Latest News | Lack of Trust Amid Geopolitical Conflict & Economic Crisis Making ISO Task Difficult: ISO Secretary General

New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) Lack of trust in the world amid the current geopolitical conflict and challenging economic times is making the task of International Standard Organisation (ISO) difficult, its Secretary General Sergio Mujica said on Wednesday.

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"It's been 75 years since ISO was created, we face new challenges today. We live in an unprecedented crisis of trust and an organisation that works by consensus, this is particularly difficult. We need to bring that trust to the world," Mujica said addressing the 44th ISO-COPOLCO plenary session here.

There is also the challenge of the climate crisis, which is a reality today. The planetary crisis cannot be tackled in isolation. "We need to face it in a holistic manner and that's what ISO can bring to the table here," he said.

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To address these challenges, ISO has aligned its strategy to the sustainable development goals, keeping put human beings at the centre of all work, he added.

Mujica said the ISO was created in 1947 by 25 countries. India is one of the founding members. At that time, the world was facing a big challenge because right after World War II, there was a need to rebuild the world.

"At that time, it was already understood that there is a need for international standard for economic and social development. It was understood that international standard will bring quality and excellence. Through international standards, we can also protect our people, our planet which is needed today," he said.

ISO, which has 168 member countries, has developed more than 25,000 international standards at present.

Speaking on the occasion, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said the time has come focus on empowering consumers for a sustainable future.

"This will not be possible unless it is demand driven. Unless the consumers start asking for products that are green and sustainable, the industry would not play," he said.

"If you just focus on downstream which is recyling and reducing the carbon footprint, you are not doing even half of the job. If production and products are sustainable, then the job is 70 per cent done. That has to be driven by the consumers," he said.

It is not just the carbon footprint but the resources efficiency that is important, he said and added that the time has come to shift our thinking from downstream to upstream.

"Unless stakeholders realise, the green returns are more important than the financial returns, we will not make adequate progress on this front. We have to value green returns more than financial returns if we have to save our planet," he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)