Standard Development
Standard Version 2.0, approved and published in September 2022
The second round of public consultation on our additional requirements for responsible sourcing and GHG emissions was held from 19 April to 19 June 2021. Over the following 12 months, we continued discussions with members and stakeholders on these requirements. Our members voted on the finalised requirements in August 2022 and these were successfully integrated into the ResponsibleSteel™ International Standard V2.0. Relevant consultation documents can be found here.
On 14 September 2022, we launched the ResponsibleSteel™ International Standard V2.0 to incorporate the additional requirements on GHG emissions and the sourcing of input materials. Version 2.0 can be found here. Note that the official and full review of our Standard will start in 2024.
Below, you can see the full timeline of our work on the ResponsibleSteel™ International Standard, including the requirements on responsible sourcing and GHG emissions.
Additional requirements on responsible sourcing and GHG emissions
Jan-July 2020:
Working groups for responsible sourcing, GHG emissions and steel product claims convened and options for draft requirements discussed. Virtual meetings and board discussions held, 1:1 calls with members. Board and member review of draft proposals and options.
Aug-Oct 2020:
Draft requirements, options and consultation questions developed. Public stakeholder consultation.
Nov 2020-March 2021:
Collation and review of stakeholder feedback, webinars, deep dives, working group meetings, and 1:1 calls with members and stakeholders. Review of draft requirements. Board review of revised draft.
April-May 2021:
Public consultation on responsible sourcing and GHG requirements.
June 2021-June 2022:
Collation and review of stakeholder feedback, webinars, deep dives, working group meetings and 1:1 calls with members and stakeholders. Finalisation of requirements.
July-August 2022:
Standards, Assurance and Claims Committee review of process and recommendation to the Board. Board review and formal membership vote and Board ratification.
Standard Version 1.1, approved and published in June 2021
On 23 June 2021, we launched version 1.1 of the ResponsibleSteel™ Standard to incorporate additional guidance, interpretations and an urgent revision we developed since the launch of version 1.0 in November 2019. Version 1.1 can be found here and a questions & answers document on the urgent revision here.
Standard Version 1.0, approved and published in Nov 2019
February 2017:
The first ‘straw man’ ResponsibleSteel™ draft Standard was published. It contained high-level principles and criteria, which were discussed with members and stakeholders over the course of the next year.
05 June to 05 August 2018:
Initial 60-day period of public consultation was held on a more comprehensive draft (version 2-0) specifying 10 principles, with associated criteria and indicators divided into threshold and target levels of performance. Over 600 comments were received and taken into account in developing a third draft (version 3-0).
11 February to 11 April 2019:
2nd public 60-day consultation on the ResponsibleSteel™ draft Standard (version 3-0), resulting in more than 950 comments. Field testing by members took place with the support of our technical partner, DNV-GL.
April to June 2019:
Stakeholder meetings and online consultations to fine-tune the Standard and to inform guidance on implementation continued.
18 June 2019:
ResponsibleSteel™ Members Meeting reviewed draft 4-0 of Standard.
24 June to 24 July 2019:
Additional 30-day open stakeholder review of draft 4-1 of the Standard, which incorporated recommendations from our Members Meeting.
14 August 2019:
ResponsibleSteel™ member review of draft 5-0 of Principle 8, Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
01 to 16 September 2019:
ResponsibleSteel™ member review of draft 5-0 of Standard.
27 September to 09 October:
ResponsibleSteel™ member final content and legal review of draft 5-1 of Standard.
10 October to 17 October:
Minor modifications were made, before draft 5-2 was submitted to our membership for formal voting.
21 to 31 October 2019:
ResponsibleSteel™ membership ballot on Standard.
05 November 2019:
Draft 5-2 was approved by a majority of both business and civil society members of ResponsibleSteel™ and was ratified by our Board. It was published as the ResponsibleSteel™ Standard (version 1-0) on 05 November 2019.
If you want to find out more about the standard development process, please read our Standard Development Procedures on the Resources page of our website. The procedures describe:
- The scope, objectives, and need for the ResponsibleSteel™ International Standard;
- How decisions on the ResponsibleSteel™ International Standard were made and by whom;
- When and how we will revise the ResponsibleSteel™ International Standard in future.
The ResponsibleSteel™ Standard Development Procedures were written to meet the requirements of the ISEAL Standard Setting Code.
Please contact us if you have any questions about the standard development process.