Standards for climate action: from ambition to implementation

Global supply chains are increasingly exposed to climate, environmental, and geopolitical risks. Building resilience requires not only securing the flow of goods and services but also strengthening transparency, traceability, and trust across complex international value chains. Sustainability standards can play a key role in this process by establishing common expectations and providing practical tools for monitoring, verification, and assurance that support more coordinated action across supply chains.

This roundtable will bring together representatives from UNFSS/UNCTAD, SMIIC, standards organizations, businesses, producers from developing countries, and government and regulatory authorities to discuss how sustainability standards can contribute to more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive supply chains. The session will explore how standards can support businesses and producers in addressing sustainability challenges while facilitating market access and enhancing confidence among consumers, regulators, and trading partners.

Participants will examine the opportunities and challenges associated with the growing use of sustainability standards, including issues related to fragmentation, multiple certification requirements, compliance costs, and limited implementation capacity. Particular attention will be given to the impact of these challenges on SMEs and producers in developing countries, who often face difficulties in meeting diverse market requirements while remaining competitive in international trade.

The discussion will also address the evolving relationship between voluntary sustainability standards and mandatory due diligence requirements. As sustainability-related regulations continue to expand, there is a growing need to ensure that different systems work together effectively and do not create unnecessary duplication, trade barriers, or disproportionate burdens for producers and businesses.

Through the exchange of experiences and perspectives from different stakeholders, the roundtable will explore practical approaches to improving interoperability, promoting harmonization and mutual recognition, and strengthening internationally aligned conformity assessment mechanisms. The objective is to identify solutions that can reduce compliance costs, support credible sustainability assurance, facilitate trade, and enable broader participation in sustainable global value chains.

By bringing together public and private sector actors from across the supply chain, the session aims to generate actionable insights on how sustainability standards can enhance resilience, support sustainable development objectives, and foster more inclusive economic opportunities, particularly for developing countries and small-scale producers.

• Thorsten Arndt, Head of Advocacy, PEFC International
• Chantal Line Carpentier, Head, Trade, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development, UNCTAD
• Rana Ghoneim, Chief of the Division for Energy and Climate Action, UNIDO
• Axel Marx, Co-Chair, UNFSS Academic Advisory Council
• Duong Nguyen Dai, Certification & Sustainable Agriculture Development Manager, Ea Tan Cooperative.
• İhsan Övüt, Secretary General, SMIIC
• Cameron Plese, Head of Government Affairs (North America & Europe

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)

• Helena Boniatti Pavese, FSC regional director LATAM.

Achieving battery circularity — through reuse, recycling, and repurposing — requires more than ambition: it demands robust safety and performance standards. This session will examine how standards are shaping circular supply chains, enabling safe second-life applications, and supporting material recovery at scale. Participants will explore where current standards are advancing circular economy goals and where gaps remain to ensure safety, reliability, and sustainability throughout the battery lifecycle.

Demonstrate How Standards Enable Safe Circular Supply Chains - Examine the role of safety and performance standards in guiding the reuse, recycling, and repurposing of batteries across their lifecycle.

Explore Standards for Second-Life Battery Applications - Highlight how standards help ensure that repurposed batteries meet safety, reliability, and sustainability criteria for new applications such as stationary energy storage.

Address Gaps in Standards for Recycling and Material Recovery - Identify where additional standards or updates are needed to safely scale battery recycling, optimize material recovery, and minimize environmental risks.

Strengthen and align standards to accelerate battery circularity worldwide - Industry, policymakers, and standards developers must collaborate to create a consistent and robust framework that ensures battery materials are safely reused, repurposed, and recycled—supporting both economic opportunity and environmental sustainability.

• Caitlin D’Onofrio, Senior Standards Project Manager – Sustainability, UL Standards & Engagement
  Vimal Mahendru, IEC Vice-President, International Electrotechnical Commission (tbc)
  Daniel Ramos, Legal Officer, Trade & Environment Division, World Trade Organization
• Emmanuel Escoto, Senior Manager International Engagement, ASTM International

Join us for an opportunity to connect with UL Standards & Engagement and others to collaborate on sustainability topics

Sonya Bird, Vice President, International Standards, UL Standards & Engagement

Food security is a growing strategic concern across OIC countries, many of which face increasing pressure on food systems from resource constraints, supply-chain disruptions and changing environmental conditions. At the same time, standards can help countries strengthen food safety, improve resource efficiency, facilitate trade and build greater trust and resilience across food value chains.

