On the 9^th of June, we celebrate World Accreditation Day, and this year’s theme is Sustainability in Economic Growth and the Environment.

On paper, these two concepts seem to be incompatible, as protecting the environment is often associated with “constraint” and not “opportunity”. But it couldn’t be farther from the truth.

EU ETS
The European Green Deal establishes that all members of the European Union will be climate neutral by the year 2050. A key target in this effort is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by the year 2030, using as reference the levels that existed in 1990, and accreditation is an important pillar to fulfill the objectives of the European Commission.

The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), is the most important program in the world to achieve these climate goals and requires companies in certain sectors to present their annual reports so they acquire a certain number of emissions rights of CO₂. The emissions report shall be verified by an accredited verifier, which is a key element in providing confidence and trust in the verifier’s work and by that the verified emissions reports. Accreditation of verifiers is performed by National Accreditation Bodies (NAB) to ensure that verifiers have the competence to carry out verification and perform the verification, in line with the Accreditation and Verification Regulation.

The participants of the Glasgow climate summit in 2021 agreed to combat climate change and ratified the need to comply with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. In the United Nations Convention Framework on Climate Change 2021, as DAkkS (German NAB) presented in its document ¨Contribution of accreditation to the fight against climate change¨ accreditation as a tool to ensure benefits in the war to stop climate change and comply with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

To meet these objectives, it is necessary to have efficient and secure processes and measurable systems with authentic and comparable data, whose validity is confirmed by independent third-party entities with technical competence.

On the way to PlanetProof
The Dutch government and RvA (The Netherlands National Accreditation Body), wanting to balance the impact of Dutch agriculture on the environment, launched a voluntary quality labeling certification scheme called On the way to PlanetProof in 2018.  This scheme was designed for food products and floriculture for both domestic and international trade. This is a fast-growing sustainability label that resulted in an increase from about 300 farmers, horticulturalists, and other businesses being certified in 2017 to more than 2,800 businesses being a part of the programme. The On the way to PlanetProof ensures the suppliers and customers that the farmer, horticulturist, and other businesses are working sustainably and supports the need for sustainable development.

Sustainability and social responsibility claims
In a pioneering case, the Swedish Board for Accreditation and Conformity Assessment (Swedish NAB) accredited a verification body according to ISO/IEC 17029 Conformity assessment — General principles and requirements for validation and verification bodies. The verification body (VB) authenticates sustainability and social responsibility claims made by others. Following its accreditation, the first applicant of the VB was a Swedish packing manufacturer. As a result, the manufacturer’s sustainability statements could be deemed correct according to the stipulated program – giving it a competitive advantage and hopefully inspiring others to follow suit.

Energy efficiency conditions of cogeneration plants
In Spain, the Energy Directorate of the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) collaborated with ENAC (Spanish National Accreditation Body), to establish an accreditation scheme for the inspection of energy efficiency conditions of cogeneration plants based on the ISO/IEC 17020 standard. This scheme requires the cogeneration plants to submit a certificate issued by a recognized independent third-party inspection body, which confirms the efficiency achieved by the plant. Once minimum energy efficiency values are achieved, the plant receives remuneration.

Microgeneration certification scheme
Making better use of renewable energy resources is going to be crucial in reducing overall emissions and reaching net-zero targets. Considering this concept, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) supported the development of the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) in 2006. UKAS accredits, according to the national microgeneration certification scheme, testing and inspection bodies that examine solar, wind, and wave energy installations. It provides insurance to end-users that renewable energy products are fit for purpose and that installers are competent to install them. Similarly, the independent verification and testing of renewable energy systems help them to fulfill their potential, whilst simultaneously enabling innovative and potentially more effective technologies to reach the market.

Ship Recycling
Using services of accredited third-party conformity bodies in areas of inspection, certification and validation, and verification support to ensure the circular economy principles are well followed and implemented. An example is the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, which purpose is to enhance safety, the protection of human health, and the European Union marine environment throughout a ship’s ′s life-cycle, in particular, to ensure that hazardous waste from ship recycling is subject to environmentally sound management.

To demonstrate compliance with this Regulation, ship recycling facilities located in third countries shall be certified following a site inspection by an independent verifier with appropriate qualifications. The independent verifiers should be accredited as inspection bodies according to ISO/IEC 17020 because it is the most effective way to demonstrate independence and necessary qualifications.

 

Click here to find more information and examples about Sustainability in Economic Growth and the Environment on the WAD Brochure.