June 9th 2022 marks World Accreditation Day (#WAD2022), a global initiative established by ILAC and IAF to promote the value of accreditation.
This year’s theme, Accreditation: Sustainability in Economic Growth and the Environment, focuses on how accreditation supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.
The world economy relies heavily on natural resources provided by healthy ecosystems, and yet we continue to put these ecosystems through enormous stress and to consume resources at an alarming rate. The United Nations (UN) Environment’s Global Resources Outlook 2019 found that resource extraction and processing was the cause of 90% of biodiversity loss and water stress and contributed to approximately 50% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A considerable shift to more sustainable forms of production that are less resource-intensive and more focused on climate mitigation and carbon removal alongside biodiversity protection policies are essential for long-term economic growth.
Accreditation, alongside other quality infrastructure tools including metrology, standardization, conformity assessment and market surveillance, can support this shift. Third-party conformity assessment services (testing, inspection, certification, validation, and verification) ensure compliance of products, services and systems with the requirements specified or claimed. Accreditation of a conformity assessment body (CAB) provides assurance that its results are trustworthy and reliable. By verifying compliance with standards, accreditation protects consumers and removes technical and economic barriers to trade providing opportunities for products and services to go global.
Accredited conformity assessment can support environmental protection by confirming that CO2 levels comply with specified limits; that emissions from industries are within an acceptable range; and that the traceability of organic food is clear.
The NAB-MALTA is the national accreditation body in Malta responsible for the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies. Should you be interested to have further information you may send an email to info@nabmalta.org.mt.