The Swedish Institute for Standards (SIS) has proposed a global standard on how companies should contribute to achieving net zero emissions (ISO/DIS 14060). The ISO standard includes a framework for corporate transition plans and sets out clear requirements for climate-related claims.
AP7 sees the standard as an important tool for strengthening the quality and credibility of corporate climate transitions. In particular, AP7 welcomes the inclusion of policy engagement as a component of the proposed standard.
SIS has invited stakeholders to comment on the proposal, and AP7 has participated in the consultation process. Rather than commenting on the proposal as a whole, the fund chose to focus on the section covering policy engagement and lobbying. This issue is central to AP7’s ownership and stewardship work, where the fund has for several years advocated for greater transparency around corporate climate lobbying and the alignment between companies’ influence on climate policy and their climate commitments.
In its response, AP7 proposes revisions aimed at ensuring that organizations assess and disclose the policy issues they seek to influence, as well as the policy conditions on which their transition plans depend. AP7 also calls for clearer requirements for annual reviews of whether both direct and indirect policy engagement are aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement and the organization’s own net zero commitments.
“A company’s climate ambitions must go hand in hand with its policy engagement. If a company claims to support the Paris Agreement, it should also ensure that its lobbying activities do the same,” says Charlotta Dawidowski Sydstrand, Head of Sustainability at AP7.
By participating in the consultation process, AP7 aims to help strengthen the credibility of organizations’ net zero commitments and provide investors with better information for assessing the feasibility of climate transition plans.
Read more about the SIS proposal here: ISO – ISO launches public consultation on the world’s first International Standard for net zero alignment today