The ISO Show

The world of ISO is often stumbled into as a result of being tasked with either Implementing or maintaining a Standard for a business. It is rarely a desired career path, and yet there are thousands of ISO professionals from all corners of the globe. We're continuing with our latest mini-series where we introduce members of our team, to explore how they fell into the world of ISO and discuss the common challenges they face while helping clients achieve ISO certification. In this episode we introduce Derek Hall, a Senior Isologist® and Sustainability Lead at Blackmores, to learn about his journey from spending 40 years in the printing industry to becoming an ISO Consultant, and what drives him to help clients on their ISO journey. You'll learn · What is Derek's role at Blackmores? · What does Derek enjoy outside of consultancy? · What path did Derek take to become an ISO Consultant? · What is the biggest challenge he's faced when implementing ISO Standards? · What is Derek's biggest achievement? Resources · Isologyhub · Climate Change Amendment Workshop In this episode, we talk about: [02:05] Episode Summary – We introduce Derek Hall, a Senior Isologist® here at Blackmores, to discuss his journey towards becoming an ISO consultant who specialises in ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 22716. [03:45] What is Derek's role at Blackmores? Derek is a Senior Isologist® with Blackmores, supporting companies with maintaining systems, undertaking internal audits, and supporting with implementing new systems to gain certification utilising our Isology methodology. His passion lies in the realm of sustainability, embedding it within the management systems of many of our clients regardless of any certification to any dedicated sustainability Standard. Derek was worked with a number of sectors, including:- · Media · Printing · Constructions · Cosmetics · Recycling · Electrical · Public Sector & NHS Derek enjoys the learning aspect of working with new industries, and values the input from all personnel involved, from top management to those on the shop floor. He well and truly immerses himself within each company he works with to learn about their values and how ISO can best support their vision. [08:30] What does Derek enjoy doing outside of consultancy?: Derek has a few varied hobbies, including oil painting born out of his other passion, photography. He often uses his own photos as subject matter for his paintings. He also trains 4-5 times a week at his local karate club, which caters for all ages and skill sets. Derek has diligently worked his way up to black belt over the 17 years he's been attending, and offers his skills to teach sessions. He appreciates the respect that karate teaches, in addition to gaining more knowledge on other points of view. With such a varied class, there's always something new to learn. The Australian based club he attends is called GKR Karate. [12:20] What was Derek's path towards becoming an ISO Consultant?: Derek's journey starts back in the 60's, where he worked in commercial photography, taking pictures on the progress of various building works, and products for furniture stores. He used to work with plate photography, which was a rather old school method even back then! This was coupled with more modern methods such as 35 millimeter film. He recalls witnessing the building of the Thames barrier, taking pictures to help monitor the amount of water coming through the barrier. After that he moved onto work for a printing company in Barnet (Hertfordshire), which specialized in advertisements and signage for furniture stores. From the shop floor Derek worked his way up to becoming a printer operative. This company evolved to include screen printing, which allowed for more versatile applications such as clothing or certain plastics. After spending 3 and a half years there he moved on with a friend to start their own printing company in Watford, which continued until the 70's. In the 70's Derek joined a much larger printing company based in Southgate London. Here he was involved in the printing of cinema posters for theatres, and musical groups. Derek remained there for 40 years, watching it evolve to larger scale printing for retail markets such as HMV Records and curry's, in addition to bus advertisements. During the 90's, there was a larger push for quality Standards, their clients wanted more assurance that they were following established guidelines and could produce the quality they were after. So, Derek was tasked with Implementing BS 5750, ISO 9001's precursor, and BS 7750, ISO 14001's precursor. The company then got involved in an eco management audit scheme called EMAS, which required the reporting of environmental impacts. It was similar to ISO 14001, but it's regulatory reporting requirements more closely align with modern schemes such as ESOS. They also introduced other schools of thinking such as Kaizen, for the purpose of continual improvement. At this point, Derek became very involved with sustainability standards, and developed a concept called 'The Tree of Sustainability', which included 9 branches for improvement. This was introduced due to the fact that their industry by its current nature, wasn't very sustainable. There was a lot that could be done to reduce their impact. Through developing that project Derek got involved with the DTR project called 'The Sigma Guidelines', a backed scheme run by the BSI forum and The Accountability Institute. These guidelines outlined a 3-year project to identify what sustainability meant to them and how it could apply to their industry. The result of their work on this project was then submitted to various awards, netting them a number of sustainability awards and The Accountability Institute Awards. That company continued its operations until 2007, leading to Derek joining Blackmores first year of operation in 2008. Derek is leading us down a similar sustainability path by encouraging us to become a signatory of the Terra Carta, an initiative including 100 different actions for nature, people and planet. [26:40] What is Derek's favourite aspect of being a Consultant? – Derek has a few, including: Building relationships with clients – Many of Dereks clients have been working with him for over 10 years. He's as much friends with them as he is a work colleague. Flexible approach – Consultancy can be delivered in many different ways, allowing for hybrid working. This flexible approach also applies to the way we achieve internal targets, with each member of the team being given specific goals with the freedom to choose how they reach them. Everyone has their own way of working, and we encourage all members of the team to work how they like with the opportunity to learn from each other. [28:35] What Standards does Derek specilaise in and why? Starting with: · ISO 9001 Quality Management: A core foundation that many businesses start with when diving into the world of ISO Standards. Derek started with it's predecessor, and has watched it develop over the years. He appreciates the value it can bring, especially to SME's who are looking for a scalable model for success. · ISO 14001 Environmental Management: Derek is a fan of sustainability in general, and encourages everyone to implement some of it's requirements as part of any project. · ISO 22716 Good Manufacturing Practices for the Cosmetics Industry: A rather niche quality standard for the cosmetic industry, this Standards works well in collaboration with ISO 9001 for a more holistic approach. · ISO 45001 Health and Safety Management: Derek picked up this Standard as a result of his work with the construction industry. It's importance as a tool to prevent harm to humans cannot be understated. · ESG: Derek has been working closely with his colleague, Ali Henshaw, to develop an ISO based framework to tackle ESG requirements. This includes inputs and requirements from guidance standards such as ISO 20400 (Sustainable Procurement) and ISO 26000 (Social Responsibility) · ISO 22301 Business Continuity: A lot of organisations are looking to implement aspects of business continuity as a result of the ever-changing resilience landscape. [32:20] The link between business continuity and climate change: We have seen client requirements evolve to include various elements of business continuity in response to the increasing threats of cyber incidents and climate change related issues. This is reflected in the recently introduced Climate Change Amendment to many commonly implemented ISO Standards. This requirement ensures that businesses consider their impact on climate change in addition to, how and if they would be affected in turn. If you would like to learn more about this, listen to a previous episode or watch our Workshop playback. [34:20] What is the biggest challenge Derek had faced during a project and how did he overcome it?: Derek took on the challenge of implementing ISO 22716, when he knew very little about the Standard and the cosmetics industry as a whole. Though there were a few stumbles on his first attempt, they managed to get certified without issue. That same company then wanted his help to implement ISO 14001, which is a tough ask for the cosmetics industry. There are a lot of factors to consider, such as: · What is their environmental impact? · Where are you sourcing materials? · Are the ingredients shipped from across the globe or sourced locally? · Is there any animal testing involved? · How sustainable was their supply chain? There was a lot to get through, but it was a beneficial choice to get a full picture of their environmental cost. Later, the company opted to implement ISO 9001 in addition to their existing Iso 22716 and ISO 14001 certifications. This fit nicely as both ISO 22716 and ISO 9001 are quality based Standards, they complemented each other and created an effective and holistic management system. [27:20] What is Derek's proudest achievement? Derek received an MBE from the late Queen for services in the environment in 2005. This was earned through his sustainability work within the print industry. For those not familiar, the Queens Award (now the King's Award) is a prestigious award that requires 3 levels of review and vetting before winners can be announced. It includes checking evidence provided and the financials involved to verify if applicants have achieved what they say they have achieved. Derek, along with his wife and daughters, were invited to the palace to meet the queen and receive his award. If you'd like any assistance with implementing ISO standards, get in touch with us, we'd be happy to help! We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

