Evaluate a Sustainability Policy
Overview
This standard is about evaluating a sustainability policy for an organisation in support of sustainable business practice. A sustainability policy is a written statement summarising the organisation’s intentions with regard to sustainability.
The role described by this standard requires evaluating existing sustainability policy to ensure that it is capable of supporting the development of sustainable business practice. The involvement of other stakeholders, both internal and external to the organisation, is an important part of the evaluation process.
The standard also requires that recommendations for policy improvement are made in respect to the further development of sustainable business practice.
Finally, it requires that the policy is presented to stakeholders to gain the support essential to its implementation.
This standard would be appropriate for:
Those responsible for supporting the development of sustainable business practice. It is likely to apply to senior managers within large organisations and owner or managers within SMEs..
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
P1 evaluate existing organisational performance against sustainability policy objectives and targets
P2 obtain the views of stakeholders on the effectiveness of existing sustainability policy
P3 identify the drivers that influence the sustainability policy and the development of sustainable business practice
P4 analyse all available data to identify improvements to sustainability policy to further develop sustainable business practice
P5 recommend valid policy improvements according to organisational requirements, applicable legislation and recommended good practice
P6 confirm that policy improvements are measurable, clear and appropriate to the nature and scale of the organisation and are in a suitable format for stakeholders
P7 communicate policy recommendations to stakeholders including decision makers
P8 encourage feedback from stakeholders on the content of the policy recommendations
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
K1 the legislation, industry standards, circular economy and voluntary codes that support the development of sustainability policy
K2 the economic, social and environmental principles that underpin sustainable development and sustainable business practice
K3 how to integrate and balance the economic, social and environmental principles of sustainability within business values and policy
K4 how sustainability policy can support human well-being and environmental developments
K5 the purpose of a sustainability policy
K6 the drivers that influence sustainable development
K7 how to analyse data to identify improvements to sustainability policy
K8 existing organisational commitment to sustainable business practice
K9 the systems in place, if any, for evaluating a sustainability policy
K10 the role of stakeholders in policy review
K11 the importance of engaging stakeholders in the review process
Scope/range
Stakeholders include:
1 decision makers
2 organisational colleagues
3 customers
4 suppliers
Drivers include:
1 legislation
2 compliance
3 government policy
4 organisational governance
5 good practice
6 circular economy
7 economic commitment
8 human well-being
9 global citizenship
10 environmental
11 innovation
Improvements relating to:
1 economic sustainability
2 social and ethical sustainability
3 environmental sustainability