation; SDG 7 on Affordable and Clean Energy; SDG 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities; SDG 12 on Responsible Consumption and Production and SDG 13 on Climate Action.
Work will continue to extend it to all SDGs.
In addition to the standards database, the portal contains:
- Case studies on how standards have been used as the basis for policy interventions by local and national authorities
- E-learning training courses, covering risk management, conformity assessment and market surveillance
The portal was developed by UNECE’s Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies (WP.6).
Please let us know if you wish to partner with us in developing it further.
Also, if you do not see a specific standard that you think should appear in the portal, and that applies to the SDGs we have already mapped, please contact us at [email protected]
We will act upon all constructive feedback we receive.
- What are Standards?
-
This portal adopts the definition of standards contained in the World Trade Organization (WTO) -Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement (TBT).
Accordingly, a standard is a “Document approved by a recognized body, that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and production methods, with which compliance is not mandatory.”(WTO TBT Agreement, https://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/17-tbt.pdf) (page16)
- Why Standards matter for Sustainable Development
-
Standards provide a shared language, common metrics, and concrete tools to translate global principles into action.
Standards support all three dimensions of sustainable development. They work for people, planet and prosperity.
For people, for example, because standards help make cities and communities resilient and inclusive (see case studies). For the planet, for example, standards support the uptake of resource-saving products and technologies (see case studies). For prosperity standards help to scale-up technological innovation, and help countries and companies integrate value chains.Our research shows that on the one hand, policymakers are insufficiently aware of, and empowered to, use standards as the basis for their choices at local, national, regional and global levels. On the other hand, standards organizations are not sufficiently aware of how standards can contribute to the SDGs.
This portal aims to offer a resource for standards developing organizations, policymakers and other stakeholders.
These two brochures: Standards for Sustainable Development and Gender Responsive Standards illustrate the WP.6 approach.
- How can I contribute?
-
UNECE invites standards developing organizations to submit standards for inclusion in the database.
The template outlines the necessary information (i.e. organization, location of standard, Goal, Target etc). UNECE reserves the right to determine the suitability of any standard submitted.
Standards developers and users are invited to submit Case Studies using this template. Case studies should demonstrate the practical application of standards to support sustainable development. Note that at present UNECE is listing studies related to SDGs 6, 7, 11, 12 and 13. In the near future, stakeholders will be invited to submit studies related to all SDGs.
Please use the Contact Us page for further details.
