In times of Integration: Can there only be one?

From late last century there has been a great development of international standards and tools on environment, sustainability and corporate responsibility issues. This has been along with the globalization of economy and politics, as well as a shift in the social responsibilities of the private vis-a-vis the public sectors. Internationally, organisations have implemented a collection of these standards to be in line with such development and to obtain or keep their licence to operate globally. After two decades of development and maturation, the scenario is now different: (i) the economic context has changed dramatically with many of the world’s economies facing downturn and a looming possible recession; and the global economic and political balance changing; (ii) most larger companies and quite a few SMEs now have a mature knowledge of these standards; and (iii) some standards are advocating for integration procedures, such as cases of for example ISO integrated management systems, mutual equivalences recognition of Global Compact-GRI-ISO26000, or the case of IIRC initiative to develop integrated reporting on an organization’s Financial, Environmental, Social and Governance performance.
This paper focuses on the role of international standards organisations, their partnerships, and how these may be key actors in not only the future of international standards and tools for Corporate Responsibility but also real drivers of a private sector realised sustainable development agenda.