ISO consultancy isn't a field many aspire to enter, mostly because many don't know it exists until you're tasked with either managing an existing ISO Management System or implementing a brand new one. We're continuing with our latest mini-series where we introduce members of our team, to explore how they fell into the world of ISO and discuss the common challenges they face while helping clients achieve ISO certification. In this episode we introduce Alison Henshaw, an Isologist® at Blackmores, to learn about her journey from aspiring pub-landlord to becoming an ISO Consultant, and what drives her to help clients on their ISO journey. You'll learn · What is Ali's role at Blackmores? · What does Ali enjoy outside of consultancy? · What path did Ali take to become an ISO Consultant? · What is the biggest challenge she's faced when implementing ISO Standards? · What is Ali's biggest achievement? Resources · Isologyhub In this episode, we talk about: [02:05] Episode Summary – We introduce Alison Henshaw (Ali), an Isologist® here at Blackmores, to discuss her journey towards becoming an ISO consultant who specialises in ISO 20400 and ISO 26000. [03:45] What is Ali's role at Blackmores? Ali is an Isologist® with Blackmores, supporting companies with maintaining systems, undertaking internal audits, and supporting with implementing new systems to gain certification utilising our Isology methodology. [04:00] What does Ali enjoy doing outside of consultancy?: Ali has a daughter aged 5, so a lot of her social life revolves around play dates and kids parties. As a family, they are very outdoor orientated, enjoying long walks and camping. In the past Ali enjoyed swimming, often visiting family near the coast to make use of the more bracing bodies of water. She also likes to craft, recently taking up knitting as her mum often knits for different charitable causes. So far, she's mastering the art of the knitted rectangle, which lends itself nicely to scarves and blankets. Lastly, Ali is also a fan of photography due to her father sharing a similar interest. Most of her subject matter revolves around family and the outdoors. [06:45] What was Ali's path towards becoming an ISO Consultant?: Ali states that none of her working roles so far have been purposeful, rather more serendipitous. She started managing pubs at the age of 18, after which she did relief management where she would cover different manager absences in pubs near her home. The owner of the pub she was working with at the time was looking to sell, and for a time, her plan had to been to buy and run it. Unfortunately, as she was only 18, she needed to have some form of business qualification to allow her to progress with that. This led to Ali starting a part-time business management degree, At the time one of her pub regulars was recruiting for the production departments on a shift basis. So she ended up packing wallpaper on a factory floor for 3 days a week while earning her degree. Sadly, by the time she had earned her degree, the pub she wanted to buy had been knocked down and turned into a block of flats! Though, after working in a different industry for 2 years she came to reevaluate her desire to run pubs, and came to the conclusion that she rather preferred the manufacturing industry and it's ability to create something. Ali also enjoyed the people within the factory she had been working at, and opted to stay there with her mentor, the Technical Manager, who offered her a place in the technical floor. So began her new role as the quality assurance technician. This progressed as Ali worked her way up through Assistant quality tech to quality tech, to assistant quality manager to quality manager. Her mentor at the time was phasing out to retire, so Ali was essentially his legacy plan. When he did retire Ali became the Quality Technical R&D and Health and Safety Manager. While in that role Ali implemented ISO 9001, in addition to business research and development programmes for product and process development compliance. Which amounted to sitting on trade association technical committees, monitoring upcoming legislation and also contributing to British technical committees that helped write the legislation for the wall-coverings sector. She later went onto help them implement ISO 45001. Ali then had her daughter, Angie, during lockdown. For as much as she loves the manufacturing sectors, the worktime for those roles isn't very flexible. She knew that when looking back, she would rather have spent more time with her daughter than working, so she wanted to find something with a bit more flexibility to allow her to spend quality time with her family. It wasn't an easy decision by any means, but she was drawn to consultancy due to the variety of work and clients and the increased flexibility it would allow. She Started to work with Blackmores following lockdown, appreciating the family values that our business was built on. Here she shares the sentiment: "I'm very rarely the smartest person in the room, and we learn so much from each other." Going on to say that the varied background of Blackmores consultants offers insight into so many other industries, and she's drawn on their experience of how to apply ISO Standards in the real world. [14:15] What is Ali's favourite aspect of being a Consultant? – Ali enjoys working with SME's due to her background of working with a 4th generation family owned business. They can often see the value in ISO Standards, and Ali works with them to ensure that do what they do best while working towards certification. Many businesses simply gain ISO as a tick box for tenders or stakeholder requirements, which isn't necessarily bad, it's just how things work in the real world. But Ali figures that if they have to get it, get it right by ensuring it drives internal improvements. Often times clients are pleasantly surprised by all the benefits of effective ISO implementation. Ali's favourite clause in Standards is 6.2 Objectives as they drive proactive improvement in businesses. The key is to truly embed them in business processes and practices to ensure they are being achieved. This is something that even mature management systems can get wrong. She's seen cases where Objectives were one person's responsibility, which can lead to them being a separate part of the management system. They need that lightbulb moment from leadership to realise the function of objectives to drive the whole business by taking a more proactive stance. Many times, Ali's heard of fantastic internal initiatives being run in a business without them being tied to any objective. By making them an objective, people can make a case for more time, resources and people to complete it, in addition to making the outcome a quantifiable and measurable metric for continual improvement. [17:35] Practice what we preach – Ali has helped re-shape how we at Blackmores approach our sustainability objectives, turning them into something we can measure the impact of. As Ali states: "The want for perfection stops progress". It admirable to strive for perfection, but it isn't realistic and it often hinders any meaningful progress. When it comes to things like sustainability, you should want to drive improvement now. [18:55] What Standards does Ali specilaise in and why? Starting with: · ISO 20400 Sustainable Procurement: This is a guidance Standard thar businesses can align with to ensure their procurement practices are sustainable. This extends to the supply chain, expanding each businesses sphere of influence. · ISO 26000 Social Responsibility: Another guidance Standard that acts a solid foundation for businesses looking at starting their ESG journey. It tackles the human element of sustainability, in addition to consideration for fair labour practices and community support. · ISO 9001 Quality Management: The first Standard Ali implemented, and the core foundation that many businesses start with when diving into the world of ISO Standards. · ISO 14001 Environmental Management: Ali is a fan of sustainability in general, enjoying it's tangible impacts and the creativity in the many ways people can incorporate it into their business. · ISO 45001 Health and Safety Management: The second standard Ali implemented, it's also one of the core 3 ISO's that businesses tend to implement. It's importance as a tool to prevent harm to humans cannot be understated. · ISO 50001 Energy Management and ISO 20121 Sustainable Events: Ali helps to audit these standards, once again these fall into her preference of sustainability as a focus. It's clear to see that Ali loves Sustainability and safety based Standards, and the reason is mostly due to ensuring there is a bright future for her daughter. Ultimately, she aims to help people and wants to work with Standards that can make a real difference. [22:05] What is the biggest challenge Ali had faced during a project and how did he overcome it?: The confidence clients have in themselves. People are very knowledgeable about what they do and the processes involved, but because they aren't familiar with ISO speak they feel very lost when implementing a standard. Ali's main role is translating that ISO speak, and assuring clients that they're already covering key points such as risks, opportunities and what they're doing to address them. For many businesses, it's simply a case of dotting the I's and crossing the t's ahead of certification. The challenge for Ali is to build that confidence in clients ahead of their Stage 1 and 2 Assessments. This is where internal audits come in handy, they act as dummy runs of the assessment. Ali can reaffirm what is meant by each clause and what it relates to in terms of the business activities or certain documentation. She also reminds clients that they can question the assessor if they don't understand how they've worded a questions. It's up to the assessor to make themselves understood. Assessors also understand that your management system will be immature on it's first certification, it's simply a starting point on which you'll build and continually improve. [27:15] What is Ali's proudest achievement? · Changing careers: Ali saw herself retiring in her previous role and so it was a significant change to make the leap to consultancy. She still loves the manufacturing and wall-covering industry, and will always have a keen interest in it, but she can now see herself retiring in a consultancy role. · Having Angie: Her daughter is one of her proudest achievements, but it also scared everything out of her. It put her at her physical limit, and she's quite happy to have an only child, ensuring that she gets to spend as much time with as possible while she's growing up. · Doing a skydive: As part of a 'Before your 30' list with friends, Ali took part in a skydive. Which she admits was horrendous and not something she would do again, but she's proud to have pushed past the fear as getting out of your comfort zone is often the key to growth. If you'd like any assistance with implementing ISO standards, get in touch with us, we'd be happy to help! We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

Emergency preparedness is a term you're likely familiar with regarding Health & Safety, but its application is also a key part of the Best Practice Environmental Management Standard, ISO 14001. ISO 14001 aims to help organisations reduce their overall impact on the environment, and this includes mitigating and responding to any incidents that may adversely affect factors such as biodiversity and water quality in areas where your business is based. While not applicable to every industry, there are many which need to take greater responsibility in the event of an environmental incident. ISO 14001 provides key guidance in how to create effective processes to ensure you respond swiftly, and in alignment with the law. In this episode Ian Battersby explains what is meant by emergency preparedness and response within ISO 14001, and how that can apply to your business. You'll learn · What is emergency preparedness and response in ISO 14001? · How do you approach Clause 8.2 in ISO 14001? · Planning for an environmental emergency · Definitions of different types of emergency · How can you prevent an environmental emergency? Resources · Isologyhub · Learn more about ISO 14001 In this episode, we talk about: [02:05] Episode Summary – Ian explains the purpose of clause 8.2 in ISO 14001, emergency preparedness and response. [02:35] What is meant by 'emergency preparedness and response' in ISO 14001?: Many will be familiar with emergency preparedness and response in relation to Health and Safety. In Standards such as ISO 45001, it's about ensuring there are plans in place to reasonably foresee and prevent any serious harm to a person or persons affected by our activities The aim with Clause 8.2 in ISO 14001 is to minimise the risk an organisation poses to the environment. Though, these aren't mutually exclusive and some environmental response plans can prevent harm to both people and the environment. Ian seeks to clarify this clause further as many have a tendency to point towards their fire evacuation plan and fire drills as the first piece of evidence when demonstrating conformity to clause 8.2 in ISO 14001. While fire is very violent to the environment once it's occurred, the evacuation of people during such an event building offers little in the way of an environmental response. [05:10] Breaking down Clause 8.2: Clause 8.1 states: "The organization shall establish, implement and maintain the process(es) needed to prepare for and respond to potential emergency situations identified in 6.1.1." Like with many Standards, it references an early clause where you should be identifying the relevant emergency situations. Clause 6 focuses on risk and opportunities, and in the case of ISO 14001 this is where you'll establish your environmental aspects and compliance obligations. Specifically, Clause 