ISO 20400:2017 Sustainable procurement — Guidance is a standard by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that provides guidance to organizations, independent of their activity or size, on integrating sustainability within procurement.[1] It is intended for stakeholders involved in, or impacted by, procurement decisions and processes, complementing ISO 26000, Guidance on social responsibility, by "focusing specifically on the purchasing function".[2]
The standard was developed by ISO project committee ISO/PC 277 under the leadership of Jacques Schramm, a French management consultant.[3] Work started in 2013 and the first edition of ISO 20400 was published on 21 April 2017.[4]
The ISO 20400:2017 standard is structured as follows:
Researcher Anne Staal notes that within supply chain management, the guidance "necessitates a change in ... buyer-seller relationships",[5] reinforcing the finding of Rentizelas et al. that coercive pressure can “quickly force an industrial sector” to attain a level of sustainable procurement ... but it is not sufficient to develop sustainable practices in suppliers if these organisations themselves do not show initiative".[6]
Construction company Balfour Beatty has been identified as the first organisation to undertake a full evaluation using the standard.[7]