This fireside conversation will bring together SMIIC and representatives of relevant OIC institutions to explore how standardization - and, in particular, halal standards and Halal Quality Infrastructure - can contribute to more resilient, sustainable and inclusive food systems.

The discussion will examine practical challenges facing OIC countries, including food loss and waste, traceability, resource efficiency, SME participation, market access and the need for stronger institutional coordination. It will also consider how cooperation between SMIIC, OIC institutions and the wider international standards community can help translate shared priorities into practical approaches that countries and industry can apply.

Rather than presenting standards in isolation, the conversation will focus on where standards can make a tangible difference within food systems and what stronger cooperation among OIC institutions can achieve.

The session will conclude by identifying three priority areas for future cooperation on standards, food security and resilient food systems across OIC countries.

• Dr. Memduh Ünal, Director of the Programs Department, IOFS
• Mr. Ali Fahd, Training and Capacity Building Officer, SESRIC

This session will focus on climate resilience and adaptation in municipalities, with a particular emphasis on infrastructure and the built environment. As climate risks intensify, there is an urgent need for practical frameworks that help cities assess vulnerabilities, strengthen resilience, and guide long-term adaptation planning.

Participants will explore critical questions, including:

• What training and capacity-building efforts are needed to support implementation?
• Where are the opportunities for advocacy and policy alignment?
• Is there a pathway to develop new or enhanced standards in this space?
• How can momentum be sustained beyond COP to ensure continued progress?

The session aims to move beyond knowledge-sharing toward actionable outcomes, identifying concrete next steps and longer-term pathways for advancing climate resilience in the built environment. By fostering dialogue and collaboration, it will help shape a coordinated approach to standards development, implementation, and ongoing work in this critical area.

Champion collaboration across sectors to align policies, standards, and practices that strengthen climate resilience at scale.

Invest in capacity-building, including training and knowledge-sharing, to equip professionals with the tools needed to assess and address climate risks effectively.

Drive the development of standards and guidance, using momentum from this work to close gaps and accelerate consistent, actionable approaches.

Commit to next steps, whether through pilot projects, partnerships, or advocacy, to ensure progress continues beyond COP.

• Judy Zakreski, Senior Vice President, Global Operations & Solutions, International Code Council
• Daniel Ramos, Legal Officer, Trade & Environment Division, World Trade Organization 
• Emmanuel Escoto, Senior Manager International Engagement, ASTM International 

With sustainability standards now being adopted worldwide, the challenge is making reporting work: the alignment, digital frameworks and market infrastructure needed to make climate transition plans decision-useful. Companies need to report once against several standards, and investors need comparable data they can trace back to the original disclosures. Forward-looking corporate climate transition plans are central to this, but the plans now starting to appear come in different formats and places and are updated at different frequencies. Digital transition plans, linked to targets, investment and performance, could give companies and investors greater clarity and consistency. This session details the challenges of standard interoperability and explores the value that alignment of different standards (management systems, corporate reporting and digital taxonomies) can add for investors and companies alike.

• Ersin Ercan, Turkish Standard Instution (Moderator)
• Seçil Kızılkaya Yıldız, Deputy General Manager, Development and Investment Bank of Turkey (Speaker)
• Mürsel Akbulut, Head of Climate Finance and Incentives Department, Directorate of Climate Change (Speaker)
• Erhan Çalışkan, Global Sustainability Coordinator, Akçansa (Speaker)
• Burcu Otman Bektaş, Sustainability Leader, Borusan Holding (Speaker)

Circularity doesn’t fail because of lack of ideas—it fails at implementation. What role do standards play in closing that gap?

