This webinar, hosted by ISEAL, discusses the challenges of getting Free Prior and Informed Consent right when working with various stakeholders, and the role of VSS in supporting the effective implementation of FPIC.
This ISEAL webinar discussed the challenges and lessons learnt from our consultation on sustainability benchmarking good practices
This resource includes the recording of the Webinar: ISEAL guidance to support remote auditing practices; Overview, Discussion and Next steps
ISEAL sent a letter of welcome and congratulations to Denmark on assuming the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, for the term beginning 1 July 2025. We acknowledge Denmark's timely agenda of "A strong Europe in a changing world," and note a close alignment between the work for a secure, competitive, and green Europe and ISEAL's mission to harness credible sustainability standards for measurable real-world impact.
Sustainability systems are market-based tools designed to address the most pressing social and environmental challenges of our time. They define responsible practices, assess the implementation of these practices, and measure and communicate results. Sustainability systems are used in most sectors worldwide to improve social and environmental performance.
Download this one page, full description of a sustainability system.
This brief presents examples of how sustainability systems are responding to new and critical challenges and opportunities – or ‘innovation drivers’. It draws on insights from ISEAL members and other participants at the Scaling Innovations event run by the ISEAL Innovations Fund in March 2026.
ISEAL Code Compliant status recognises both our Community Members that currently adhere to our Standard-Setting, Impacts and Assurance Codes of Good Practice through independent evaluations and have committed to adhere to the ISEAL Code, and those who have been fully evaluated against the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Sustainability Systems.This document sets out what our Code Compliant status recognises for our Community Members.
This research briefing explores the growing use of voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) in free trade agreements (FTAs), and the challenges and opportunities for scaling the use of VSS in trade more generally. Based on a partnership between ISEAL and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), we explore the use of voluntary market based instruments in promoting sustainable trade, production and consumption.
A working paper for the project “New data to detect forced labour in agriculture”.
ISEAL works to improve the credibility and impacts of sustainability standards and understanding impacts is an important strategic goal. This paper is the first attempt to draw on internal performance monitoring data of schemes and external research to analyse the reach and characteristics of smallholder farmers within ISEAL member agriculture schemes. This is the third in a series of collective reporting briefing papers researched by ISEAL as part of the ‘Demonstrating and Improving Poverty Impacts’ (DIPI) project.
El poder de las iniciativas de paisaje radica en alinear los intereses y prioridades de las partes interesadas clave, incluidas las comunidades locales, los profesionales, los actores del mercado y los gobiernos locales en torno a objetivos, acciones e inversiones colectivas, de modo que puedan financiar y abordar mejor las condiciones del sistema necesarias para lograr impactos de sostenibilidad a largo plazo a escala de paisaje.
Description of ISEALs benchmarking consultation in Spanish.
¿Trabajas o interactúas con normas de sostenibilidad o sistemas similares? Ayúdanos a dar forma a su desempeño futuro enviándonos tus comentarios sobre el Código Revisado de Buenas Prácticas de ISEAL.
What is a sustainability standard? Video in Spanish.
Webinar on how to establish strong credible standards in Spanish.
A força das iniciativas de paisagem está em alinhar os interesses e as prioridades dos principais atores — incluindo comunidades locais, profissionais, agentes de mercado e governos locais — em torno de metas, ações e investimentos coletivos, de modo que estejam mais bem preparados para financiar e enfrentar as condições sistêmicas necessárias para alcançar impactos de sustentabilidade de longo prazo em escala de paisagem.
Você trabalha ou interage com normas de sustentabilidade e sistemas semelhantes? Ajude a moldar seu desempenho futuro dando-nos sua opinião sobre o Código de Boas Práticas revisado da ISEAL.
Nosso Código de Boas Práticas servirá de referência internacional sobre como as normas de sustentabilidade e sistemas similares devem funcionar. Queremos garantir que o Código atenda às suas necessidades e continue sendo adequado para o futuro, permitindo que os sistemas de sustentabilidade ofereçam soluções eficazes para os desafios de sustentabilidade mais urgentes.
2025年9月，ISEAL与中国国际贸易促进委员会商业行业委员会（CCPITCSC）合作，正式发布《可持续体系基准对标良好实践指南（第二版）》中文版。该指南作为全球广泛认可的技术性文件，总结了自愿性可持续体系（VSS）基准对标的主要方法与实践，涵盖设计、实施、管理和沟通等关键环节。中文版的发布，标志着这一国际知识成果首次系统进入中文语境，为中国相关机构和企业更好理解和应用国际可持续标准提供了重要工具。《可持续体系基准对标良好实践指南（第二版）》中文版已面向社会公开，欢迎各界通过附件下载查阅与使用。
可持续标准体系须符合哪些原则才能产生积极影响?
The latest version (version 2, published in December 2014) of the Impacts Code of Good Practice, for Assessing the Impacts of Social and Environmental Systems in Chinese.