M&E Insights: ASI Performance Standard Conformance Ratings

26 May 2021

M&E Insights, May 2021

This month, we have reviewed incidences of Non-Conformance from all current Certificates for the ASI Performance Standard. This information is currently available in individual summary audit reports on the ASI website, and will soon be available in a Public Dashboard in elementAl, ASI’s online assurance platform, to enable aggregation and comparison of data by all interested stakeholders. 

1. ASI Performance Standard – Conformance Ratings

Figure 1 shows the breakdown of the Conformance Ratings of all Current Certificates.  ‘Current Certificates’ cover those that are currently active and valid; it does not include previous Certificates, Certification Periods and Certificate updates.

Figure 1 – ASI Performance Standard – Conformance Rates (Current Certificates)

The pie chart shows that:

• 86% of Criteria were in Conformance.
• 4% of Criteria were rated a Minor-Non Conformance.
• 0.04% of Criteria were rated a Major-Non Conformance (not visible in chart). There were 3 in a total of 7294 rated ASI Performance Standard Criteria, and these related to Criterion 8.1 Biodiversity Assessment, 11.2 OH&S Management Systems, and 11.4 OH&S Performance.
• 2% of Criteria were rated as Not Applicable.
• 7% of Criteria were Unable to Rate. This refers to criteria for which the auditor shares interim findings, but cannot currently be rated via remote auditing under ASI’s Covid Policy and will be rated when an onsite audit can be safely conducted.

2. Three Principles with the most Minor Non-Conformance ratings

Of all Current Certificates, the three ASI Performance Standard (PS) Principles with the most Minor Non-Conformance ratings are: PS 5 Greenhouse Gas Emissions (15.9%), PS 3 Transparency (6.4%), and PS 8 Biodiversity (5.8%).

Figure 2 shows that 15.9% of all Current Certificates report a Minor Non-Conformance in Principle 5, GHG Emissions.

Figure 2 – Principle 5: GHG Emissions – Conformance Rates (Current Certificates)

Of all the different Criteria under Principle 5, the highest incidence of Non-Conformance of current Certificates can be found in Criterion 5.2, GHG emissions reductions (22.5%), shown in Figure 3.  Common grounds for a Non-Conformance rating included the lack of published targets, or an absence of time bound plans implemented to reach the set targets.

Figure 3 – Criterion 5.2: GHG Emissions reductions – Conformance Rates (Current Certificates)

The second highest incidence of Minor Non-Conformances can be found in Principle 3, Transparency, shown in Figure 4 below.

 

Figure 4 – Principle 3: Transparency – Conformance Rates (Current Certificates)

An equal percentage of Non-Conformances was found in Criterion 3.1, Sustainability Reporting and Criterion 3.2, Non-compliance and liabilities, 10% for both, as shown in Figure 5.  Common grounds for a Minor Non-Conformance rating against 3.1 included that sustainability reports have not been updated, or the absence of the necessary sustainability data as required by ASI Performance Standard. For Criterion 3.2, Non-Compliance and liabilities, grounds for a Minor Non-Conformance rating included that there is no systemic approach for public disclosure of information on significant fines, judgments, penalties and non-monetary sanctions.

Figure 5 – Criterion 3.1: Sustainability Reporting and Criterion 3.2: Non-compliance and liabilities – Conformance Rates (Current Certificates)

Figure 6 shows that 5.8% of Minor Non-Conformances of all current Certificates are found in Principle 8 – Biodiversity.

Figure 6 – Principle 8: Biodiversity – Conformance Rates (Current Certificates)

Most Non-Conformances relate to Criterion 8.2c, Biodiversity Management (26.3%), shown in Figure 7 below.  Grounds for a Non-Conformance rating included the absence of a Biodiversity Action Plan, or in the case where an action plan has been set up that there is no reporting mechanism in place, or that the biodiversity outcomes have not been shared with stakeholders.

Figure 7 – Criterion 8.2c – Biodiversity Management – Conformance Rates (Current Certificates)

ASI commissioned a study on GHG disclosures in 2020, and has recently commissioned an update of this for 2021.  Studies on implementation of biodiversity and social/governance criteria, including transparency, have also been commissioned last month as inputs to the ASI Standards Revision.  These reports will be publicly shared when completed and will be used to inform further ASI guidance and training development. 

Stay tuned for our next M&E Insights article coming in the June newsletter!

 

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