2016 Volume 29 Issue 6 Pages 305-314
Initiatives and activities for Sustainable Development (SD) have attracted increased attention since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015, and the International Standard Organization (ISO) is currently developing a standard for sustainable procurement. However, the draft ISO standard does not contain concrete SD criteria. We have therefore reviewed the criteria used in 25 initiatives and certification programs. We found that SD criteria could be divided into three categories: criteria for environmental sustainability, socioeconomic wellbeing, and institutional implementation. The environmental criteria mainly focus on the conservation of nature and ecosystems as well as efficient use of resources and reduction of environmental loads, rather than on meeting Dalyʼs operational principles of SD. The socioeconomic criteria can be divided into criteria for meeting basic needs and for advanced needs, and the latter criteria cover stakeholder involvement and information provision. The institutional criteria focus on enhancing controllability through planning, monitoring/assessment of activities, establishment of institutions, and training and awareness raising, and include criteria with a precautionary approach and criteria for compliance. These criteria should be considered in activities for SD and, if they are not, the possibility of considering them should be examined.
