The worldās top leaders from standards, business, civil society, academia and media are in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as ISO holds its first in-person Annual Meeting for more than two years.
This extraordinary event takes place at a critical moment in history from 19 to 23 September 2022, convening nearly 5āÆ000 participants to tackle global issues and find solutions to the world's most urgent challenges including climate action, sustainability, water scarcity and energy.Ā
In his opening speech, His Excellency Omar Suwaina Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, said: āStandardization has never been so important given the worldās economic and environmental challenges. This weekās meeting is vital not just to the global industrial ecosystem, but more broadly to trade, economies and climate action.āĀ
He added: āWith its impact on trade, standardization has a crucial and long-term role in supporting sustainable economic development. By extension, ISO plays an important part in enhancing trade in local, regional and global markets. The UAE shares ISOās commitment to developing quality infrastructure, not just to support economic growth, but to enhance sustainability and consumer satisfaction.āĀ
Collaboration is keyĀ
The meeting is centered around the themeāÆācollaboration for goodā. It happens at the most consequential moment of the past three years as the world undergoes profound change in many areas and moves towards achieving the UN Global Sustainability Goals by 2030. Ā
ISO President Ulrika Francke commented: āIn the spirit of collaboration that underpins everything ISO does, we come together this week to work toward solutions. I have seen first-hand how standards shape our world. It takes collaborative leadership, agreed standards and regulation, established policies, and great initiative to solve global problems.āĀ
The climate crisis and other sustainability issues call for global collaboration. Participants will address urgent global challenges as they simultaneously advance long-standing economic, environmental and societal priorities ā š„all the while underpinned by the foundations of a global standards system.š„
Keeping up with global trendsĀ
TheĀ ISO Foresight Trend ReportĀ will be used for much of the weekās discussion and debate. Its goal is to make progress for standardization in the context of the unprecedented complexities of todayās world. The Annual Meeting provides a unique environment in which to reconnect, exchange insights and advance solutions for standards efforts.
Sessions address: Achieving global collaboration, Road to net zero, Innovative solutions for water scarcity, Cleaner energy in Africa, Circular economy going digital and Addressing sustainability challenges arising from demographic transition.
See theĀ full programme.
Interested in learning more. Follow the meeting
Register for our livestreamed sessionsĀ and catch up with our coverageāÆonĀ ISO.org.
The official ISO Annual Meeting 2022 meeting hashtag isĀ #ISOannualmeeting. Follow tweets on this hashtag to keep up with everything going on at the meeting.Ā
Net-zero guidelines ā Global first publishing soon
At the upcoming COP27 in November, ISO will launch net-zero guiding principles, providing, for the first time, a standardized definition of net zero and related concepts. The publication will offer:
- key guidance on how net zero should be incorporated into initiatives, strategies and policies, andĀ
- create the basis for accountability mechanisms and measurements, including all-important reporting indicators.
ThisĀ milestone documentĀ will bring authoritative alignment of net zero across voluntary initiatives, standards, and national and international policy, to remove or reduce variation in definition and approach, increasing their impact.