To explore how standards enable circularity across the electrification value chain, while:

• Identifying implementation gaps across sectors
• Highlighting near-term standards releases and work-in-progress
• Positioning ULSE as a convener focused on practical deployment, not just frameworks

• Define priority implementation gaps in circular electrification systems
• Identify where standards can accelerate deployment now
• Establish next-step collaboration pathways across stakeholders

Engage in standards-based collaboration to move circularity from concept to implementation across electrification systems.

• Emmanuel Escoto, Senior Manager International Engagement, ASTM International 

Networking reception for existing and potential new endorsers of the Steel Standards Principles.

• Clare Broadbent, Director constructsteel, World Steel Association

Climate change is already affecting communities, infrastructure, economies and ecosystems worldwide. Climate risk assessments are becoming increasingly sophisticated. At the same time, translating their findings into concrete adaptation measures remains a major challenge. Decision-makers must identify priorities, evaluate competing options, mobilize financing and allocate limited resources effectively, often under considerable uncertainty.

How can international standards and associated tools help bridge the gap between understanding climate risks and taking effective adaptation action?

The “Paris Statement”, adopted by ISO on 1st October 2026, reaffirms the role of international standards in supporting global efforts to build greater resilience, adapt to climate change and protect nature. This interactive workshop, jointly organized by DIN and AFNOR, forms part of this ongoing process and brings together policymakers, practitioners, scientists and standardization experts to explore how existing and emerging approaches can support better adaptation decisions. Particular attention will be given to the needs and perspectives of the Global South, where limited financial and institutional capacities, data gaps, context-specific vulnerabilities and a lack of awareness on standardization at local level can create additional barriers to implementation.

The workshop will introduce a selection of practical tools and standardization approaches addressing different stages of adaptation decision-making:

1. Climate risk assessment: ISO 14091 provides a structured approach to identifying climate-related risks and vulnerabilities, helping determine where adaptation action is most urgently needed.
2. Climate-sensitive standards: the AFNOR methodology enables the identification and prioritization of standards requiring revision to account for future climate conditions, thereby contributing to the implementation of the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (Measure 24, led by the CGDD).
3. Economic assessment and prioritization: A planned DIN standard explores standardized benefit-cost assessments to support transparent comparisons of adaptation measures and more effective investment decisions.
4. Climate services: European standardization approaches provide first standardized frameworks for delivering and using climate information.
5. Climate-resilient asset management: Emerging approaches explore how future climate risks and adaptation requirements can be integrated into long-term infrastructure planning, investment and maintenance decisions.

Building on these examples, participants will collaboratively examine the tools needed along three interconnected stages of the adaptation decision-making process: risk identification and prioritization, financing, and implementation.

Working in small groups, participants will identify existing solutions, methodological and institutional gaps, and opportunities for developing new tools or improving existing ones. Discussions will address international transferability, specific challenges faced by developing countries, and the conditions necessary for successful application.

The workshop will conclude with a joint discussion to identify five to seven actionable recommendations for an internationally applicable Adaptation Decision-Making Toolkit developed at ISO.

The ultimate goal is to move from assessing climate risks to making informed decisions, directing investments where they are most needed, and accelerating effective adaptation action worldwide.

• Jörg MEGOW, DIN (Moderator)

Speakers for Keynote and ToolKit inventory :

• Benoit DESFORGES, Chair, ISO/TC 207/SC7 (TBC)
• Nadita RAMACHALA, Twinned Chair, ISO TC207 (TBC)
• Ana DIAZ, ISO
• Virginie COURMONT, AFNOR
• Oliver MARCHAND, Resilens

Group leaders :

• Marco WILKENS
• Speaker (TBD)
• Speaker (TBD)

Find your climate crew! is an interactive networking session bringing together children, youth, young professionals and organizations supporting their participation in climate action.

Across the climate community, many organizations and initiatives are working to engage younger generations. Yet opportunities to connect, exchange experiences and build collaborations across these networks remain limited.

Co-hosted by ISO, WMO, UNITAR and ITC, this session aims to connect people and initiatives, facilitate new partnerships and explore a shared question: What’s getting in the way of meaningful engagement for people like you?

