Certification Basis and criteria for certification towards the 17 goals

• The organisation must assess all sustainability goals on the basis of their present status in the organisation. The possible opportunities and risks in connection with sustainability regarding the organisation’s processes, its products and/or services and its most important supplier chains respectively must also be assessed. The assessments must reflect the international perspective of the sustainability goals.
• The organisation must make a strategy of how to work with sustainability reflecting the sustainability goals on the basis of their present status in the organisation and the respective discovered risks and opportunities in connection with sustainability.
• The strategy must be convertible into strategic goals and belonging plans which as a minimum must include: the responsible person, the goal, how to achieve it and an expected time schedule.
• Within the following three years operative goals and associated action plans corresponding to the strategic goals must be determined.
• The strategy must be known and accepted by the board/owners/top management and necessary resources must be allocated to ensure strategic as well as specific goals can be achieved.
• The strategic and operative goals must be monitored regularly to ensure they are achieved.
• The organisation must continuously improve its performance regarding achieving the sustainability strategy and associated strategic and operative goals.
• The strategy and the strategic goals must be known by the rest of the management and relevant key persons in the organisation.
• The organisation’s communication about sustainability must be in accordance with the results of the above requirements.

As a minimum the top management must once a year make an evaluation of the sustainability work including among other things the following:

• New and changed external and internal conditions regarding work with sustainability.
• Upgrade of the organisation’s assessment of the sustainability goals regarding the present status in the organisation and respective opportunities and risks in connection with sustainability.
• Assessment of the present strategic and operational goals and their respective plans as well as appointment of new goals.
• It must be determined if the resources are sufficient to ensure an implementation of both the strategic as well as the specific goals, and the necessity to update the allocation.
• Assessment of the organisation’s ability to work with sustainability in all relevant processes and if necessary launch actions to ensure this.

Sufficient documented information of the above is necessary to be able to assess if the requirements are met.