6.1.2 states: "Within the defined scope of the environmental management system, the organization shall determine the environmental aspects of its activities, products and services that it can control and those that it can influence, and their associated environmental impacts." This would take into consideration any abnormal conditions and reasonably foreseeable emergency situations. So, this is where you should already have established the emergency situations for which you need to plan for. Risk management is a core of the standards and planning for emergency situations is a core of risk management. You don't write plans in isolation; you will have already established what's important. [07:30] Planning for emergency: As stated in Clause 8.2: "The organization shall plan: a) to take actions to address its risks b) how to: 1) integrate into environmental management system or other business processes; 2) evaluate the effectiveness of these actions." This is all part of the familiar PDCA cycle. From Ian's perspective as an auditor, he won't look at emergency plans first, instead looking at an organisations Aspects & Impacts Assessment. The standard isn't prescriptive on how you assess the impact of what you do or the risks. The methodology is your choice, but it is very explicit in that the content must include abnormal conditions and reasonably foreseeable emergency situations. [09:40] What are the definitions for different types of emergency situations? Normal situations are when everything operates as intended, Business as usual, the day-to-day activities you expect: E.G. Standard operation of machinery, a vehicle getting from A to B without issue. Abnormal situations are when things aren't quite right, not catastrophic, but not business as usual; you can still achieve your intended outcome, but maybe not as quickly or efficiently: E.G. machinery running inefficiently or perhaps using more fuel or lubricant than usual. They don't necessarily require an emergency plan, but you may want to monitor the severity of such situations and their potential for significant impact if unaddressed. Emergency situations are serious events requiring immediate attention and which could cause significant environmental impacts. The type of emergency situation that could possibly occur will depend on the type of organisation, but common ones include fire or chemical / fuel spill. [11:30] What is required by the Standard? – As stated: You are required to: A) plan to respond to prevent or mitigate adverse environmental impacts from emergencies; (not human) B) respond to actual emergencies; C) prevent or mitigate the consequences of emergencies; D) periodically test the planned response; E) review and revise the process, in particular after the occurrence of emergency or test; F) provide relevant information and training, to relevant interested parties, including persons working under its control. [13:00] Examples of Emergency Situations – We'll look at a common one, fire. There are still 22,000 workplace fires in the UK each year, which is a significant environmental impact. That amounts to approximately 2,700 tonnes of carbon emissions annually. This in addition to the atmospheric toxins, ground/water contamination, resource loss, waste etc. So, in considering fire as an environmental emergency, these are the impacts. IOSH states that the most common cause for workplace fires is faulty or misused electrical equipment, followed by flammable/combustible materials, dirt and clutter, human error, smoking and cooking. One thing to note about those causes is that they are generally required to be controlled by specific legislation. So, you would be looking for a link between compliance obligations (or legal) register, the Aspects & Impacts Assessment and the controls in place to minimise the risks identified in both. Faulty electrics would stand out, so you would look at what measures could be put in place to prevent such faults occurring, including: · Preventive maintenance of equipment · Inspection and testing of electrical fixed wiring · Portable appliance testing By demonstrating the processes in place to address these, you can evidence compliance obligations and the planning to reduce the possibility of an emergency situation arising. However, a fire may still occur [15:40] Example emergency situation – Prevention: – You should look at the planning to prevent such a situation escalating into a full-blown emergency in order to prevent the environmental impact. This could include: · The maintenance, inspection and testing of fire detection or suppression systems · The inspection and servicing of firefighting equipment. · Firefighting equipment training for personnel Based on what you know about the causes of fire, you should examine smoking policies/practices, catering equipment maintenance, housekeeping, hazardous material management etc. Proof of fire drills alone enough when it comes to emergency preparedness and response in ISO 14001. Especially from an auditor's perspective, as how can you prove that your fire drills are useful in minimising the impact on the environment? [17:15] Other emergency situations – Spillage: An area where you can more readily see that preparedness and response directly affects the environmental outcome is where there has been a spillage of some kind. A spill of a lubricant on a shop floor, for instance, has the potential to cause a slip hazard, affecting the safety of people. The preventive measures, again, have similarities regardless of whether we're talking safety or environment, but do differ in that we're trying to prevent the lubricant then reaching the outside world and contaminating ground or water; that's the environmental impact. Waste disposal associated with the mopping of a spill; you may be dealing with hazardous waste, which must be disposed of in a controlled fashion under the law. If you'd like assistance with ISO 14001, get in contact with us, we'd be happy to help. We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List hh32NSNrT8MWkAPwsroK

Watch the Podcast Video on our YouTube Channel There has been a global shift towards the sustainability effort in recent years, highlighted by various regulations and schemes aimed at businesses to help encourage a more sustainable way of operating. This has led to more focus on the voluntary use of carbon markets, in which companies help to fund decarbonisation projects by buying carbon credits. In this episode Mel is joined by Tiffany Cheung, the Corporate Engagement Lead at carbon markets data company AlliedOffsets, as they discuss the landscape of the market, including current trends, decarbonisation challenges in different sectors, and top tips for navigating the space. You'll learn · What impact will corporate disclosures have on the carbon markets? · What are the rates of decarbonisation across different sectors? · What are the emerging buyer trends within the voluntary carbon market? · What is an internal carbon price? · How can companies use a carbon price to ensure that their sustainability goals are financially viable? · How can AlliedOffsets' data help companies when entering the carbon market? · What are the critical steps businesses should take to mitigate price volatility and ensure that they're investing in high quality, impactful carbon offsetting projects? Resources · AlliedOffsets · AlliedOffsets LinkedIn · AlliedOffsets Corporate Emissions Data and Findings · Carbonology In this episode, we talk about: [00:30] Episode Summary – Tiffany Cheung joins Mel to discuss buyer trends in the voluntary carbon market (VCM), including insights on the use of internal carbon prices and top tips for businesses looking to enter the market. Don't forget to catch-up on the previous episode where Tiffany explains what the voluntary carbon market is and gives an insight into the lifecycle of carbon credits. [01:30] What impact will increased corporate disclosures have on the carbon markets? There are 2 main points: 1. Already on the Agenda: Increased corporate sustainability disclosure may already fit into the changes that are taking place within the thinking of a company. If a company is spending time on creating and publishing reports on their sustainability initiatives, it is likely that they will be exploring their options for how they can take action more broadly.This is likely to be associated with increased engagement with the voluntary carbon markets, both through offsetting of carbon footprints and investing in carbon credits or project developers. 2. Project Developer benefits: Project developers will likely benefit from increased insight to the kinds of projects that buyers are purchasing credits from. As a by-product, there may be more focused projects created based off what certain sectors are willing to offset or invest in. [02:55] What are the rates of decarbonisation across different sectors? To give a macro view from the public data available in corporate sustainability reports over the last few years, the biggest total polluters by sector continue to be energy, maritime, transportation and materials and mining. Looking at the positives, the energy sector, which has historically been the biggest polluter, has decreased its emissions in both scopes 1 and 2 since 2019. However, there's still a very long way to go, and with major emitters recently rolling back their climate commitments, one shouldn't assume that that trend will continue linearly. Another sector facing an interesting decarbonization journey is aviation, whose emissions have been increasing in recent years, although not quite to pre-COVID pandemic levels. This sector will have to grapple with its emissions whilst contending with forecasted growth in both consumer and business travel over the next decade. Many aviation companies are both committed to Science Based Targets initiatives (SBTi) and fall under CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation), applying pressure on the sector to decarbonize as a whole. On a positive note, 18 sectors assessed by AlliedOffsets have decreased their average carbon emissions in scope 2 over the past few years, due in large part to increased renewable energy sourcing and improved energy efficiency. [07:10] What are the emerging buyer trends within the VCM?: AlliedOffsets are in a particularly good position to provide insight to this due to their comprehensive view of both historic buyer activity and new market entrants across the world. Chinese and German manufacturers have become a steady presence in the market, distinguished by their especially detailed credit retirement information. They'll go as far as to specify the products and operating periods that are being offset, showing really high levels of engagement with their environmental impact and giving clear insight on their targeted offsetting approach. Another buyer trend to highlight is occurring within the Australian market, where AlliedOffsets is seeing lots of credit retirement associated with the carbon neutrality certification scheme Climate Active. This is driving most voluntary retirements from the region, particularly from real estate and pension funds. [09:15] What is an internal carbon price? An internal carbon price is a specific cost or budget set by a company for the carbon or other greenhouse gas emissions that are associated with their specific business activities. This is typically based off of something like the World Bank calculations on the cost of climate change to society, or it could be based on the price of carbon set by an compliance emissions trading scheme (ETS) that is local to that business. [10:20] How can companies use a carbon price to ensure that their sustainability goals are financially viable?: For example, EasyJet has an internal carbon price that's based off of the UK emissions trading scheme. That internal carbon price is factored into the airline's master financial models and that drives their 5 - 10 year long financial plans. That helps to determine things like the geographical routes that EasyJet operates, which can affect profitability. An internal carbon price makes emissions tangible and material, playing a role in the wider business decisions. An airline operator is considered a big emitter and is likely to already be exposed to some kind of