The session will begin with three small, facilitated circles focusing on children, youth and young professionals, led by representatives from the respective communities. Participants will introduce their organizations and initiatives, share experiences and identify the barriers they encounter in accessing and meaningfully contributing to climate action.

A cross-group networking activity will then bring participants together to exchange perspectives, identify common challenges and highlight what differs across the three groups.

The session will conclude with informal networking, creating space for new connections and potential collaborations.

Beyond the conversations, the objective is to establish a practical network of organizations and individuals, map existing initiatives and identify opportunities to strengthen meaningful participation during and beyond COP31.

Explore why energy-transition policies do not always deliver their intended results and how governments and organizations can translate ambition into practical, measurable action. The session will examine the policy, regulatory, technical and organizational conditions needed for implementation, and how International Standards can help turn energy and climate commitments into consistent, measurable action.

• Usha Mulukutla, Chair, ISO TC 207
• OECD - TBC
• IEA - TBC
• Aleksandar Gjerasimovski, Expert ISRSM

The expansion of Artificial Intelligence requires significant computational capacity, leading to increased energy demands across data centre infrastructures. As high-performance workloads scale, aligning data infrastructure growth with environmental and resource efficiency targets presents a practical technical challenge for the technology sector.

This 30-minute session explores the technical frameworks and operational standards needed to manage energy consumption in the AI era. Combining lightning presentations with an expert-led fireside chat, the discussion examines how standardized metrics, testing methodologies, and certification protocols support sustainable data center infrastructure.

The session addresses two complementary perspectives across the infrastructure value chain:

• Standardizing Sustainability: The Roadmap to Green Data Center Certification
  An examination of operational standards and compliance frameworks including TSE Data Centre certification. This presentation outlines technical criteria, Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) metrics and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) etc. methodologies used to measure, audit, and reduce environmental impacts in facility operations.
• Powering Intelligence Responsibly: Sustainable Data Centers in the AI Era
  This presentation examines the growing energy and infrastructure demands of AI workloads, highlighting practical strategies in grid integration, advanced cooling architectures and hardware efficiency. It further evaluates how standardized environmental metrics and credible third-party certifications can ensure scalable, net-zero-aligned digital infrastructure.

By connecting international standardization mechanisms with technological infrastructure planning, this session provides data centre operators, IT strategists, and policy experts with a practical overview of compliance pathways and efficiency standards in data management

• İbrahim KILIÇ, Head of Inspection of Surveillance Center,TSE
• Ali KURTUL, Data Centers Director, Turkcell

Net-zero commitments have set the ambition. Now comes the real test: proving progress, unlocking investment, and delivering results at scale.

As COP31 places implementation at the heart of global climate action, a critical question emerges: How can we transform climate promises into measurable, verifiable, and investable progress?

This fireside chat brings together different complementary perspectives - international standardization, and the COP31 Presidency to explore how credible evidence, country-led implementation pathways, and real-economy action can reinforce one another.

International Standards, including the ISO 14064 family for greenhouse gas quantification, reporting, and verification offer essential foundations for transparency, credible transition planning, and confidence in reported progress.

From the COP31 Presidency perspective, the emerging Climate Implementation Bridge (BRIDGE) seeks to connect country-led climate and development priorities with investment-ready project pipelines and tailored financing solutions. The session will also provide insights into BRIDGE's evolving objectives, design, and three-part structure.

This session will highlight how businesses, investors, cities, and other non-State actors can translate commitments into measurable action and accelerate implementation across the real economy.

But what happens when trustworthy climate evidence meets investment readiness and collective action?

Moving beyond parallel conversations on standards, finance, and implementation, this session will examine the practical connections needed to strengthen accountability, build investor confidence, and turn ambition into tangible results.

Because the credibility of net zero will ultimately be defined not by what we pledge, but by what we can prove and deliver.

• Berna BİLDİK (Moderator), Expert, Sustainability and Climate Change Department, Turkish Standards Institution (TSE)
• Zeynep Cansu AYTURAN, COP31 Action Agenda BRIDGE Focal Point, Directorate of Climate Change, Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change (MoEUCC)