Case Studies

The objective of this case study is to enhance disaster management practices by involving spontaneous volunteers following disasters in Chile and Argentina, using lessons from implementing ISO 22319 in the UK. 

The objective of this case study is to  show  how  the  Common Alerting Protocol(CAP) standard (ITU X.1303) is used for  public alerting of  emergencies  by  the  United  States  National  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other alerting authorities. The CAP standard is a remarkable success story: 85% of the world’s population now lives in  a  nation  with  at  least  one CAP alert feed  operational  or  under  development.  Additionally, CAP has led to myriad technical  advances...

The objective of this case study is to show how ASTM International Standards on  Concrete  and  Concrete  Aggregates have been used in Zambia, the United States and other twenty countries with two main goals. The first is to increase the potential for recycling building materials and in particular concrete, reducing the amount of these materials that  end  in landfills. The second is  to  codify  practices  for  adding  water, notably allowing for the  use  of  recycled  water,  to  concrete  at...

The purpose of the project ‘Energy Efficiency  for  Industry  in Ecuador with the implementation of an Energy Management Systems based on ISO 50 001’ was to promote energy efficiency improvements in the Ecuadorian industry through the development of national energy management standards and the application of system optimization. At  the  planning  stage,  the project was structured  into  five  components,  to  address  the  lack of awareness amongst industrial stakeholders of the benefits of...

Motiva, a sustainable development company owned by the Finnish state, promotes resource-efficient   and   sustainable choices in Finland. One of the tools it provides is the Material Efficiency Audit Tool, which  was  developed  in  parallel  with  the ISO 14051 (Environmental management — Material flow cost accounting) standard to utilize the know-how and international networks Motiva gained in the  standardization  group.  The  tool helps companies  streamline  their  material  flows,  gain...

Before becoming Fairtrade certified, coffee farmers at SOPPEXCCA cooperative in Nicaragua  used  to  get  very  low prices for their coffee and  missed  out  on  many  benefits.  They were selling for the sake of selling, without prioritizing the land or the environment. Since becoming Fairtrade certified, SOPPEXCCA’s members are receiving better prices for their coffee, have adopted good agricultural practices and other climate change actions prescribed by the  Fairtrade  standards and have...

The case study details how Spanish steel producers worked with the national standardization system to develop a standard, UNE 36901 “Iron and steel sustainability management systems. Requirements”, which enables them to introduce environmental, economic and social sustainability aspects in their activities. 

Trinidad and Tobago anticipated the need to rapidly develop regulations that would regulate alternatives   to   single-use plastics, particularly expanded polystyrene products used in food containers to address  health,  safety  and  environmental  risks. Some of these risks include the chemical constituents which may pose a danger to health welfare and the impact of expanded polystyrene products on the environment. Of specific interest were practices   supporting   the   biodegradability   and...

Led by the African Organisation for  Standardisation  (ARSO),  the Eco Mark Africa (EMA) aims at promoting the associated ecolabel across  the  African  continent  for  sustainably-produced  products and services and advocating their certification via four standards concerning the domains of agriculture (ARS/AES 1:2014), fisheries (ARS/AES 2:2014), forestry (ARS/AES 3:2014)  and tourism (ARS/AES 4:2014).

Chile implemented two standards – IEC 61215-  1:2016 “Terrestrial Photovoltaic (PV) Modules: Design  Qualification  and Type Approval” and IEC 61730-1:2016 “Photovoltaic (PV) Module Safety Qualification” – when installing solar plants in the Alcatama Desert, located the northern region of the country.

The private sector is a  key  player  in  effectively  achieving  the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda. Its role has shifted from a traditional financial partner to a more active one by engaging with communities, governments and other stakeholders to foster sustainable development. In recent years businesses have advanced significantly by adopting sustainability strategies   as well as reporting aimed at measuring and communicating their economic, environmental and social impacts. This information  is...

The case study starts from the assumption that identifying and measuring the extent to which companies are   effectively enacting a  low-carbon  transition  is  challenging.  For  example, many commitments are announced by the companies,  yet  it  is rather difficult to understand how meaningful they are. Along the same lines, there is a lack of data to track these climate action commitments, as well as an overall shortage of verification on the compliance. Combined, these  two  factors  lead...

The objective of this case study is to prove that Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) are effective means to reduce carbon emissions, as well as deliberate market intervention policies that facilitate the uptake  of  energy-efficient  appliances. More specifically, the case study takes into account the retrofit of energy-efficient lighting and the transformation of household refrigerator market strategies put into place by the government of Ghana.

The case study reviews the development of a national Standard Recommendation on the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) micro generators for dwellings (S.R. 55) by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI), in support of SDG 13.

The objective of this case study is to show how reference to international standards – such as certification standards (ISO 45001/ISO 14001/ISO 37001/ISO 27001) within a regulatory framework – encourage responsible business practices and penalise environmental degradation. This has the potential to enhance institutional awareness of environmental   stewardship and provide a framework  for  enhanced  business  capacity  in climate change mitigation.

In three years,  damage  control  company  Recover  Nordic  has been certified to three standards. The company’s systematic use of standards is opening new markets and resulting in more environmentally  friendly  and  efficient  operations.  They  are  now on their way to their fourth ISO certification. In  autumn  2019, Recover Nordic was certified to ISO  45001,  Occupational  health and safety. The company is already certified to ISO 9001, Quality management systems and ISO 14001...

The Bislett Alliance has the stated aim  of  staging  the  eco- friendliest sports event in the world. The organizers  intend  to achieve their goal by applying international standards.

With the help of standards, DNB, the largest bank in Norway, is focusing on energy consumption and environmental and climate impacts. Its climate and environmental work encompass not only the bank’s own operations but also  it's  lending  and  supplier activities  and work on responsible investments. DNB actively uses ISO 14001,  the standard  for  environmental  management. The bank was certified by DNV GL for the first time in 2014.

The Port of Oslo has set  itself  a  goal  of  becoming  the  world’s most environmentally friendly city port. Innovation, green technology and collaboration will play a critical role  in  achieving these ambitions. The Port of Oslo is using the ISO standard for environmental management to succeed in its mission.

Today, the soy sector is facing several pressing problems: deforestation and conversion, land tenure issues, and   poor labour conditions, among others. Sustainable   agricultural practices provide a tangible contribution to solving sustainability issues in soy production by improving production methods at the farm level and  enabling  all stakeholders  in  the  soy  supply  chain to also take responsibility.

The objective of the case  study  is  to  show  how  standards  on solar photovoltaic technologies have enabled the scale up of the access to modern energy in a sustainable manner in Tanzania. Energy is deemed crucial in achieving all SDGs, yet if it is not sustainably harnessed, it will adversely  impact  the  human  being and environment.

Monitoring of the extractive fishing activities is a need to ensure sustainability and a requirement in the legislation. Monitoring is currently done by experts embarked in vessels.

Electronic monitoring is technically feasible but requires professionalism of the implementing companies and the acceptance of all stakeholders; owners of the vessels, fishermen, authorities and scientist. The way to progress has been the development of a voluntary Spanish National Standard, UNE 195007:2021...

Through ISO DIS 18091, promote and apply a new model of democratic governance, which allows building from the local level, a coherent architecture of governments towards citizens through public policy networks attached to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN Agenda 2030.

The objective of this case study is to show the value of encouraging industrial food production companies to enter into voluntary partnerships with   third-party   certification   programmes to demonstrate their adherence to international food safety standards. This  promotes  responsible  business  practices  while also ensuring the provision of safer  and  higher  quality  food  to world markets.