compliance carbon scheme which has a financial impact on the company. Nonetheless, having an internal carbon price can be useful regardless of how big your business is, as it can be used to budget certain activities and see where emissions might be centralised in a particular department. An example of this in practice may be that you have an internal carbon price of £50 per tonne, you can take that to an emissions calculator or advisor to work out a budget based on the carbon footprint of different activities or departments in the business. The idea being that if you can identify the cost associated with the emissions created, you know how much to spend to decarbonize. This process may also highlight where you can make further reductions, i.e. reducing air travel and supporting staff on switching to less polluting forms of transport. [12:55] How can AlliedOffsets data help companies interested in an internal carbon price?: AlliedOffsets has data on the carbon pricing programmes used by companies to set their internal carbon price, as well as the specific price itself for hundreds of different companies. This dataset also includes companies that haven't chosen to use a particular pricing scheme but have set an internal carbon price based just off of their unique activities. This helps to contextualize the current range of internal carbon prices and the logic behind them. [13:50] The need for regular review: Internal carbon pricing is something that needs to be reviewed on a regular basis as the costs associated with emitting in some business locations is not going to remain the same. This can also be affected by national legislation, which can increase the financial risk of emitting. Tiffany recommends reviewing your internal carbon pricing at least annually. They're seeing an emerging trend within the environmental space where sustainability related impacts within a company are being sequestered into their wider financial operations. The impacts of climate change are going to become more material to businesses in the very near future. As a result of this, it makes sense for businesses to assess their internal carbon price as part of their annual financial reviews. [16:30] What are the critical steps businesses should take to mitigate price volatility and ensure that they're investing in high quality, impactful projects? Tiffany recommends the following steps: 1. Focus on decarbonising your business operations first and engaging with your suppliers to tackle scope 3 emissions as well. It's more beneficial to both the business and environment for you to reduce emissions as much as possible, so you have a smaller residual footprint to offset. 2. Decide what kind of projects / carbon credits you want to spend money on, whether it's offsetting or investing. Besides the climatic impact, there are many co-benefits of carbon projects to choose from, such as improved biodiversity, water supply, or workplace gender equality. Knowing what is valuable to you and your business will help in the selection of these projects. 3. Build strong relationships with developers directly where possible and buy credits directly, in advance. This also has the benefit of ensuring a supply of carbon credits into the future without the worry about how the market might change or become more volatile within the next couple of years. 4. If your business is operating at quite a significant scale, it would be wise to work with another company that's focused on the voluntary carbon market, like AlliedOffsets. They can provide guidance and forecasting for the specific projects or sectors you'd like to buy from, reducing uncertainty on the future of the market. [20:00] Have faith in the impact of the voluntary carbon market – The voluntary carbon market has been through a turbulent period of time, and it's alright to feel cautious about entering a space which has been unstable in the past. The concerns about reputational risk associated with offsetting have greatly reduced in the last few years, and it's set to reduce further as the voluntary and compliance markets merge and integrity improves. However, if you decide that offsetting isn't right for your business, there are still other tools that you can take from the voluntary carbon markets to help drive decarbonisation, such as internal carbon pricing. If you'd like to learn more about AlliedOffsets, visit their website! If you'd like any assistance with carbon standards, get in touch with Carbonology, they'd be happy to help! We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: · Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin · Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

Watch the Podcast Video on our YouTube Channel No business can operate with zero emissions, there's only so much you can reduce before you need to look at offsetting the remainder to truly achieve Net Zero. Carbon offsetting comes in many forms, but the ones people will be most familiar with include purchasing carbon credits for nature restoration projects and tree planting efforts. Historically, the voluntary carbon market has been troubled by project developers who haven't operated their carbon offsetting projects to the environmental and social standards expected by buyers. With the use of offsets on the rise, it's clear that there is a need for transparency and standardisation within these voluntary markets. In this episode Mel is joined by Tiffany Cheung, the Corporate Engagement Lead at AlliedOffsets, to explain what the voluntary carbon market is, how carbon credits work from purchase to retirement and what quality controls are in place to ensure they are reliable. You'll learn ● Who are AlliedOffsets? ● What is the voluntary carbon market? ● What are carbon credits, and how do they work? ● What quality controls are in place for carbon credits? ● How will the voluntary carbon market affect future regulatory requirements? ● What does it mean to retire a carbon credit? ● What services do AlliedOffsets offer? Resources ● AlliedOffsets website ● AlliedOffsets LinkedIn ● Carbonology In this episode, we talk about: [00:30] Episode Summary – Tiffany Cheung joins Mel to discuss the voluntary carbon market, explaining the carbon credit lifecycle and what quality controls are in place to ensure they are reliable. [01:40] Who are AlliedOffsets?: AlliedOffsets aggregates data from over 30 carbon registries and compliance schemes as well as off-registry transactions to present the most comprehensive dataset on carbon offsetting activity globally. Their data has been featured in publications such as the Financial Times, Forbes, The Guardian and many more. [03:20] How did Tiffany get involved in carbon markets?: Tiffany has been working with AlliedOffsets for over a year, and a lot of their role as Corporate Engagement Lead includes talking to a variety of stakeholders on the buying side of the carbon market, understanding what their motivations for being in the space are, what their strategies are going into the future and their wider decarbonisation process. Tiffany also looks at their transactional activity and how that has changed over time. Prior to their position at Allied Offsets, Tiffany worked in a major environmental advisory and brokerage firm based in London. There they gained a knowledge of both voluntary carbon markets as well as renewable energy markets in that space, this in addition to learning more about the accompanying compliance trading and risk side of things. [06:00] What is the carbon market?: Carbon markets describe markets where carbon is translated from a greenhouse gas into an asset, or a commodity that can be traded. These tend to represent actual tonnes of atmospheric carbon dioxide that have been sequestered somewhere else in the world through various projects. Compliance carbon markets work differently from voluntary carbon markets. Compliance carbon markets provide regulated ways of pricing carbon, both in terms of reducing emissions and generally making polluters aware of the environmental impact of their emissions in a financial way. They may be associated with the voluntary carbon market, also known as the VCM, or they may be referred to as a kind of carbon tax. [07:05] What's the difference between a voluntary carbon market and a non-voluntary carbon market? If you are engaging in the voluntary carbon market, there is no legislative impetus for you to be involved in it. It's mostly driven by a business' own desire to offset emissions. The offsetting of residual emissions is done through the purchase of carbon credits, which are representative of 1 tonne of CO2 equivalent removed from the atmosphere. If you offset all of your remaining emissions, then you may be able to claim carbon neutrality for the year that the credits apply to. The benefits of carbon credit-issuing projects aren't always related to solely greenhouse gas removal, and depending on a businesses motivations, you can help to fund a wide range of beneficial projects such as clean water provision or improved cook stoves which improve air quality in domestic settings. [09:25] What type of organisations are leading the way with carbon credit purchasing? – AlliedOffsets has unique access to the transaction history across 30 different global registries, enabling them to provide an up to date and wide ranging view on the voluntary carbon market. There is a very strong relationship between how polluting a sector is and how well engaged it is with the voluntary carbon markets. So major players include energy producers, aviation, maritime, ground transportation and mining and materials. There is also an increase in financial services, technology and telecommunications services entering the carbon market. Tiffany expects this trend to continue with increased data centre usage and artificial intelligence driving up energy consumption across these sectors. [11:10] How does the voluntary carbon market operate?: When a company first decides they want to buy carbon credits, ideally they would engage with a well-established broker or intermediary who can source a variety of carbon credits. It's helpful for the broker to know what sort of carbon credits or projects a company is looking to invest in. There's a lot of different options, including: ● Forestry ● Alternative land use ● Blue Carbon ● Engineered carbon dioxide removal The company will let the broker know how many tonnes of carbon credits they'd like to buy, attributed to a certain period of time or activity based on their quantification and existing carbon reporting. Market prices will range quite significantly based off of what technology type or methodology you're going with, but most carbon credits are currently sub $15. Once agreed, your intermediary will secure and retire the credits for you, from the registry and project developer. Retiring a carbon credit means they are taken entirely off the market and they're considered to be "spent" or used. Nobody else can use those as an investment or offset at that point, and the purchasing company can consider their carbon footprint to have been neutralised for the specified period. [12:00] What quality controls are in place for the voluntary carbon market? While there isn't a master registry, there are several registries across the world that generally dominate the market. They vary in terms of the methodologies that they may or may not specialise in, as well as with geographies. The biggest ones that you're most likely to see in the market are known as VCS, GS, ACR, and CAR. These account for about 80% of the total market volume by retirement and issuance. The way that these registries work is that they perform a bookkeeping function within the space. Projects will register their sequestered tonnes of CO2 removed with these registries, who will then check to see if these projects have complied with their methodology, which would have been set by a Standards Body. Once approved, those project developers can sell their credits as a commodity. When a business wants to buy credits, the type of projects they want to engage with will dictate the sort of registries they'll be engaging with. There are also checks in place set by the registries to ensure that project developers use third parties to further validate their project activities. [16:45] What are the