ZNU-Standard - Driving Sustainable Change: Make goals tangible and measurable.

The standard-setting body is the Centre for Sustainable Corporate Governance (ZNU) of the Faculty of Business and Society at the University of Witten/Herdecke.

The ZNU-Standard is a collaborative work of science and business practice and aims to measurably advance sustainable development in business and society. It supports organizations in structuring their existing sustainability activities and developing them further in a targeted and direction-secure manner – driving sustainable change.

At its core, certification according to the ZNU-Standard ensures that the company has integrated a holistic learning process ‘Driving Sustainable Change’, is making measurable progress on its key sustainability topics at its business site and along the value chains, and is thus making a committed, ongoing contribution to the sustainable transformation of business and society; in short, that a company operates more sustainably year after year.

The ZNU-Standard helps companies to implement a holistic management process ‘Driving Sustainable Change’ and to make measurable progress on their key sustainability topics at their business site and along their value chains. Compared to many other standards, it is holistically designed and covers all important sustainability topics, not just one dimension.

It also focuses on the long-term establishment of an integrated management process that can support companies in fulfilling their sustainability reporting obligations. However, it is clearly distinct from common reporting standards. The ZNU-Standard is a voluntary standard developed jointly by science and business practice. Unlike other standards, it is distinguished in particular by annual on-site assessments by independent third parties, as well as by its holistic character, which demands and promotes learning dynamics and innovation at company and product level.

Despite promoting sustainable production processes, it is not a pure product standard and therefore does not compete with FSC, organic, Fair Trade and similar certifications. Rather, the combination of the ZNU-Standard Driving Sustainable Change with established product standards is seen as a great opportunity to link holistic sustainability management and product-related activities on individual topics in such a way that the company’s overall commitment can be communicated externally with the greatest possible effectiveness and credibility.

The ZNU-Standard is the world’s first holistic sustainability standard for organizations that is externally certifiable and subject to governmental review. It is not a reporting standard, but demands and promotes concrete improvements in processes and sustainability performance. The ZNU-Standard therefore provides the ideal basis for well-founded and systematically successful reporting, e.g. also with regard to CSRD/ESRS.

Reporting standards (CSRD/ESRS, VSME, DNK, GRI): Companies applying the ZNU-Standard are very well prepared for sustainability reporting frameworks, but must, if subject to reporting obligations, additionally fulfill the specific requirements of the respective standard. For companies subject to CSRD, the ZNU-Standard 2026 offers a pragmatic framework that facilitates the regular reporting process, as the processes underlying the indicators and data points are continuously and measurably improved. For SMEs that voluntarily report according to the VSME standard, the ZNU-Standard is particularly compatible: its structure covers the key topic areas of the VSME and enables resource-efficient reporting.

Supply chain due diligence (CSDDD, LkSG): The CSDDD and the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act require systematic risk management along the supply chain and have been taken into account in the ZNU-Standard 2026. ZNU-Standard fields of action such as procurement, human rights and value creation provide a structured operational basis for this. The ZNU-Standard does not replace a legal compliance assessment, but significantly facilitates the establishment of the required processes.

Sustainability communication (EmpCo): The EmpCo Directive (Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition) aims to eliminate unsubstantiated environmental claims. The ZNU-Standard certification itself meets the EmpCo requirements for a certification system. All sustainability and environmental claims must be transparently substantiated in accordance with EmpCo, and the ZNU-Standard can provide support in this regard. This significantly reduces the risk of falling into the area of greenwashing.

Operational environmental and energy obligations (EnEfG, IED / 45. BImSchV): Regulations such as the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) or the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) together with their national implementations (EnEfG and 45. BImSchV respectively) are operational compliance obligations. The process Think – Act – Measure – Communicate as well as the ZNU-Standard fields of action energy, climate protection, climate adaptation and others support companies in establishing the necessary structures and measures. However, they do not replace a legal assessment or officially required documentation, but provide a useful framework for managing the requirements systematically. The ZNU-Standard is not a substitute for regulatory obligations, but an effective instrument that enables companies to fulfill the requirements of many regulations in a structured, verifiable and sustainable manner.

Unlike the ZNU-Standard, which is an externally verifiable standard for implementing a holistic management process for sustainable corporate governance, EcoVadis is an international rating system that evaluates activities along supply chains. ZNU-Standard certification ensures that the company is seriously engaged with the topic of sustainability and is systematically developing in the key fields of action at its respective business site and along the value chains. For this purpose, an annual on-site assessment is carried out by accredited certification bodies. The ZNU-Standard also covers requirements demanded by EcoVadis, particularly through the fields of action procurement, fair value creation and pay equity. A comparison of the two systems can also be found in the database www.standardsmap.org of the ITC of the WTO. Initial stakeholders such as Deutsche Bahn recognize the ZNU-Standard as equivalent to EcoVadis.

All organizations that want to make measurable progress in the area of sustainability can use the ZNU-Standard Driving Sustainable Change: from SMEs to large internationally operating corporations with multiple business sites (multi-site certification), from manufacturing companies and service providers to trading companies, regardless of their industry. Public institutions, (sports) clubs and other organizations can also be certified according to the ZNU-Standard. The standard is internationally applicable. An overview of already certified companies/organizations can be found here (link opens in new tab). Feel free to be inspired by our extensive practical examples (link opens in new tab).

