Responsible purchasing and CSR standards

Purchasing is an important lever for implementing a corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy. When you buy this or that product or service, you send a signal: buy local, buy ethical, buy solidarity-based, buy green? These choices reflect on your reputation and e-reputation. A number of standards set the framework:

Voluntary standard ISO 20400

Published in June 2017, this voluntary standard provides guidelines for integrating social responsibility into their purchasing process. It encourages buyers to ask themselves the right questions about the risks of not buying sustainably or ethically, knowing that their choices have an impact on energy consumption or the quality of life of the workers who make the supplies they buy. Buying local, for example, reduces greenhouse gas emissions linked to transport.

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Responsible purchasing: implementing ISO 20400

published by AFNOR Editions with the Observatoire des achats responsables (October 2021).

Voluntary ISO 26000 standard

Published in November 2010, this voluntary standard provides guidelines for deploying a sound CSR policy within an organization, and identifies the benefits and any obstacles encountered. It proposes seven approaches to the subject: governance; human rights; labor relations and working conditions; the environment; fair practices; consumer issues; communities and local development.