Now that the Sustainability Declaration is available in English as well, companies and organizations outside Sweden can join the front-runners. They can do so by following and adopting this ESG standard, embedded within ISO 26000 standard, one of the international guidelines for sustainability with the broadest international acceptance.

While there is still uncertainty regarding the legal aspects of the Omnibus, mainly the scope of the CSRD, the technical aspects of the ESRS remain unchanged. For all those companies that have already initiated work on CSRD compliance (namely Governance, Strategy & Business Model, Impacts, Risks & Opportunities, and Metrics & Targets), this provides an opportunity to incorporate the findings from their CSRD work into the Sustainability Declaration. Furthermore, if they choose so, they can get their Sustainability Declaration independently verified by a third-party accredited organization. 

Verify Agency is the first organization in Sweden to get accredited to verify organizational sustainability claims. It is accredited by Swedac under the ISO 17029. Given the fact that Swedac, an agency under Sweden’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, is a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) and a signatory of the IAF MLA for ISO 17029, Verify Agency’s accreditation extends to all the countries whose accreditation bodies are signatories of the Mutual Recognition Agreements. These are, in effect, more than 100 countries globally and all of the EU countries. 

While some uncertainty about the final text of the CSRD persists, one thing is clear: sustainability is not a regulatory burden but a strategic advantage. The sustainability transition is no longer simply a political ambition and a social and environmental goal; it is the economic reality that drives competitiveness, resilience, and innovation. Therefore, today’s companies’ and organizations’ position is defined by the answer given to the following question:

Do we want to lead or merely comply? 

If the answer is to lead, we encourage you to start using the SIS/TS 2:2025 Sustainability Declaration and systematically structure your sustainability work and reporting. 

If you choose to further enhance the transparency and credibility of your Sustainability Declaration, VERIFY Agency will provide the third-party verification process, an effective means to combat any perception of greenwashing. At the same time, with the help of our digital platform for verification, you can answer the Sustainability Declaration questions in several other European languages. 

Learn more and contact us regarding the third-party verification process. www.verifyagency.com

Future-proof your organization by getting your Sustainability Declaration independently verified.

About the Sustainability Declaration and Third-Party Verification

The sustainability declaration is primarily aimed at all small and medium-sized companies that, based on their business and ambition, want to conduct and report their sustainability work in line with international guidelines and practices.

The aim of the Sustainability Declaration is to:

1. Identify
2. Evaluate
3. Prioritize strategic focus areas for the organization’s social responsibility (social, economic, and environmental impact)
4. Stake out a clear direction for the involvement. 

The Sustainability Declaration can be used by all types of organizations that want support in their sustainability work, and its purpose is to:

• Support internal assessment of the organization’s systematic sustainability practices.
• Enable self-declaration of work aligned with SS-EN ISO 26000:2021, with the option for external verification.
• Communicate sustainability efforts to external stakeholders, such as potential customers in procurement situations.
• Clarify the organization’s approach to identifying, evaluating, and prioritizing strategic focus areas in social, economic, and environmental impact.
• Show contribution to sustainable development in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Simplify sustainability reporting, whether statutory or voluntary, including the organization’s mandatory sustainability report.

VERIFY Agency stands as a trusted partner, officially endorsed to bring clarity and integrity to sustainability reporting. With the help of our digital platform for verification, you can answer the Sustainability Declaration questions in several other European languages. Learn more and contact us regarding the third-party verification process. 

Future-proof your organization by getting your Sustainability Declaration independently verified.

www.verifyagency.com

Inlägget Sustainability Declaration: a tool for the European frontrunners dök först upp på Verify Agency.

Malmö Opera has also been inspired by the Theatre Green Book, which has been and is guiding many activities in the performing arts industry. To take the next step, we have recently undergone a verification process with the external accreditation party Verify Agency of Sweden AB with the ambition of achieving verification according to the international standard ISO 26000.

On 10 October, it was announced that Malmö Opera, as the first opera house in Europe, had been approved after an audit.

“Malmö Opera shows extraordinary leadership by voluntarily and transparently having its entire work with social responsibility verified.”

“As far as we have been able to see in the available databases and publications covering accredited European verification systems, Malmö Opera is the first opera house in Europe to achieve verification according to standards linked to ISO 26000. This positions them as a pioneer in sustainable development in the European cultural sector,”

says Eva Vati, CEO of VERIFY Agency of Sweden AB.

“We are very proud to be the first opera house in Europe to achieve sustainability verification through ISO 26000. The performing arts sector has a lot to do in terms of sustainability and we at Malmö Opera have decided to be involved in driving this work,” 

says Christina Hörnell, CEO and Theatre Director at Malmö Opera, and continues: 

“To have an impact, sustainability must become part of everything we do every day. The verification gives us a systematic way to work with this and shows that we are on the right track. Now the real work begins together with everyone who works at and with Malmö Opera. We look forward to that.”

The audit was conducted by Verify Agency of Sweden AB, under accreditation by Swedac, Sweden’s national accreditation body.

The report is available at https://www.malmoopera.se/om-oss/hallbart-operahus

(Swedish)

ISO 26000 is an international standard for the social responsibility of organizations. The verification is conducted by independent external auditors and is based on seven fundamental principles that together define the concept:

• Accountability
• Transparency
• Ethical behavior
• Respect for stakeholder interests
• Respect for the law
• Compliance with international standards of conduct
• Respect for human rights

The verification is renewed and updated annually.

