ISO 20121:2024 — Event Sustainability Management
Certification of event sustainability management systems against ISO 20121:2024, the international requirements standard for managing the environmental, social and economic impacts of events and event-related activities. Issued By CAS under its own authority, outside the EGAC accredited scope, with no EGAC or IAF mark.
Standard
ISO 20121:2024
Service type
By CAS
Issued under
CAS — own authority
What it is
ISO 20121:2024 specifies requirements for an event sustainability management system for any type of event or event-related activity, and gives guidance on meeting them. The organisation identifies the environmental, social and economic issues its event activities raise, sets objectives, and plans, delivers, monitors and improves its performance, including through its supply chain. This second edition, published in 2024, replaces ISO 20121:2012 and follows the harmonized structure shared by ISO management-system standards.
Who needs it
Event organisers and producers, venues and conference centres, organisers of exhibitions, festivals and sports events, event and destination management companies, and suppliers to events — for example staging, catering, audiovisual, logistics and accommodation providers.
Audit process
Certification follows a two-stage initial audit (Stage 1 and Stage 2) under ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015, with annual surveillance audits and recertification every three years. The certificate is issued By CAS, outside CAS's EGAC accreditation, and can be verified on CAS CertSearch.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions
Is ISO 20121 certification by CAS accredited?
No. CAS issues ISO 20121 certificates By CAS, under its own authority and outside its EGAC accreditation, which covers ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, 22000, 50001 and 22301 only. The certificate carries the CAS mark, not the EGAC or IAF marks, and can be verified on CAS CertSearch.
Does the certificate cover one event or the whole organisation?
It covers the organisation's event sustainability management system within the scope the organisation defines — for example a single event, a series of events, or all of its event-related activities. That scope is stated on the certificate.
How does ISO 20121 relate to ISO 14001?
ISO 14001 sets requirements for managing an organisation's environmental aspects. ISO 20121 is written for events and covers their social and economic issues as well as the environmental ones. Both follow the same management-system structure, so they can be implemented and audited together.
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