The ISEAL Alliance has approved Equitable Origin’s application to progress from associate to full membership, the highest membership status in ISEAL, following a review of its standard-setting systems and monitoring and evaluation program.

Equitable Origin joined ISEAL in 2013 as an associate member and the first certification initiative in ISEAL to operate in the oil and gas sector. Equitable Origin is a stakeholder-based standard and certification system that aims to promote higher standards of social and environmental responsibility and greater transparency and accountability in oil and gas exploration and production.

As the global association for social and environmental standards, ISEAL works to strengthen the effectiveness and impact of both established and emerging voluntary standards systems in a wide range of sectors, from water, agriculture and forestry to tourism, carbon and fisheries. ISEAL also works with companies, non-profits and governments to support their use of voluntary standards systems for meeting their sustainability targets.

"ISEAL is the global 'touchstone' that identifies the social and environmental certification systems with the strongest procedures for stakeholder consultation in setting standards, for creating solid, credible assurance mechanisms, and for measuring and reporting on impact,” said the Chair of the Equitable Origin Standards Board, Michael Conroy. “It is a very good sign that Equitable Origin has qualified for full membership as quickly as it has.  This membership should reassure industry representatives, global and national NGOs, engaged communities, and other stakeholders that Equitable Origin is recognized as meeting the highest standards in the field."

The approval of full membership follows a process of review by ISEAL’s Membership Committee, and Secretariat, and a successful independent evaluation of progress towards implementation of the ISEAL’s Standard-Setting Code.

Full membership in ISEAL confirms Equitable Origin’s commitment to transparent stakeholder consultation in the development of the EO100™ Standard, credible governance and assurance structures and will help increase its ability to scale up long term impacts in oil and gas sector.

About Equitable Origin:
Equitable Origin was established in 2009 to create a new norm for oil and gas exploration and production through an independent certification, certificate trading and ecolabel system that rewards responsible practices relating to social, environmental, good governance and safety performance. Extensive consultation with the oil and gas industry, leading international NGOs focused on oil and gas production, and indigenous communities affected by oil and gas exploration and production led to the development of the EO100™ Standard. The Standard focuses on six principles: corporate governance, accountability and ethics; human rights, social impact & community development; fair labor and working conditions; indigenous people’s rights; climate change, biodiversity & environment; and project life cycle management.

For more information about Equitable Origin visit: www.equitableorigin.com

For more information about ISEAL visit: www.isealalliance.org

Equitable Origin

Equitable Origin

Equitable Origin (www.equitableorigin.org) is an innovative stakeholder-based certification system for the energy industry that promotes higher social and environmental standards, greater transparency, and more accountability in energy development projects. Equitable Origin is a nonprofit organization with offices in New York City and Bogota, Colombia.

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