Architecture of a Sustainability Standard

September 24, 2024

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About SCS Standards

SCS Standards is an organization that specializes in the development of sustainability standards. Founded in 2020 by SCS Global Services, SCS Standards houses existing SCS sustainability standards and leads the development of proprietary certification standards and verification programs. We build on SCS’ 40 years of experience designing and managing sustainability standards and conducting certification, verification, and validation audits.

We develop standards for products, processes, and services across a wide array of industry sectors. Such standards range from proprietary supply chain specifications to international, multi-stakeholder consensus-driven standards. Whether single- or multi-attribute in scope, standards can be tailored to cover all life-cycle stages of products and processes. 

About the Author

Victoria Norman

Executive Director

SCS Standards

Victoria Norman serves as Executive Director of SCS Standards. Victoria has expertise in standard development and facilitation of stakeholder groups working toward consensus-driven outcomes and in conducting gap analyses, benchmarks, and dissemination of best practices. She has been involved in sustainability certification schemes across a diverse range of industries including natural resources, sustainable agriculture, food safety, and manufacturing. Victoria is a U.S. Technical Expert on the ISO Technical Committee for chain of custody book & claim and mass balance standards.

Before joining SCS, Victoria held positions at the European Commission and at the ISEAL Alliance. She holds a master’s degree in Globalization and Latin American Development, a bachelor’s degree in Politics and International Relations, and she is fluent in English, French, and Spanish. 

What is the value of a sustainability standard?

Provides Uniformity and Credibility

Sustainability standards offer a uniform framework and set of guidelines that make it possible to measure achievements against clearly defined environmental, social, and governance criteria. Rigorous, well-managed standards provide added assurance and verifiable credibility to stakeholders.

Supports Impact Reduction

Standards can promote high levels of performance and continuous improvement in environmental protection, social and ethical responsibility, corporate governance, and product safety and quality by providing clear direction, encouraging best practices, and identifying important risks and vulnerabilities. Standards aid and reinforce achievements relative to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Serves as a Mark of Leadership

Standards provide a pathway to differentiate an organization’s accomplishments from competitors in the marketplace. Standards lend tangible means to meet and exceed minimum regulatory requirements. A standard can also serve as a powerful tool to harmonize a company’s procedures across different sites and countries. 

Who needs sustainability standards?

Sustainability standards can be a valuable tool for any organization that has set sustainability targets, helping them implement change, monitor progress, and report on achievements. Organizations come to us with specific challenges and objectives, and we work together to develop tailored, proprietary solutions. Our adaptability is reflected in our breadth of clients, including corporations, industry associations, and non-governmental organizations.

Corporations

We work with companies, brands, and retailers seeking to advance their corporate sustainability goals through the development and implementation of customized certification standards.

Industry Associations

We develop broad-reaching standards that can help national and global industry associations drive sound environmental, social, and governance business practices across their membership base. These standards can inform climate mitigation efforts, improve worker health and safety, and benefit communities. We have facilitated the development of standards addressing responsible practices and life cycle impact reductions related to food and agriculture, water stewardship, climate change, forest management, indoor air quality, mining and jewelry, and biofuels and circularity.

Non-Governmental Organizations

We partner with non-profits to complement and enhance their technical know-how to solve some of the world’s most challenging problems. We provide comprehensive services including conducting research, standard development, assurance system design, multi-stakeholder engagement, collaboration enablement, and identification of continuous improvement opportunities across industries. 

What does it take to design a sustainability standard?

We take a stepwise approach to researching, designing, drafting, and launching any new standard.

When an organization is looking for an internal mechanism to streamline its processes or supply chain, we can develop a company standard or program, leveraging the specifications provided by the organization and converting them into an auditable format. We may also provide additional related services, such as research, liaising with key stakeholders, collaborating with existing schemes, and conducting pilot audits.

When an organization wants to make public claims about a product or process, we recommend forming a standard development committee to support the standard development effort. This committee acts as a working group of technical experts, civil society, academics, industry, and other relevant stakeholders who provide direction and technical feedback on each iteration of the draft standard.

While each step of standard development can be tailored to meet the precise needs of each organization, we have established the following best practices to bring forth the most robust possible standards.

The standard development process

Step One – Understand the larger state of the industry

We conduct industry research to understand the complexities of each industry and to identify any relevant, pre-existing standards or programs. This analysis of the regulatory, governance, and community landscapes allows us to ask more focused questions and determine how the development of a new standard would contribute to and complement existing industry standards.

Step Two – Identify key stakeholders and essential contributors

We then work with our client to identify and engage the communities, organizations, companies, and other stakeholders that are active in the industry to ensure the incipient standard is aligned with industry needs. This engagement can be as broad or as narrow as is necessary and may include conducting interviews, administering surveys, and coordinating knowledge gathering sessions.

Step Three – Develop the draft standard

Step three involves the drafting of the standard. This is where the standard begins to take shape. The draft standard defines the standard’s objectives and proposes a series of auditable requirements to be met by standard users.

Step Four – Iteratively review the draft standard

We facilitate iterative reviews of the draft standard through conscientious engagement with the standard development committee. To be most effective, we adaptively manage the review process, which can take the form of in-person meetings, virtual conferences, and reviewing written comments, among other approaches. Step four involves gaining consensus and improving clarity, maintaining a consistent feedback loop, and ensuring the scope of the draft remains relevant to — and aligned with — the needs and intentions identified in earlier stages. Ultimately, step four will result in a draft of the standard ready for public review.

Step Five – Outreach for public review and comment

By publishing the draft standard and making it available for wider consultation with the public, we ensure the draft can be contextualized and made more robust. Step five can also include targeted industry outreach if there are specific stakeholders whose perspectives, insights, or suggestions might be particularly relevant.

Step Six – Final draft and (optional) field testing

Once public consultation is closed, all comments received are collated, analyzed, and addressed, and another version of the draft standard is prepared and reviewed by the standard development committee (see step four).

In parallel with step six comes the optional field testing of the standard. This allows both the standard developer and those who might implement the standard a chance to test the standard functions in a real-world setting. At this point, critical omissions or key functionalities that might not have been recognized at earlier stages may be reported, captured, and then reflected in subsequent drafts of the standard.

Step Seven – Launch and maintain the standard

Once public comments — and optionally, lessons learned from field testing — have been resolved and integrated, the standard is published. Publication of the standard can take multiple forms, but the most common instances include publication by the standard owner.

While best practice involves revising standards at least every five years to reflect industry developments, newer standards tend to require annual updating to integrate lessons learned from real life applicability. 

 

“With every standard we develop, we are always learning, always trying to improve. This means we are both incredibly particular about language — what are we saying and is this the best way to say it — and highly adaptive. And while there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the increasingly complex climate-related challenges we face as a society, sustainability standards are a solution that can be entirely customized to fit the needs, timelines, and budget of a specific industry, sector, geography, or company. It’s this bespoke approach and care for our clients that make SCS Standards the ideal partner for any organization looking to elevate their work, enhance accountability, and amplify their innovations.”