Discover the daily highlights of the
ISO Annual Meeting 2023

 Day 4 - Climate action, cooperation & commitments 

Welcome to the fourth day of the ISO Annual Meeting in Brisbane. Here’s a rundown of what you may have missed yesterday.

What happened yesterday

A crucial session on climate change and its impact on small islands brought together an esteemed panel of speakers from the Pacific islands of Niue, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia and New Zealand. These leaders shared their insights on the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events impacting their regions.

Forward-thinking strategies, including early warning systems, wind loading and data collection, are critical to avert major natural disasters and save lives. A variety of standards already exist to enhance disaster preparedness and resilience, but these must be tailored to meet the specific needs of these remote islands.

“From my point of view,” said Vaimu’a Muliava, New Caledonia’s Minister of Construction, Real Estate, Urban Planning, and Housing, “we have to change the way we treat disasters because we copy the ‘models’ of other countries. It’s important that standards be adapted to the local context,” emphasized the minister.

All panelists agreed that there is a need to combine the heritage and wisdom of forefathers with new technologies and innovations. A society shaped in harmony with the environment will be needed in the coming years – and standards will serve as the bridge between these two worlds. 

Honorable Crossley Tatui, Niue’s Minister for Infrastructure and Finance, underlined the importance of the ISO Annual Meeting for exchanging experiences and good practices, to strengthen regional collaboration and define the best way forward.

The General Assembly brings together representatives from ISO members around the world and is always one of the highlights of the ISO Annual Meeting. 

One of the dominant themes was the importance of advancing environmental sustainability. This has been reflected with the addition of a new strategic priority in the ISO Strategy 2030, adopted by ISO members.

Milestones in ISO’s climate commitment and future ambitions were highlighted. Among these efforts, partnerships were viewed as key to reinforcing ISO’s impact and positioning the organization in the climate and sustainability space.

“We need the contribution of all our members to successfully implement the ISO Strategy 2030,” said ISO Secretary-General Sergio Mujica. “If there is one area where we will not succeed by working in isolation, it’s climate change.”

The winner of ISO’s 2023 Next Generation Award is Neema Msemwa from the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS). The award recognizes a young professional from a member that is championing sustainability-driven standardization. A registered professional engineer, Neema currently serves as a Standards Officer and Secretary of the technical committee on renewable energy at TBS.

The 2023 General Assembly also saw the election of new members to ISO Council for the 2024-2026 term as follows:

Delegates responded enthusiastically when the location for next year’s Annual Meeting was revealed as Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. Hosted by the Instituto Colombiano de Normas Técnicas y Certificación (ICONTEC), ISO member for the country, the event will take place on 9-13 September 2024.

Discover all the highlights including a photo gallery and session recordings on our webpage and follow the conversation on social media at #ISOannualmeeting.