Overview
ISO 9001:2015/Amd.1:2024 is an official amendment to the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems - Requirements standard. Published February 2024 by ISO/TC 176/SC 2, Amendment 1: Climate action introduces specific, high‑level references to climate change into the standard’s requirements for organizational context and interested parties. The amendment does not replace ISO 9001:2015; it augments selected clauses to ensure organizations consider climate‑related issues when establishing and maintaining their quality management systems (QMS).
Key topics and requirements
- Integration of climate change into organizational context (clause 4.1)
- New sentence added: “The organization shall determine whether climate change is a relevant issue.”
- This requires organizations to explicitly assess whether climate change affects their QMS objectives, processes or strategic direction.
- Interested parties and climate‑related requirements (clause 4.2)
- New note added: “NOTE Relevant interested parties can have requirements related to climate change.”
- Emphasizes that stakeholders (customers, regulators, suppliers, communities) may impose climate‑related expectations that should be considered in QMS planning and risk management.
- Positioning within ISO 9001 framework
- The amendment is concise and focused on contextual awareness and stakeholder requirements rather than prescribing technical climate metrics or detailed environmental controls.
Applications and practical value
- Helps organizations align quality management with emerging climate action expectations without altering core QMS principles.
- Supports risk‑based thinking: organizations that determine climate change is relevant can integrate climate‑related risks and opportunities into process controls, objectives, and performance monitoring.
- Useful for:
- Quality managers updating QMS documentation and context analyses.
- Top management demonstrating due diligence on climate considerations when setting QMS scope and objectives.
- Auditors and certification bodies verifying that the organization has assessed climate relevance among its contextual factors and stakeholder requirements.
- Benefits include improved stakeholder confidence, better alignment with sustainability strategies, and clearer traceability of climate‑related requirements within quality processes.
Related standards and context
- This amendment sits alongside ISO 9001:2015 and does not create a separate certification; organizations implement it as part of their existing QMS.
- Organizations may also reference complementary standards (e.g., ISO 14001 for environmental management) when translating climate relevance into operational controls and metrics.
This amendment signals ISO’s recognition that climate change is an increasingly relevant factor for quality management. Organizations should review clause 4.1 and 4.2 updates to ensure their QMS context and stakeholder analyses reflect any climate‑related considerations.