methodologies used in the voluntary carbon market? A methodology refers to the way in which a specific project should be undertaken in order to ensure that the pace of carbon sequestration and storage is consistent throughout the project's life. Registries are ultimately responsible for issuing the appropriate methodology, and the project developers need to be able to evidence compliance to that methodology. The process for a project to be registered is quite complicated, and it generally takes 2 – 3 years from concept to being in a position to issue credits. There is also a requirement to have their work validated by a Verification and Validation Body (VVB). These are third party auditors who check the evidence provided by project developers to ensure they comply with the necessary methodology. This may include the VVBs undertaking a site visit. [19:30] Will regulatory requirements be introduced within the voluntary carbon market? – Tiffany states that there is definitely a demand for regulatory requirements in the space. There a two key drivers for this: The need for integrity among buyers – There are many sectors where engaging in a more unregulated space can be risky. Sectors such as the legal and financial sectors need a certain level of oversight to ensure they are making sound investments. Convergence of compliance and voluntary markets – This is a change that's been happening over the past few years. This is being driven by governments taking part in the voluntary carbon market space and realising that they can yield returns for the country. Additionally, when they're spending public funds, there needs to be a certain level of assurance in the projects they're engaging with. There is also a growing appetite for businesses engaging in this market to ensure that they are doing the best thing possible ahead of the curve. There's been a lot of negative press around greenwashing projects, leading to potentially tarnished reputations, to the need for proper checks and regulation is becoming a necessity. [22:45] What does it mean for a carbon credit to be retired? – The point at which a carbon credit is retired is when it has been taken totally out of circulation for the market. That means that no other broker, intermediary or end buyer would be able to use that credit in any kind of capacity. It's like having the receipt to say this person has purchased this product, it belongs to them now and nobody else can use it. [24:30] How are stakeholders using the data provided by AlliedOffsets? – AlliedOffsets has a very wide data set, with an equally wide range of stakeholders. Some particularly interesting use cases include: Benchmarking against the competition – Corporate buyers use their data to compare how their activity measures up to competitors or peers within their sector due to AlliedOffsets long view of historic activity. It highlights what projects are being favoured by their competitors and what kind of price points they should be looking at as well. Project developer research - Another common use case is that project developers will want to see who is active in the market and who they should be targeting for funding. AlliedOffsets can see specific buyer activity broken down by region as well as methodology, which means project developers have a really good chance of being able to engage with buyers who are entering the space and might not have established those direct procurement relationships. Government consultation - Markets can be a huge source of income from the private sector into the public purse. For example, you might have a voluntary carbon market scheme that's associated with a compliance scheme, which can mean tax benefits for complying businesses alongside socio-environmental benefits for the country. If you'd like to learn more about AlliedOffsets, visit their website or reach out to Tiffany for more about buyer activity in the VCM! If you'd like any assistance with carbon standards, get in touch with Carbonology, they'd be happy to help! We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

ISO consultancy isn't a field many aspire to enter, mostly because many don't know it exists until you're tasked with either managing an existing ISO Management System or implementing a brand new one. We're continuing with our latest mini-series where we introduce members of our team, to explore how they fell into the world of ISO and discuss the common challenges they face while helping clients achieve ISO certification. In this episode we introduce Sarah Ball, a Senior Isologist® at Blackmores, to learn about her journey towards becoming an ISO Consultant and what drives her to help clients on their ISO journey. You'll learn · What is Sarah's role at Blackmores? · What does Sarah enjoy outside of consultancy? · What path did Sarah take to become an ISO Consultant? · What is the biggest challenge she's faced when implementing ISO Standards? · What is Sarah's biggest achievement? Resources · Isologyhub · Productivity Ninja In this episode, we talk about: [00:30] Episode Summary – We introduce Sarah Ball, a Senior Isologist® here at Blackmores, to discuss her journey towards becoming an ISO consultant who specialises in ISO 9001, ISO 45001, ISO 14001 and ISO 27001. [03:45] What is Sarah's role at Blackmores? Sarah is a Senior Isologist® with Blackmores, supporting companies with maintaining systems, undertaking internal audits, and supporting with implementing new systems to gain certification utilising our Isology methodology. Sarah also coordinates the development of content of our online learning platform, the isologyhub. [04:50] What does Sarah enjoy doing outside of consultancy?: Sarah has a keen interest in history, having studied it at school, she like to travel to various locations of historical interest. She also spends a lot of time researching her own family tree, learning as much as she can about the far reaching members of the past. Sarah also likes to go jogging outside, as the gym environment didn't inspire much enjoyment, she instead prefers to be in nature while exercising. She has also participated in long distance running for charity, completing the 10k Race for Life. She's taking on the more daunting muddy 5K version this year, which includes a number of obstacles, so we're wishing her luck! One of the new hobbies she's like to take up this year include mountain climbing, with Mount Snowdon on her to-do list. [06:35] What was Sarah's path towards becoming an ISO Consultant?: Sarah initially started in Customer Services, working as a customer service advisor in a company and then got promoted to manager of a team. At that point, her role became more about understanding why they were getting certain complaints and what could be done to prevent them happening rather than just resolving them. She ended up spending more time with suppliers and other departments to help prevent some of the recurring issues, and along the line it lead onto being asked to implement an ISO 9001 Quality Management System. Which was a tall request considering the fact that at the time, Sarah knew nothing about ISO 9001 outside of it's designation and area of focus. As a result, she spent a lot of time researching it, and had the help of an external consultant to Implement the Management System. This was necessary, as knowing how to apply it to a business was something that she needed support with. 2 years later, the company asked Sarah to implement an ISO 45001 Health & Safety management system and an ISO 14001 environmental management system. These two she implemented herself after getting a feel for it during the initial quality management system implementation. For the next 10 years, Sarah worked in other companies, assisting with their integrated management systems. Along the way, she also picked up on ISO 27001 Information Security, before landing in Blackmores in 2020. [09:10] A path people fall onto – Most people don't actively plan to get into ISO consultancy, it's usually a result of being tasked with managing or implementing a management system while working in another role. [10:10] What is Sarah's favourite aspect of being a Consultant? – Sarah enjoys the variety, not just in the work and tasks but in the companies and industries that she gets to work with. Each have their own way of working, unique approaches and knowledge nuggets in the form of ways of working that can be cherry picked and applied elsewhere. She also likes to see how a management system develops and evolves overtime and how it can become part of a company's success, driving continual improvement. Sarah enjoys working with people that can see the real benefits of ISO management systems, rather than just focusing on the certificate on the wall. [13:40] Making a Management System your own – Sarah is a big proponent of making a Management system your own, giving it an identity so that it can be fully integrated into the way a business works. Businesses do it all the time, usually by naming large projects that everyone can reference by a common shorthand. A Management System can work in the same way, making it a part of the day-to-day running of the business. She's also a fan of not worrying about the terminology in Standards. Many of the terms used are meant to be general, this was due to the way international audiences referred to certain aspects of management, it wouldn't always translate correctly. So many Standards have some admittedly awkward terminology that can be applied to any business, and you by no means have to use their wording, as long as you can explain what relates to what in an audit then you're free to name things as appropriate to you. [16:55] What Standards does Sarah specilaise in and why? Starting with: · ISO 9001 Quality: This is the main standard that Sarah starting working with, and is one that touches on a lot of areas within other Standards. It's a great base to build off of, and is the starting point for many venturing into the world of ISO. · ISO 14001 Environmental: Sarah got experience with this Standard at her first company, it's also commonly implemented alongside ISO 9001. · ISO 45001 Health & Safety: Another one of the first Standards Sarah implemented, it's also a common one to see in integrated management systems. · ISO 27001 Information Security: Sarah got to grips with this Standard through years of working with other companies. Sarah's favourite Standard is ISO 9001, not only because it was her first experience with implementing ISO Standards, but because it create a blueprint for success. ISO Standards are setting the minimum requirement, not the maximum, they are designed get you started so you can make continual improvements. It also acts as a foundation to build onto, you can pick aspects of other Standards to integrate into your existing system. You don't necessarily have to certify to those additional Standards, but nothing is stopping you from strengthening your Management System with the best bits from other ISO's. [21:00] Sarah's favourite clause in ISO 9001: Sarah personally favors Clause 10 – non-conformity and corrective action. The reason behind that choice is due to that clauses' importance in driving continual improvement. It's about taking something negative being turned into a positive, which is what Quality Management is at it's core. [22:05] What is the biggest challenge Sarah had faced during a project and how did he overcome it?: Molding the Standard to the business. As a consultant, the biggest challenge is understanding how to make the requirements of a Standard fit the business, and not the other way round. It's all about trying to align the ISO Standard requirements to their values and mission, and then getting people on board with understanding the true benefits of management system implementation. At Blackmores, we ensure that each management system is unique to each business. We don't operate with a copy paste model. This is another reason why Sarah encourages naming your management system, by branding it you encourage engagement. Sarah highlights the fact that we run a lot of workshops in the initial part of a project, conducting a Gap Analysis, SWOT and PESTLE ect, this helps our consultants to really get a feel for how a business ticks. From that, we can help steer the delivery of the Management