Gold Standard became an associate member of ISEAL in October 2019, having met entry-level criteria of each of the three ISEAL Codes of Good Practice – Standard-Setting, Assurance and Impacts. This status reflects an ongoing commitment to improvement and meeting the requirements of full ISEAL membership.
Gold Standard is the first climate-centric standard to reach this status, joining a growing number of initiatives that are driving positive social and environmental change across multiple sectors.
Gold Standard has designed a Monitoring and Evaluation System that is intended to track progress toward achieving intended outcomes and evaluate the contribution that the standards system makes toward achieving long-term social, environmental or economic impacts.
As guided by ISEAL, the M&E system will help Gold Standard achieve the following objectives:
1. Improve the standards system and its effectiveness in achieving its stated social, environmental and economic objectives;
2. Build capacity by learning from experience, not only for the standards system but also for clients and others involved in the standards system;
3. Inform strategy regarding policy decisions;
4. Provide accountability to stakeholders and to those who are affected by, and are meant to benefit from the activities of the standards system;
5. Earn credibility through willingness to be open about the results (good or bad) of the standards system; and
6. Enhance societal learning by feeding results into the sustainability tools landscape to understand the cumulative impacts of sustainability standards systems.