ISO 26000: https://www.iso.org/iso-26000-social-responsibility.html

Theatre Green Book: https://www.svenskscenkonst.se/theatre-green-book/

For further information, interview requests, etc. please contact Pål Katsler, Head of Communications: pal.katsler@malmoopera.se or +46 (0)708-19 82 46.

Inlägget Malmö Opera becomes Europe’s first sustainability-verified opera house. dök först upp på Verify Agency.

️ Watch the video to hear from Malmö FF’s Head of Sustainability, Magdalena Nour, about why the club chose to become verified – and how they work with sustainability in practice.

Third-Party Verification in Practice: Malmö FF and the VERIFY Agency Process

VERIFY Agency was established in 2021 to meet a growing demand for transparent, high-quality sustainability communication. It’s the first organization in the world accredited to verify sustainability claims under ISO 17029 – the international standard that governs how verifications must be conducted. Using ISO 26000 as a framework, VERIFY Agency offers third-party assessments of how well organizations integrate social responsibility into their operations. The company is accredited by SWEDAC, that belongs to the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. For businesses, this ensures that each verification is independent, standards-based, and carried out under strict quality assurance.

For Malmö FF, the decision to get verified was both strategic and cultural.

“We’ve been working with social programs and engagement for almost 115 years, since 1910 when we were founded,” says Magdalena Nour, Head of Sustainability at Malmö FF.

“But for the last five years, at least, we’ve been working more focused also on environmental sustainability and to mitigate climate risks. And to do so, we need a governance structure and standards to help us support the work, to show transparency in all the work and to map the gaps..”

“It’s very valuable for us to be able to show, verified by a third partner, what we’re doing good and what we can do even better.”

Inside the ISO 26000 Verification: What the Process Actually Looks Like

ISO 26000 verification involves a comprehensive review of how an organization embeds social responsibility into its operations and governance. At VERIFY Agency, the process is based on a combination of document analysis, stakeholder interviews, and on-site evaluation of internal routines and structures.

“We conducted in-depth interviews with key personnel, analyzed their governance structures, and scrutinized their adherence to established best practices within their industry and in line with ISO 26000,” says Eva Vati, Founder and CEO of VERIFY Agency. “Our aim is always to provide an objective and independent assessment, culminating in a detailed report and, upon successful completion, the official verification.”

In the case of Malmö FF, this meant reviewing internal policies, risk assessments, and sustainability objectives – as well as engaging in structured dialogue with staff and leadership across departments.

Making Responsibility Visible – On and Off the Pitch

At Malmö FF, social responsibility is embedded in the club’s identity. As a membership-owned organization with 14,000 members, the club is governed by a board elected by its supporters. “That accountability made external verification a logical next step” says Head of Sustainability Magdalena Nour.

That philosophy extends to Malmö FF’s core values.

“One of our basic values in Malmö FF is that we should follow rules on and off the pitch,” says Nour. “The result on the pitch is visible and obvious to everyone, but the results off the pitch need to be verified for transparency, accountability and to be very clear to all our members, our partners and other stakeholders.”

This commitment is also reflected in the club’s work with inclusion and gender equality.

“From this season our women’s team is playing in the Premier League and that means that our focus on gender equality and inclusion is bigger than ever,” says Nour. “We have female top managers, we have female managers and of course a lot of colleagues and about 30% of our members, that is our owners, are women.”

Sustainability is not only a matter of policy, but of everyday decisions. One such initiative involved the club’s pitch supplier: instead of continuing to import turf from abroad, Malmö FF initiated a partnership between the Italian supplier and a local partner in Skåne, reducing emissions from transportation while supporting regional innovation and production.

Independent Verification: A Tool for Trust and Improvement

For VERIFY Agency, Malmö FF’s verification highlights the growing role of independent assessment in helping organizations build trust, evaluate their systems, and increase client’s impact on sustainability.

“Malmö FF’s decision to undergo verification is highly significant,” says Eva Vati, Founder and CEO of VERIFY Agency. “It demonstrates their strong commitment to transparency, accountability, and ethical operation – all solidified by their adoption of ISO 26000 principles.”

For the organization itself, the process also became a way to clarify next steps and involve more people internally.

“It’s a great learning process where you involve the whole organization and it will be quite obvious where the gaps are,” says Nour. “And when you know where the gaps are, you can make conscious decisions on how to continue your work and improve the overall sustainability work in your organization.”

About Malmö FF

Malmö FF is one of Sweden’s most established football clubs, with over 14,000 members and a long history of community engagement. As a membership-owned organization, the club works actively with social and environmental responsibility as part of its wider operations. Learn more about their sustainability work: mff.se/affarsmassig-hallbarhet-och-verksamhetsstyrning

About Verify Agency

VERIFY Agency is the first company in the world accredited to verify sustainability statements under ISO 17029. Founded in 2021 and accredited by SWEDAC, the agency conducts independent verifications using ISO 26000 as its framework. VERIFY Agency’s vision is to ensure transparency in organizations worldwide. More information: verifyagency.com

Inlägget VERIFY Agency Completes First ISO 26000 Verification for an European Football Club dök först upp på Verify Agency.