System to the wider business, by building it into their existing tools, such as an intranet. [25:45] Leading by example: We revamped our own ISO 9001 Management System a few years ago, with both Rachel Churchman and Sarah Ball leading the refresh. We gave it a name, H20 (How 2 Operate) and integrated it with our Microsoft Teams channels as we'd all swapped to mostly remote work following the COVID pandemic in 2020. As Sarah points out, there are many different ways to display and deliver your management system, including: · Microsoft Teams · Intranet · Google / Google Drive · SharePoint · CRM's such as Monday.com The key is building it into the day-to-day tools everyone uses. Make the Management System part of your processes, so adhering and maintaining it becomes part of everyone's way of working. [28:55] What is Sarah's proudest achievement? Obtaining her degree through the Open University while still working full time. It took Sarah 8 years of hard work to obtain her honours degree in History, which was one not required by her work or career development. It was simply something she wanted to do to prove to herself that she could achieve it. Many other members of Blackmores can attest to Sarah's level of determination, and organisation, as she shares many tips and techniques learned from her years of study and work. This includes: The Productivity Ninja – Learned from Graham Allcott's book, which seeks to help reduce procrastination, and tackle tasks with efficiency. The Second Brain – A tool to help keep track of ideas / tasks that aren't an immediate priority. These tools are now used by a number of the team, and we have no doubt Sarah will be schooling us on more techniques in future. If you'd like any assistance with implementing ISO standards, get in touch with us, we'd be happy to help! We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

We share a lot of success stories here on the ISO Show, along with hints, tips and updates to Standards, including insights from our consultants who work with Standards day in and day out. In our latest mini-series, we're taking a step back to introduce members of our team, to explore how they fell into the world of ISO and discuss the common challenges they face while helping clients achieve ISO certification. In this episode we introduce Darren Morrow, a Senior Consultant at Blackmores, to learn about his journey towards becoming an ISO Consultant and what drives him to help clients on their ISO journey. You'll learn · What is Darren's role at Blackmores? · What does Darren enjoy outside of consultancy? · What path did Darren take to become an ISO Consultant? · What is the biggest challenge he's faced when implementing ISO Standards? · What is Darren's biggest achievement? Resources · Isologyhub · Engagement Amplifier Gameplan In this episode, we talk about: [00:30] Episode Summary – We introduce Darren Morrow, a Senior Consultant here at Blackmores, to discuss his journey towards becoming an ISO consultant who specialises in ISO 9001, ISO 45001, ISO 14001 and ISO 50001. [03:45] What is Darren's role at Blackmores? Darren is a Senior Consultant with Blackmores, supporting companies with maintaining systems, undertaking internal audits, and supporting with implementing new systems to gain certification. A key part of his role is translating ISO Standards into plain English, and guides clients on how to apply them in practice. [04:55] What does Darren enjoy doing outside of consultancy?: Darren moved to Norfolk back in 2021 ans has since found the relaxed way of life there to be a great fit. It also offers a lot of good walking opportunities for his 2 Leonberger's (giant breed dogs), who mostly enjoy the local parks and beach walks. Darren is also an avid reader, clocking in a whopping 343 weeks' worth of reading on his kindle. His favourite genres include:- · Crime, thriller, adventure types - Clive Cussler, Michael Connelly, David Baldacci, CJ Box, Dan Brown, James Carol · Horror - James Herbert, Stephen King · Supernatural, urban fantasy, fantasy - Ben Aaronvitch, Jim Butcher, Raymond E Feist, C S Lewis & Tolkien · Historical - CJ Sansom, SJ Parris · And Terry Pratchett for a weird dose of reality. He's also a movie buff, with a collection of over 1,000 films ranging from the 1930's all the way to modern era. Recently he took on the challenge of watching all the Marvel films in chronological order, which took a few weeks! [10:35] What was Darren's path towards becoming an ISO Consultant?: Before Blackmores, Darren was the Quality Manager for a company that worked within the Highways Maintenance sector, working there for 8 years. For the first 18 months he was primarily the Quality Manager for a specific contract on the Olympic Park, as that contract came to an end, he moved into the main company Quality Manager role supporting multiple highway term maintenance contracts along with various smaller projects that the business won. Prior to that, he was a SHEQ Advisor within the Rail industry, working for a signaling company. Darren worked there for about 5 years, within head office support roles for quality and health and safety, moving to working on supporting the project teams and project delivery for signaling schemes. Overall, looking back, he's worked with standards within a quality, health & safety, environmental for around 25 years now. [13:20] What is Darren's favourite aspect of being a Consultant? – Darren likes the variety. As an ISO Consultant, he gets to work with lots of different people, companies and industries, so he gets to learn a lot about how they work and how Standards apply to different industries. He also enjoys the fact that after working with clients for a number of years, he becomes just another member of the team. [15:15] What Standards does Darren specilaise in and why? Starting with: · ISO 9001 Quality: This is the main standard that Darren starting working with back in 1999 · ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety: While working within rail, Darren was given the opportunity to do some training and proceeded to complete NEBOSH courses - general and construction, this proved invaluable in future roles. · ISO 14001 Environmental: Darren ended up working with this Standard as part of on-going development. His role as a Quality Manager expanded, and at the time, all external audits with our certification body were coordinated through him. So, for on-going development he completed the NEBOSH environmental managed certificate. · ISO 50001 Energy Management: This is one of Darren's favourites. He's taken on this standard since working with Blackmores and seemed like a natural progression with the work he was already doing. He likes how this standard helps companies think more about their impacts on the environment in terms of energy consumption. In terms of companies climate change impacts, Darren likes how ISO 50001 can support deep dives into data that is available or not clearly available in many cases to support improvement and reduction in energy consumption. This also can pave the way for those companies that take it more seriously, and progress to newer standards like ISO14064-1 for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gases, but also part 3 for the verification and validation of greenhouse gases. This is where our sister company, Carbonology Ltd, really excel. Darren does his bit with ISO 50001 clients to educate and prepare them for taking more proactive steps towards meaningful energy and carbon reporting. For example, if they grow sufficiently or fall within the parameters of mandatory schemes such as ESOS or SECR reporting, or they just want to do their bit and demonstrate their commitment to minimising their impact on the environment and overall energy consumption. [23:10] What is the biggest challenge Darren had faced during a project and how did he overcome it?: He doesn't have a single one that stands out, but common issues are usually either down to availability or commitment of the individuals within the company he's supporting. For example, the company may decide that they require certification to a standard or multiple standards. There will be commitment from some within the business, and there are those that may not see the importance or feel it's not important to them and what they do. Darren's job is to support the company in achieving its main goal in gaining certification. His work with the company involved explaining what is to be done and why. He's found that most of any resistance is because individuals do not know the why and how it impacts them, etc. The other aspect is to make it clear that he is not there to tell them what to do, or that they're doing it wrong. He works with people to either document the process (where required), help them find improvement in the process and continue to search for improvement. [27:00] What is Darren's proudest achievement? Darren states that there's no one definitive achievement to highlight, rather he would say supporting clients who are new to the standards. Working with them and providing knowledge so that they know the 'why' and understand the standards and their processes, and finally seeing the end result with being recommended for certification. The ones that he's particularly happy with are those that go for multiple standards, that result in recommendation for certification with little or no significant findings from the certification body, it shows that the company has been fully engaged and embedded the overall process into how they work. If you'd like any assistance with implementing ISO standards, get in touch with us, we'd be happy to help! We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

A well implemented ISO Management System can improve efficiency, customer satisfaction and drive continual improvement for a business. On the flip side, a poorly implemented Management system will yield little to no results, so what makes the biggest difference between good and bad implementation? Communication is the key. If no one knows about your Management System, then how can it benefit the business as a whole? In this episode Ian Battersby discusses the importance of effective communication of your Management System, why it's vital to reap the full benefits of ISO Implementation and gives some examples of how you can communicate elements of your Management system to the wider business. You'll learn · Why do you need to communicate your management system? · What do you need to communicate? · Why is it important to communicate your Management system? · Different ways you can communicate your management system · How can you measure effective communication? Resources · Isologyhub · How can ISO Standards Support ESG Compliance Workshop In this episode, we talk about: [00:30] Episode Summary – Ian talks discusses elements of communicating a management system including, why you need to communicate and what needs to be communicated, the importance of doing so and how you can go about doing it. [02:45] Why do you need to communicate your Management System? In every ISO Standard, communication is a requirement. The levels and information specified will vary depending on the Standard, but the principles remain consistent. Ian cites ISO 9004 as providing further guidance to improve on what's initially required. In Clause 7.4 it states: "The effective communication of policies, strategy, relevant objectives is essential to the sustained success of an organisation." Going on to state that communication should be "Meaningful, timely and continual" and that there should be some form of feedback within it to be able to address changes in the organisation's context. So, it's not just a one time exercise. It also states that: "communication processes should be both vertical and horizontal and be tailored to the differing needs of its recipients, whether internal or external." So you also need to consider the external communication needs too. [04:35] Empowering through communication: ISO 9004 also talks about engaged, empowered and motivated people and their value as a key resource. These types of people help organisations to create and deliver value, so you should have processes in place for engaging those people, to gather feedback and drive continual improvement. [05:40] Where is