#239 2025 ISO Standard Wrap Up and Looking Ahead

It's been a busy year for ISO Standards, with that set to ramp up in 2026 thanks to upcoming Standard transitions.

Before we dive into a new year, we'd like to take a step back and highlight some of the key ISO milestones from 2025.

In this episode, Steph Churchman, Communications Manager at Blackmores, looks back at the major Standard updates from 2025, including changes to existing Standards, new ISO's published and key upcoming changes you need to be aware of for 2026.

You'll learn

· What ISO Standards have been updated in 2025?

· What new ISO Standards were published in 2025?

· What Standards are due to be published in 2026?

· What ISO transitions do you need to be aware of in 2026?

Resources

· Isologyhub

In this episode, we talk about:

[02:05] Episode Summary – Steph reviews major ISO Standard updates from 2025, including changes to existing ISO Standards, new Standards published and what you need to know going into 2026.

[02:34] What ISO Standards have been updated in 2025?:

ISO 27701:2025: This is the Standard for Privacy Information Management and it recently received an update in October 2025. Key updates to this Standard include:

· This is now a stand-alone Standard and can be implemented without an existing ISO 27001 ISMS in place.

· The addition of further guidance for data processors and controllers.

· Provides greater clarity on managing personal data within AI and digital ecosystems

· More focus on organisational leadership involvement.

· The update now aligns ISO 27701 more closely with global regulations such as GDPR, CCPA and LGPD.

ISO 37001:2025, the Standard for Anti-bribery. This one was well overdue an update, with its last version being 2016! It's update arrived on 2nd Feb 2025, and included: -

· Text harmonisation with the other ISO 37000 family of Standards, such as ISO 37301 (compliance management systems), ISO 37000 (governance of organisations) and ISO 37008 (internal investigations of organisations) to ensure consistency and easier integration.

· The latest version now formally introduces the concept of anti-bribery culture and emphasises its importance for the effectiveness of the management system.

· A greater emphasis on the role of top management and their involvement in overseeing the management system.

· A new requirement has been added for awareness and training as fundamental asset for management system results.

· It also receives the added climate change amendment, which many ISO's already embedded back in 2024 – learn more about that here.

· And lastly, there's more comprehensive definitions of conflict-of-interest as well as procedures to raise awareness on reporting potential and actual conflicts.

ISO 50002, the standard for energy audits. This isn't a certifiable standard, but rather a guidance document to support the energy management standard ISO 50001.

The recent update has now split this Standard into 3 parts:

· ISO 50002 part 1: General requirements with guidance for use.

· ISO 50002 part 2: Guidance for conducting an energy audit in buildings.

· ISO 50002 part 3: Guidance for conducting an energy audit in processes

Most of the revisions focused on strengthening and adding further clarification to energy auditing principles such as Competency, Confidentiality, Objectivity, access to equipment, resources and information, Evidence-based approach and Risk-based approach

Lastly, this update also clearly specifies the requirements for energy auditor competence.

[07:10] What new ISO Standards were published in 2025? ISO 42006 - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of artificial intelligence management systems. This is a guidance Standard that actually relates to certification bodies rather than businesses choosing to implement ISO 42001.

It builds on ISO 17021-1 and ensures that certification bodies operate with the competence and rigour necessary to assess organisations developing, deploying or offering AI systems.

While one that you as a business may not have to worry about, it's a positive addition to the growing ISO 42000 family of Standards, which are currently the only global frameworks for best practice for AI Management.

ISO 17298 Biodiversity - Considering biodiversity in the strategy and operations of organizations. ISO 17298 ultimately aims to help organizations of all types and sizes understand how they depend on and impact nature – and take concrete action to address it. It includes guidance to help you:

· Understand your biodiversity impacts, dependencies and risks

· Identify opportunities for green growth and nature-positive finance

· And develop and implement a credible biodiversity action plan

[09:45] What new ISO Standards are due to be published in 2026? ISO 53001 management system requirements for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Many businesses have already done the hard work behind aligning their ESG activities with the UN SDG's, and will soon be able to benefit from certification to an internationally recognised Standard to help manage and improve their performance against those SDG goals.

The Standard provides a framework for an SDG management system that will:

· Enhance the organization's SDG performance.

· Fulfil compliance obligations.

· Achieve selected SDG objectives.

· Create trust and confidence to relevant existing and future stakeholders

If you wanted to get a head-start, the guidance document ISO 53002: Guidelines for contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is available to download for free right now.

ISO 14060: Net Zero Aligned Organisations. This Standard details requirements for how any type of organization can demonstrate that their net zero strategy is achievable, and that they are making credible and verifiable progress towards contributing to global net zero in line with the Paris Agreement.

There are a lot of country specific legislation and regulations now in effect, or soon to be in effect, but there is a lack of clarity around what it actually means to be Net Zero. This is where ISO 14060 comes in, to create a globally accepted definition of what it means for an organisation to be net zero.

In addition, this Standard will also:

· Define what constitutes a credible net zero strategy at an organisational level

· Establish how targets should be set, measured and delivered

· Require organisations to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement

· Build on existing ISO standards such as ISO 14064 for GHG verification and ISO 14068-1 for Carbon Neutrality

· Have a focus on organisational claims, not product or event-level claims

· And lastly it will be globally applicable and adaptable across sectors.

[12:50] What ISO Standard updates do you need to be aware of for 2026?: The anticipated update to the leading environmental management system Standard, ISO 14001, is expected to be published in Q1 of 2026. It doesn't appear to have many major changes, but rather just further guidance and clarification in a few areas, including:

· Modernised terminology and harmonised structure that aligns with other ISO Standards

· Stronger focus on environmental conditions

· Clearer EMS scope with life-cycle perspective

· Again, we see a greater focus on leadership accountability

· Refined risk-based planning

· Introduction of a new change-management clause

· Extended operational control to suppliers

· Restructured management review

· And an expanded Annex A for explanatory notes

ISO 9001 is also due a revision. It was expected out around a similar time as ISO 14001, but following its public comment round, it's gone back under revision to make more changes after that feedback.

As a result, this has pushed the expected publication date to either Q3 or possibly even Q4 of 2026.

Now despite it going back into revision following feedback, the changes are still expected to be minor. Some of the expected changes include:

· Impact of digital transformation – such as AI

· Improved supply chain resilience

· Proactive risk management and risk-based thinking

· Quality culture and awareness of ethical behaviors

· And increased attention to customer satisfaction

Looking even further forward, ISO 45001 will also be up for revision soon, though that isn't expected to be published until 2027. We'll give you more details as soon as a draft version has been made available.

All of these transitions will include a 3-year grace period, so there's no need to panic. Over the next year, we'll cover these changes in more detail, and will provide a variety of ISO Support options to help you manage and complete your ISO transitions.

That's it from us for 2025! We look forward to brining you more ISO knowledge in 2026 😊

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