ISO 20121 is the international standard that defines the requirements for an event sustainability management system.
It was first published in 2012 under the London Olympic Games Organising Committee's patronage, which took place that same year.
The Paris Olympics Organising Committee, wishing to leave an updated standard as its legacy, promoted its revision, published last April. Therefore, ISO 20121:2012 became ISO 20121:2024!
The new standard version doesn’t add many requirements to its predecessor. Still, it reinforces the consideration of additional sustainability issues, such as human and child rights and green and inclusive IT.
The standard now requires that organisations consider climate change as a potential issue. This has become an inescapable subject for the events industry.
The legacy of the events must be more detailed through the Mission Statement. The Policy must now include a framework for setting short, medium, and long-term objectives, which is particularly relevant for those events where legacy is a key issue.
The supply chain management was also revised, providing a risk-based approach to managing suppliers and adding the need to consider sponsors that provide services or products as a supplier. This can have far-reaching consequences in events where sponsors don’t always follow the same best practices as event organisers. The standard also requires organisations to ensure open and fair competition in the tender process.
AvISO can support your Organisation identify the gaps of your current system and define a roadmap to conformity against these new requirements.