Communication referenced in Standards?: Typically, communication is Clause 7.4 in most ISO Standards. Additionally there are elements of communication included in Clause 7.3. Awareness. The Awareness clause focuses on employees knowledge of the Management System, and is more focused on internal communications rather than with external interested parties. [06:25] What should be communicated internally? Under Clause 7.3 Awareness, it requires you to share: · Policies · Objectives · The consequences of non-conformance Other Standards may have additional communication requirements such as ISO 45001, which also highlights the need to share risks, hazards, incidents and the outcomes of investigations. [07:10] Clause 7.4 Communication – This clause is more about determining internal and external communications. This includes considerations for: · What communications are relevant? · When should they be communicated? · Who should they be communicated to? · Who should be the one to communicate this information? Some Standards may also include specifications for communicating legal requirements, such as ISO 14001 and ISO 45001. [08:20] Nuance in effective communication: One key element of communication is ensuring that it's understood and applied by the wider business. This doesn't mean that every employee should be able to parrot a specific policy within a business, but rather they should at least know where to find it and understand the implications for them. [09:40] A link between Communication and Leadership: Leadership plays a key role in communications, and ISO Standards specify that certain elements can't be delegated to another individual. Clause 5 Leadership specifically states: · They shall promote the use of the process approach and risk-based thinking, not delegating that promotion. · They should communicate to the importance of the management system and of conforming to that management system. · They should engage directly and support persons to contribute to the effectiveness of the system. · They should promote continual improvement. · They should support other relevant managers to demonstrate their leadership in their areas of responsibility. We've stressed the importance of Leadership in the success of a Management System in a previous episode, and their support with communication is a big part of that. [11:20] Communicating Objectives: Clause 6.2 Objectives states that they must be established and communicated. This doesn't have to be to everyone, so you can be selective and communicate certain objectives relevant to select people. [11:40] How to effectively communicate your management system – Management systems can be vast, and it can be tricky to know exactly how much to communicate and to who. The first tip is to keep it simple. Translate the 'Standard speak' into something recognisable for your business, which may not always be easy if you're familiar with the Standards terminology. However you need to relate these elements to how people in the business work. Try to keep it brief to avoid confusion. Next, ensure you are assuaging fears. Many are firstly opposed to the introduction of things like Operational Procedures if they've not worked with a Management System in place previously. However, all this is in practice is a written format for how they work, it shouldn't drastically change the way in which they work. Make sure they know this and describe what elements will change i.e. documentation updates. Lastly, they need awareness of the consequences of non-conformance and the need to look for opportunities to improve. [15:25] Communicating Policies – This is a part of all ISO Standards, a Policy can't just be hidden away in a rarely visited folder. A Policy communicates the intent of top management in an organisation, and is something that should be communicated to everyone, which could include external parties. So, you should try to keep this concise. On one page ideally. As long as you've encompassed the vision, values, strategy and top management commitment, and for certain standards a commitment to legal requirements, then you will meet an ISO Standards requirements. Some businesses like to include links to all their procedures within a policy, which by all means, you can, but don't expect people to read a 48 page policy and understand it enough to apply to their daily working lives. [17:00] How can you communicate your Management System? – One key objective of communication is to ensure people understand and apply what's being communicated. To help achieve this, you may want to use multiple methods of communication, including: · Feedback options on content i.e. a yes or no check / options to provide feedback · Training sessions · Intranet page – quick links to relevant content such as policies or audit findings · Regular briefings · Notice boards · Electronic displays · Company briefs · Team meetings [20:25] How can you measure effective communication? There's a lot of ways you can assess this, including: · E-mail voting – to clarify when people have read specific documents · LMS Systems · Through SharePoint systems · Conduct surveys · During Internal Audits All of these can be used as methods of feedback where you can identify further opportunities for improvement from various levels of the business. [21:35] When should you consider external communications? – Clause 4.2 is where you're required to consider the needs and expectations of interested parties. When going through an anaylsis of these interested parties, you determine what they expect out of your Management System. Standards don't specify the need to write a communication plan, but they do say who's going to communicate what to whom, including how and when. In combination with that analysis of interested parties, it creates a solid basis for an effective communications plan. Again, some discretion will be required as not every external party will need to be privy to your internal policies and procedures. Just communicate what's relevant to them. If you'd like any assistance with implementing ISO standards, get in touch with us, we'd be happy to help! We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

Watch the Podcast Video on our YouTube Channel Greenwashing is a concern for both businesses and consumers. The proliferation of it in recent years has caused genuine green claims to be treated with an air of caution rather than being rightfully celebrated. It's become clear that there is a need for transparent and substantiated green claims, both to help consumers and stakeholders to make informed decisions and to ensure that real steps towards sustainability are being taken. Is the upcoming EU Green Claims Directive the answer we've been looking for? In this episode Mel is joined by Charlie Martin, CEO and Founder of The Anti-Greenwash Charter, to discuss the purpose of the EU Green Claims Directive, who it applies to and what it's requirements for substantiation and verification mean in practice. You'll learn · What is the purpose of the EU Green Claims Directive? · What are the drivers behind this objective? · Who is required to comply with the EU Green Claims Directive? · What do the requirements for substantiation and verification mean in practice? · How will the directive impact the use of carbon offsetting and carbon neutrality claims within the EU? Resources · EU Green Claims Directive · Anti-Greenwash Charter · How can The Anti-Greenwash Charter can help with the EU Green Claims Directive · Green Claims Policy Template · Carbonology In this episode, we talk about: [00:30] Episode Summary – Charlie Martin joins Mel to discuss the upcoming EU Green Claims Directive, who it applies to and what it's requirements mean in practice. [02:30] What is the purpose of the EU Green Claims Directive?: This directive is a new law, not simply a voluntary scheme that businesses can opt into. It's a regulation that governs all voluntary green or environmental claims made by organisations operating within the EU, and requires data to back these claims up. Another key fundamental of this directive is the need for independent verification of any claims before they're made public. [04:35] What are the main drivers for the EU Green Claims Directive?: One of the key drivers is combatting the rampant rise in greenwashing. It's created a culture of mistrust around green claims, which makes it difficult for stakeholders and consumers to make informed decisions on who to work with or buy from. Greenwashing also makes it harder to tackle bigger environmental concerns. With misleading data, we can't accurately measure businesses impact on the environment, which is essential if we are to take meaningful action to reduce our impact. Ultimately, greenwashing practices are slowing down our ability to effectively reduce our impact as a collective. We are at a point where sustainability related decisions need to be made quickly. [08:00] Clearer Communications: This directive also has more control over what you can and can't say in relation to green claims. By waiting until that independent verification has occurred, businesses can feel confident in the information they're communicating. [09:30] What is Green Masking? Coined by Carbonology, green masking is where organisations are essentially marking their own homework and hiding behind that fact. It's where no independent verification has taken place, which can result in a lack of accuracy and transparency. [10:25] Who needs to comply with the EU Green Claims Directive? – This is an EU based regulation, so if you're located within the EU you will be expected to comply with this law. If you do business within the EU, so if you're based in the UK and sell to Europe, then you will also fall under this jurisdiction as well. [11:25] What is required by the EU Green Claims Directive?: A full summary of the directive's requirements can be found on the EU website. A simple break down of these requirements is also available on The Anti-Greenwash Charter website. Charlie recommends familiarising yourself with the EU Green Claims Directive requirements initially, which are written to suit how businesses generally operate. He also advises that you seek legal assistance as well as sustainability and marketing experts or consultants to get a full picture of how you can comply with these requirements. [13:35] There is an emphasis on substantiation and verification in the EU Green Claims Directive – what does this mean in practice? A green claim doesn't account for much if you're marking your own homework. For it to be truly substantiated, it needs to be verified by an independent third party. The Directive also highlights the need for life cycle data, and its inclusion within the verification process. This will give businesses a more wholistic view of the impact of the materials they use, the products they use and services they deliver. Charlie encourages businesses to get a head start on this now, not only due to the benefits it can bring but also to get ahead of the tightening of sustainability legislation that is coming down the road for the UK. [16:15] How will the directive impact the use of carbon offsetting and carbon neutrality claims within the EU? Businesses are going to have to be crystal clear in their terminology in terms of their substantiated claims. There is going to be a lot more scrutiny on the quality of evidence provided for carbon claims, so businesses may want to outsource help with analysing the relevant carbon data and communicating any claims and offsetting efforts. [18:25] Is the Directive ambitious enough? Or could it be strengthened? – Previous attempts to enforce sustainability regulations have been rather weak, and time will tell if this EU Directive is set to change that pattern. Charlie praises the Directives approach to best practice, though that will evolve further as time goes on. He thinks that the use of generative AI and how that impacts and influences sustainability communications needs to be considered further. It's all still quite new, so this may be added in down the line. The Anti-Greenwash Charter already have considerations for responsible AI use within communications and data processing within their Green Claims Policy Template. They caution any signatories of their Charter to be very careful with the use of AI