INTRODUCING ISO 37125—ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE (ESG) INDICATORS FOR CITIES
ISO 37125—Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Indicators for Cities is the first-ever Standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in Geneva on ESG.
This new ISO 37125 Standard includes 107 indicators organized under the three ESG pillars: Environment, Social, and Governance.
Led by the staff of Standardized Urban Metrics (SUM) and ISO experts from member countries, ISO 37125 fills a critical gap in the ESG ecosystem by providing cities, local governments, and investors with trusted, third-party verified, and globally standardized data.
ISO 37125 is a pioneering Standard that enables cities to measure and track progress across key environmental, social, and governance (ESG) dimensions. These metrics provide valuable insights into a city’s performance in areas such as climate action, social inclusion, and sound, transparent governance.
The ISO 37125 Standard indicators provide a comprehensive framework for cities and regions to measure and report on ESG performance. In drafting and developing ISO 37125, the indicators were drawn from the ISO 37120 Series, which consists of ISO 37120—Sustainable Cities and Communities—Indicators for City Services and Quality of Life, ISO 37122—Indicators for Smart Cities, and ISO 37123—Indicators for Resilient Cities.
To enhance the Standard’s effectiveness, SUM partnered with the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) to facilitate discussions with key stakeholders—including cities, banks, asset managers, pension funds, and other leaders across the ESG ecosystem—to gather insights for informing the development of ISO 37125. Subsequently, SUM and the SCC worked together to create SUM’s audit protocol and the certification scheme.
THE WORLD PREMIERE CITIES AND REGIONS
An exclusive global cohort of cities and regions are now stepping up to become the first adopters of ISO 37125 and achieving the first SUM certifications under this new Standard on ESG.
This global cohort – the World Premiere Cities and Regions – will be celebrated at the Global Launch Event for ISO 37125—Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Data for Cities being held on November 1, 2024, and at the World Premiere Cities Summit on ESG in May 2025, which will feature on-stage ISO 37125 certification ceremonies and roundtable discussions involving cities and the investment community.
Applications of the ISO 37125 Standard
The SUM ISO 37125-verified data empowers cities and regional governments to develop a strong data-informed Annual ESG Profile Report, thereby attracting investment by showcasing their strong commitment to the key ESG principles—environmental sustainability, social inclusion, and responsible governance.
Certification under ISO 37125 equips city leaders with Key Performance Indicators for ESG to drive economic development, attract investment, raise capital for their infrastructure development, and support the growing demand for cities to enter the debenture markets and issue bonds to support their capital plans.
Local governments considering bond issuance can use ESG indicators to create a data-driven Annual ESG Profile Report, positioning themselves for success in municipal debenture markets while attracting investment and demonstrating their commitment to sustainability, social inclusion, and transparent governance to citizens, businesses, and visitors alike.
By adopting ISO 37125, cities and local governments can access a wide range of bond markets, such as Green, Social, and Sustainability Bonds (GSS+ Bonds), Catastrophe (CAT) Bonds, Housing Bonds, PPP Bonds, and General Obligation Bonds. Investors can also benefit from ISO 37125 because it provides standardized data and reliable measurement platforms for better investment decision-making, use of proceeds, and performance monitoring.