ISO 50001 – The Key Tool for Climate Action at Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM)

Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM8) is an advanced global forum with a mandate to promote clean energy globally. The main goal was to mitigate the energy challenges facing the international community and to boost the energy management systems through the revision of ISO 50001.

Major stakeholders in clean energy, including energy ministers, technical experts and leading private-sector decision-makers, gathered in Beijing, China, for the CEM8 with the purpose of discussing the practical ways to scale renewable energy, improve efficiency and collaborate on clean energy initiatives. There were other series of side events, forums and workshops organized for the same purpose. One of these events includes an International Workshop on Improving Green Consumption, which features the benefits of ISO 50001.

After six years of ISO 50001’s existence, its developers also met in Beijing at the annual meeting of ISO technical committee ISO/TC 301, Energy management and energy savings, with a mandate to update the ISO 50001. The goal is to ensure that the ISO 50001 remains a useful tool for various businesses and organizations globally.

A great deal of progress was made which lead to the moving of the revised edition of ISO 50001 to a Draft International Standard. It is expected to be released within three months of its completion. The new edition of ISO 50001, as an International Standard, is expected to be published between November and December 2018.

According to Deann Desai, the convenor of the working group revising the energy standard, “One of the main changes for the 2018 version is in the incorporation of the High-Level Structure which provides for improved compatibility with other management systems standards. There are other improvements in the 2018 version to help ensure that the key concepts related to energy performance are clear for small and mid-size businesses.”

Since its publication in 2011, the ISO 50001 has transformed the way organizations manage their energy by providing them a comprehensive approach to continually improve energy performance, its sustainability, as well as their bottom line. The standard has been established as a best-practice model and a global benchmark for climate and clean energy action. As of 2015, about 12,000 organizations were already certified in accordance with the standard. The statistics shows an upward of 77% compared to the previous year.

In fact, analysis from CEM reveals that a global implementation of the ISO 50001 standard across the commercial and industrial sectors could help promote a cumulative energy savings of approximately 62 exajoules by year 2030. This can help save up to USD600billion in terms of energy costs, as well as help in avoiding close to 6500 million metric tonnes of CO2 emissions. Simply put, the initiative equals the removal of an equivalent of 215 million passenger vehicles from the road – that is, in terms of annual emissions savings.