September 2026 has seen key proposed updates at the international level with a proposed ISO standard for UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), alongside updates of the ISO Net Zero Standard.
In addition, both the EU and Scottish government call for environmental reporting and sustainability credential requirements for data centers.
International Sustainability Updates
ISO Develop Management System for UN Sustainable Development Goals
New standard will aim to improve and consolidate reporting of the 17 goals into international management system.
ISO 53001 – Management Systems for the UN’s Sustainable Development goals have been developed by the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The first of its kind, the standard covers a wide range of organisations in addition to businesses and aims to provide a management system for the integration of SDGs into a business.
UN Sustainable Development Goals are a collection of 17 goals set out by the UN in 2015 and subsequently adopted by all member states. Climate Action is one of the key goals set out in the SDGs.
ISO 53001 itself has been designed to mesh readily with other existing management standards such as ISO 14001 which covers environmental management. The new standard provides tools to support organisations with key actions such as measuring performance with relation to the SDG’s and setting relevant objectives.
The standard launched on September 28th and is now available for aspiring organisations to integrate into their operations.
ISO Net Zero Standard Fails Vote to Progress
ISO 14060, the Net Zero standard for businesses, recently concluded its consultation and did not get the required support.
The ISO 14060 standard was generated over two years ago and has recently undergone consultation amongst almost 5,000 members. The consultation, which closed on the 9th of September was to provide feedback on the most recent standard after negotiations. However, this did not pass the required voting thresholds to progress into being approved in its current form. Now they must adapt the publication to release it as soon as possible, with it likely missing its publication deadlines of late 2026 or early 2027.
UN Confirms 1.5°C Paris Agreement Target No Longer Feasible
Latest report from the UN states that the international aim of limiting global temperature increase to a maximum of 1.5°C has been missed.
At the 2015 Paris Agreement, a 1.5°C target for global temperature change in comparison to a pre-industrial baseline was established in order to limit the dangerous impacts of climate change.
A recent UN report, published in early September, found it to be no longer possible to remain within this target, with the most optimistic warming scenario reaching 1.8°C and many exceeding the initial target of 2°C.
Concerns have been raised regarding the multiple impacts, which intensify with only a fraction of a degree. Notable impacts include extreme weather, submersion of small-island developing states, and damages across human health, ecosystems, water supply, food security, infrastructure and economics. Conversations must therefore move from avoiding reaching this warming to limiting overshoot as much as possible, as well as developing an integrated framework for both mitigation and adaptation.
European Sustainability Updates
EU Commission Proposes Directive for Ranking Data Centre Sustainability
New legislation could see data centres required to report on energy and sustainability credentials.
On 21 September, the EU Commission published a Directive to implement a ranking scheme for data centre sustainability. Member States are to require all data centre owners or operators to publish specified energy and sustainability data.
The label builds on reporting requirements already expected of data centres to report to the European database introduced in 2024 and will rank based on Power Usage Effectiveness and Water Usage Effectiveness. The label will automatically be generated by the reporting programme by 15 August and be provided with the accompanying document. This will then be available until 15 August the following year.
By establishing a common ranking scheme across the sector, the EU aims to:
- Transparently provide reliable information in relation to data centres
- Classify data centres using the information provided
- Allow for comparisons of data centre performance, either within a certain region or between those with similar characteristics
- Establish visibility for good industry practices
- Promote the design and adoption of energy efficiency measures working to reduce water and energy consumption, increase uptake in the use of waste heat, promote low carbon energy options, and increase grid efficiency
The Commission plans to review the label process every 2 years. This is in order to ensure the scheme is working effectively, and keep in line with increased sustainability ambitions and technological progress.
EU to Provide More Free Carbon Allowances for Heavy Industry in EU ETS
The cap-and-trade scheme is now likely provide more allowances in order for businesses to cut carbon costs.
The EU ETS is a scheme which mandates certain industries to pay for the carbon emissions they produce when manufacturing their products. This is to drive businesses to reduce their emissions over time, with a specific number of allowances available on the market. Over time the number of allowances decreases and therefore those that can’t purchase enough to cover their footprint must pay a premium – therefore incentivising decarbonisation.
The EU has backed a proposal to release an extra 121 million free allowances across 2026 to 2030 for, likely, chemical producers, metal processing companies, and ceramics and glass makers. This is to ensure there is no carbon leakage to areas where manufacturing might be cheaper, or where there are no carbon schemes which could influence manufacturing costs. The allowances will be worth about €8.25 billion in total, according to Reuters, saving businesses large amounts of money and keeping them economically competitive.
Spain Calls for EU Climate Adaptation Fund
Request for centralised EU funding to enable countries to adapt to climate change and impacts of a environmental damage.
The Spanish government has proposed the establishment of an EU climate adaption fund aimed at responding to climate related disasters. Outlined in a policy paper, the proposed fund would be financed by a windfall tax on the fossil fuels sector. The fund would seek to pool and coordinate resources between countries when climate challenges overcome an individual nation’s ability respond.
With much of Europe seeing an increase in extreme weather in recent years, the European Commission is expected to outline a new climate and resilience strategy this year. Its current proposals do not include a windfall tax on fossil fuels, however, several European finance ministers have called for establishing a Europe wide tax to raise funds.
UK Sustainability Updates
UK Government Develops ‘GB Grid’
Labour Party aims to increase investment into UK electricity grid.
The UK government has revealed their intention to create GB Grid; a publicly owned body aimed at providing targeted investment to the UK’s electricity grid whilst also seeking to speed up planned upgrades by existing network operators.
Announced at the Labour Party conference on the 29th of September, the establishment of GB Grid will not alter the roles and responsibilities of existing network operators. GB Grid will instead combine public funds with private investment to invest in infrastructure projects with an aim to expand and modernise the electricity grid.
The establishment of GB grid comes alongside wider planned reforms to the electricity grid connections system, which has long been maligned for the significant wait times involved. New government plans would allow businesses and property developers to establish their own grid connections, an action expected to cut wait times.
New Environmental Assessment Requirements Take Force in Scotland for Data Centres
Scotland now requires Datacentres with a Power Capacity exceeding 50MW to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment.
From 17th September 2026, data centre developments exceeding 50 Megawatts power capacity must undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment as a part of the planning process. This comes amongst growing concern of the water consumption and carbon emissions of datacentres, particularly in Scotland where more than 20 large datacentres have been proposed.
Scottish Public Finance Minister Hannah Goodland stated:
"Data centres is a rapidly emerging sector, and planning has an important role to play in considering applications, harnessing economic opportunities, and finding solutions which align with our climate goals."
USA Sustainability Updates
USA Pressuring Climate Policy Change and Threatening to Leave the IEA
The IEA modelling on the decreasing production and use of fossil fuels misaligns with USA ambitions.
US Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, recently spoke about the IEA and their alignments with climate policy and modelling. In a statement Wright mentioned that the USA does “not need a net-zero scenario” and is looking to apply “all the pressure we have” in order to change the IEA’s approach.
This comes after previous criticisms from the USA on IEA predictions where they project the “peak oil” scenario for 2030 (where global oil production indefinitely decreases). Should the IEA refuse to change its way of operating and climate focus the USA has threatened to withdraw, this being major as the USA provide over a quarter of the funding to the IEA.