Guidance for sustainability claims

A diverse range of sustainability claims are made by organisations globally, and effective management of claims is essential to ensuring the truthfulness and integrity of the claims allowed by sustainability standards and similar systems.

Policies and procedures regulating claims are important to the recognition and uptake of sustainability systems in various supply chains, as they enable sustainability systems to be relied upon to accurately inform business management strategies or consumer decisions. 

Recognising good practice claims management

Claims systems do vary significantly depending on context, and ISEAL has developed a range of resources to provide direction and support in developing credible claims and effective claims systems. This includes general guidance on sustainability claims (with linked guidance on chain of custody models and on impacts and outcomes claims), as well as specific guidance on jurisdictional claims.

Consultation

In recognition of the importance of credible claims to the credibility of sustainability systems, the revised and integrated ISEAL Code of Good Practice incorporates essential good practices from the Sustainability Claims Good Practice Guide. Integrating claims into the Code highlights the interlinkages between claims management and other aspects of sustainability systems, such as assurance integrity or monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL). We encourage stakeholders to participate in the consultation on the ISEAL Code of Good Practice