to support data collection and analysis, as it has the tendency to 'hallucinate', and companies will be held responsible for any mishaps related to incorrect results provided by AI. [23:00] What are the potential consequences for businesses that fail to meet the requirements of the EU Green Claims Directive? – The penalties will be significant, including both fines and potential bans in areas such as marketing, advertising and promoting sustainability claims on the basis of malpractice. Time will tell on how these penalties are delivered and to what extent within the EU and UK. It shares similarities with other regulations, such as ESOS, where a phased approach was implemented for organisations that met certain criteria. [25:00] How can The Anti-Greenwash Chater help organisations comply with the EU Green Claims Directive? – Since it's inception in 2022, they have paid close attention to the Directive's development, utilising any improvements and iterations to bolster their own process. As a result, a lot of the work they do with signatories directly aligns with and facilitates the delivery of the foundations of the Directive. Examples of this include: Independent verification – Their Green Claims Policy has to include a green claims database, so any claim that a business want to make has to have the relevant data to back it up. It also requires specification of what third party that business used to verify that evidence. Accessibility of evidence – This is stressed within the EU Green Claims Directive, and is easily fulfilled with the creation of a green claims database as specified by The Anti-Greenwash Charters' Green Claims Policy. A full summary of how The Anti-Greenwash Charter can help with compliance to the EU Green Claims Directive is available on their website. [27:55] How will the EU Green Claims Directive will impact consumer trust in environmental claims? – There's currently an issue with the flooding of sustainability related communications. With greenwashing so rampant, making an informed decision as a consumer is really difficult. The standardisation of sustainability credibility and substantiation is what the EU Green Claims Directive aims to do. Ultimately, it will act as a trustworthy marker for stakeholders and consumers to make an informed decision quickly. If you'd like to learn more about The Anti-Greenwash Charter, visit their website! If you'd like any assistance with carbon standards, get in touch with Carbonology, they'd be happy to help! We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

Watch the Podcast Video on our YouTube Channel We are hitting a crunch point in regard to keeping to the 1.5°C limit as set out in the Paris Agreement. It's going to take a collective effort to reduce the most catastrophic impacts of climate change, which is exactly why we're seeing an increase in legislation and regulations that call for tangible evidence of sustainability efforts to combat the rise in greenwashing. If you're looking for guidance on sustainability transparency, today's guest has an initiative that can help. In this episode Mel is joined by Charlie Martin, CEO and Founder of The Anti-Greenwash Charter, to discuss how their charter promotes transparency and accountability for sustainability claims, and how it can help consumers to identify credible carbon claims. You'll learn · What is The Anti-Greenwash Charter · How can the Charter ensure credible carbon claims? · What are the biggest challenges businesses face in measuring their carbon footprint? · How can The Anti-Greenwash Charter help consumers to spot credible carbon claims? · What role do governments and regulatory bodies play in combatting greenwashing? Resources · Anti-Greenwash Charter · Green Claims Policy Template · Carbonology In this episode, we talk about: [00:30] Episode Summary – Charlie Martin joins Mel to discuss how The Anti-Greenwash Charter can help promote accountability and transparency in sustainability claims, and how it can help consumers identify credible carbon claims. [01:50] What inspired the creation of The Anti-Greenwash Charter?: Charlie used to run an agency called Gusta, which was a UK based business that worked on sustainability communication for organisations in the built environment. His focused shifted when the Competitions and Markets authority in the UK published their Green Claims Code alongside research which found that 40% of sustainability-related messaging online was misleading. At the same time, they had 2 very proactive clients (1 of which was going through B Corp certification) that highlighted that the CMA had not named the built environment as one of the affected sectors. They pointed out that the built environment accounts for 40% of all emissions, so were likely to be targeted by such regulations next. They asked to run a campaign that would Increase confidence both internally within their sectors and externally in their sustainability messaging. It was decided that a publicly available document would be the best way forward to proactively disclose their carbon reduction related activities. Other ideas were added for an editorial process to include legal, sustainability and marketing feedback ahead of publishing. Essentially, the origins are rooted in the notion of a green claims policy, which developed into a more robust accreditation signatory. [06:30] How does Charlie define Greenwashing?: Charlie defines greenwashing as "overstating or misleading stakeholders regarding the environmental credentials of an organization, service, or product. Charlie explains that there are two types of greenwashing: direct and indirect. Direct greenwashing involves making false claims about a product's environmental benefits, while indirect greenwashing involves making true claims that are irrelevant or misleading. [08:00] What are the key principles of the charter, and how do you ensure adherence among signatories?: The 4 key principles are: · Accountability · Honesty · Fairness · Transparency If you'd like to know more about each principle in more detail, visit The Anti-Greenwash Charter website. Taking a look at transparency in more detail, it's not just about sharing all the best sustainability related news for your business, it's about being willing and upfront with areas where you're not as strong. One keyway they ensure signatories adhere to this principle involves publicly displacing their green claims policies. The first section of every policy is 'where can we improve?' – they specify this as there isn't a company that is 100% environmentally sustainable, and businesses need to be honest about this if they want to improve. [12:15] What are Charlie's thoughts on the current state of Net Zero claims? There are some promising developments, such as the upcoming Green Claims Directive, which has more requirements set around how people make claims and being held accountable for those. It's challenging for everyone to navigate, and the big thing here to remember is that everyone is clumsy when it comes to Net Zero. Businesses are trying their best, but when getting deep into the topic of sustainability, it becomes clear how broad it truly is. Ultimately, people have to be okay with getting things wrong. Some people see setting ambitious targets as dangerous, but if we don't push for them, change is going to happen at a snails pace. There is a need for credible, substantiated plans that are in-line with best practice, but we need to be careful to not go too far in that direction to ensure that it helps rather than hinders sustainability efforts. Innovation should be encouraged and not punished if mistakes are made or certain really ambitious targets aren't met within a certain timeframe. Mel highlights that Standards such as ISO 14064 are great frameworks to guide businesses in measuring their carbon footprint, with guidance that encourages independent third party verification for further transparency. [15:40] The Green Claims Directive and Transparency – Charlie highlights that the Green Claims Directive identifies independent third party verification as a mandatory requirement of claims made before they're disclosed publicly. As this is also something that The Anti-Greenwash Charter encourages, signatories are already ahead of the curve. [17:10] What are the biggest challenges that companies are facing in accurately measuring their carbon footprint and how does the Charter help to address these challenges? The main challenge is accurately measuring their carbon footprint, and the charter acts as a signpost with referral partners who can assist with this aspect of their sustainability journey. Another challenge is communication. So you've got your substantiated claims and green credentials, but how do you go about communicating that? That's one of the crucial elements that The Anti-Greenwash Charter can help with. As mentioned earlier, they can help verify a publicly available green claims policy, which is a huge step towards credible carbon claims. If you'd like an example of this, you can download Anti-Greenwash Charters' green claims policy template from their website – which provides a step-by-step guide on producing one of your own. [20:50] What are the broader benefits for companies that adopt a transparent and credible green claim? Charlie explains that signatories have used their status as a signatory for their Charter on tender frameworks, and won due to that fact. Another benefit is the Charters' credibility, which gives external stakeholders confidence that a business is doing what they claim to be doing. They also offer anti-greenwashing awareness training, which gives those within the business the tools and techniques that can be utilised in any published content to ensure they aren't making any greenwashing claims. [22:25] The negative effects of greenwashing on well meaning businesses: Charlie and Mel both highlight the sad reality that many businesses would prefer to simply not make any green initiatives or claims public for fear that if they are not done 100% successfully then there's a chance for reputational damage. The need for robust sustainability frameworks that build confidence is clear. Due diligence is important, and so is the need to allow room for mistakes to happen, so long as businesses take the necessary steps to fix them and keep continually improving. [27:15] What role does Charlie see governments and regulatory bodies playing in combating greenwashing, and what policy changes would he like to see? – The EU Green Claims Directive is currently best in class as it requires businesses to look at the consequences of their impact on the environment, in addition to the requirement for independent verification to back up any claims made. Other regulations here in the UK, like the Green Claims Code, is weaker in comparison. It was watered down through negotiation into a more voluntary scheme. For us here in the UK, we really do need to align with Europe, as their regulations are a lot more robust and offer a tangible path towards a united greener future. There are other benefits, as Mel highlights from her Masters research, there is compelling evidence that a company's value increases by an average of 10% if their carbon claims are independently verified. [32:35] What are Charlie's aspirations for The Anti-Greenwash Charter? And what are his hopes for the future of credible carbon claims? – They're really keen to become a multinational signatory, which is already showing promise as they've had interest from the US and Australia. Charlie envisions a future where businesses publish a green claims policy regardless of if it's mandated by legislation. This is so we can build confidence in green claims being made and be assured that people are doing what they say they're doing. To help with credibility and transparency, The Anti-Greenwash Charter has been incorporated as a not-for-profit organisation. Charlie wants to reaffirm that they started this to ultimately reduce the impact businesses make on the planet, and they are fully committed to this goal. If you'd like to learn more about The Anti-Greenwash Charter, visit their website! If you'd like any assistance with carbon standards, get in touch with Carbonology, they'd be happy to help! We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List