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14 October 2020

Press release: World Standards Day 2020: Robust rules are essential to protect the planet

On 14 October 2020, ECOS joins the celebration of World Standards Day, themed ‘Protecting the planet with standards’. More than ever, we wish to highlight how essential environmentally sound standards are to achieving climate neutrality in the coming years.

Standards [1] [2] have a great power to boost the ecological transition. They can make home appliances and devices more energy-efficient, create ways to reuse and recycle waste, or set incentives to make steel and cement more sustainable. Developing environmentally ambitious standards is also instrumental to achieving a number of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals [3].

This year’s World Standards Day [4] celebrates the potential of standards to help protect our planet and its resources by setting common rules that help businesses provide better goods and services.

Justin Wilkes, ECOS Executive Director, said:

Environmentally ambitious standards are essential tools to prevent a climate breakdown. They can help improve energy efficiency, reduce waste or improve repair and reuse rates of old devices. That is why ECOS consistently works to make sure the environment has a strong voice at the table where standards are developed, each and every day.

ENDS

Press contact: Ivo Cabral – ivo.cabral@ecostandard.org 
 
 
Notes to editors:
 
 
[1] What are standards?

Standards are a set of common, voluntary rules which define how products are made, and services realised. Learn more about them and ECOS’ work from our new video. 

[2] How are standards set?

The system is comprised of standardisation organisations, where standards are developed bringing together representatives of business and industry as well as other stakeholders such as consumer organisations, bodies concerned with health and safety issues, and NGOs such as ECOS.

European standards are developed and published by the European Standardisation Organisations: the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).

International standards are developed and published by the international standardisation organisations: the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[3] https://standards4sdgs.unece.org/

[4] What is the World Standards Day?

World Standards Day began as a celebration of the birth of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which held its first meeting in London on 14 October 1946. More information here.
 
  About ECOS

We are an international NGO with a network of members and experts advocating for environmentally friendly technical standards, policies, and laws. For further information about ECOS, please visit our website

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ECOS is co-funded by the European Commission and EFTA Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EISMEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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