ASI continues to drive change within context of expanding regulation of ESG matters

12 November 2024

Voluntary standards systems like ASI were originally developed to address critical ESG-type issues that were not consistently regulated, or only subject to ‘soft law’. Initiatives with multi-stakeholder governance, like ASI’s, were a way to build consensus around what responsible practices should be, how to assess these and create a standardised approach to steadily raise performance across the sector.

Governments are increasingly adopting more binding regulations for these issues, and the EU is now a key legislator in this space.  With regulations on conflict minerals, critical raw minerals, batteries, green claims, due diligence, corporate sustainability reporting and more, companies (and standards systems) have a lot of new compliance frameworks to navigate.

What does evolving regulation mean for ASI?

Many of these laws regulate matters that are covered by standards systems – and in fact they often build on these approaches, or directly make use of them. Prominent examples include:

• The EU CSDDD mentions voluntary standards systems (or industry initiatives) as a means for companies to verify due diligence compliance
• The German Due Diligence Law suggests cooperation with sector initiatives and standards to remedy human rights violations
• The EU Critical Raw Material Act refers to certification schemes, if recognised, as fulfilling sustainability requirements of strategic partnerships
• The EU Green Claims Directive stipulates that environmental labelling schemes need to be subject to third party verification.

The intersection of ASI’s work with this broader regulatory landscape within the EU and beyond is complex. However, the new regulations are seeking to accelerate progress towards sustainable outcomes, beyond what voluntary initiatives can do alone.  Since ASI’s mission is to drive sustainability, we aim to support this momentum for our members wherever we can.

The aluminium sector is not alone, and we are also working with fellow members of ISEAL, the global organization for credible sustainability standards, to co-ordinate and collaborate on preparations for the upcoming EU Green Claims Directive. We are feeding these and other insights into the next standards revision process and our work on new claims frameworks.

What about for ASI members?

We are already seeing:

• Increasing supplier questionnaires and similar, seeking information from and in addition to ASI Certification to fulfill due diligence obligations
• Mandatory reporting disclosures that create more work or duplication
• Further proliferation of sector-specific initiatives, which may be duplicative or make little time to work collaboratively

In this context, ASI remains relevant in providing a means to address a broad scope of ESG issues while pushing the industry to go beyond compliance.  Certified members should find themselves well positioned for new legislation through ASI’s requirements on due diligence, disclosure and conflict minerals.  ASI’s complaints mechanism provides a 3^rd party channel to manage grievances, support dialogue and identify remedy.

However, we know that ASI needs to keep evolving to meet changing needs and expectations. The upcoming 2025-2027 Standards Revision provides us with an opportunity to create stronger links and guidance to support effective implementation of, and beyond legislation.

How do you see your current and future needs as an ASI member?

To discuss, please reach out to Chinelo Etiaba, COO and Membership Director.

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