If you are interested in the ZNU-Standard Driving Sustainable Change, please feel free to contact the contact persons at the accredited certification bodies (Link opens in new tab). For company-specific inquiries, you can also reach out to a consulting firm. For general questions about the ZNU-Standard, please contact us via email at znu@uni-wh.de or find more information here on the website. All documents relating to the ZNU-Standard are available here for free download.

The assessment duration depends on the number of employees, the nature and number of business sites and other criteria. Our tool for assessment effort allows you to make a quick, approximate calculation. For a quote for the assessment and the exact costs, please contact the accredited certification bodies (link opens in new tab).

A certificate “ZNU-Standard Driving Sustainable Change” is issued by the certification body for three years. The annual on-site assessment by independent third parties ensures that the requirements of the ZNU-Standard Driving Sustainable Change are being met and implemented by the company. Before the certificate expires, there is the option to extend it for a further three years through a successfully completed recertification.

An overview of all contact persons at the accredited certification bodies can be found here (link opens in new tab).

General requirements apply to all assessors deployed. The requirements can be found here (German; page opens in new window).

The aim of the ZNU is to systematically develop the content and quality of the ZNU-Standard Driving Sustainable Change in order to better meet the current requirements of organizations with regard to sustainability. This is achieved in particular through the forward-looking analysis and consideration of political frameworks (e.g. UN SDGs, EU Green Deal), private sector norms (e.g. ISO standards) and new scientific findings on the conception, implementation and effectiveness of sustainability standards.

Following the initial publication of the ZNU-Standard Driving Sustainable Change Food in 2013, the 2018 revision introduced the cross-industry and internationally applicable version ZNU-Standard Driving Sustainable Change. After a comprehensive revision process including intensive stakeholder dialogues in accordance with the ISEAL Standard Setting Code and the process of governmental recognition by DAkkS, the updated version of the same name was published at the beginning of 2026.

The ZNU-Standard Driving Sustainable Change 2026 is a standard reviewed by DAkkS (Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle), meaning the ZNU-Standard 2026 is recognized by the state. DAkkS monitors and verifies the conformity of the ZNU-Standard 2026 with international norms for standard-setting (in particular DIN EN ISO/IEC 17065 and DIN EN ISO/IEC 17021). DAkkS regularly assesses and monitors whether certification bodies are correctly applying the ZNU-Standard and whether the required professional competence, reliability, independence and integrity are in place. This ensures that the legal and technical prerequisites for a certification body to assess and certify according to the ZNU-Standard are met; in short, an assessment of the assessors takes place.

In contrast to accreditation, which is reserved exclusively for the state, an accredited certification body evaluates within the scope of a certification whether the requirements of the ZNU-Standard Driving Sustainable Change are being met by the companies and confirms this with a certificate.

From the publication of the revised version, both new and already certified companies are free to have their assessments carried out by an accredited certification body according to the new version. A transition for already certified companies can take place during an ongoing certification cycle. Details on the process can be obtained from your certification body (link opens in new tab).

For companies not yet certified: For initial certifications under the 2018 version, certificates can be issued until 20 March 2028 at the latest. All initial certifications and recertifications must be carried out according to the new 2026 version from 20 March 2028 onwards. Please enquire directly with the respective contact persons (new tab) whether your certification body still offers the 2018 version.

For already certified companies: The transition period is 3 years, meaning that since the new version was published on 20 March 2026, certificates issued under the current 2018 version remain valid for a maximum of 20 March 2029, based on the standard certificate duration of three years. All recertifications must be carried out according to the new 2026 version from 20 March 2028 at the latest. Please enquire directly with the respective contact persons (new tab) whether your certification body still offers the 2018 version.

An overview of the transition periods can be found in the following graphic (German; link opens in new tab)).

From the publication of the ZNU-Standard 2026, both new and already certified companies are free to have their assessments carried out by an accredited certification body according to the new version. To plan an optimal transition from the ZNU-Standard 2018 to the ZNU-Standard 2026, please feel free to contact the contact persons at your certification body (new tab).

As part of the revision, requirements in Z 2 were expanded and in some cases new fields of action were added, so that Z 2 now contains a total of 47 requirements. In addition to the splitting of climate into climate protection and climate adaptation, the field of action finance was added.

The most significant content changes in existing fields of action are: early detection (double materiality); climate protection (addition of Scope 3 elements) and expansions to the requirements for packaging, biodiversity and human rights. The detailed change log for the requirements compared to the ZNU-Standard 2018 can be found here (German; direct download of excel sheet).

In addition, to facilitate the assessment, there are 13 mandatory documents that are the minimum required for successful certification and must be submitted at the latest during the assessment. In addition to the company-specific indicators, five mandatory indicators must in future be documented in the annual assessment report (Annex III).

In the ZNU-Standard 2026, a remote pre-assessment will be conducted before each initial on-site certification to verify certification eligibility. In addition, the evaluation of requirements in the standard will be supplemented by the possible assignment of a K.O. rating if the process is at risk. The assessment categories and everything else relating to the certification process can be found in document Z 4 – Your Path to Certification (page opens in new window.

The basis for calculating the assessment duration remains the same: it depends on the number of employees, the nature and number of business sites and other criteria. Certification bodies can also continue to apply individual reductions or increases, for example due to a pronounced sustainability maturity level or extensive processes. Due to the content changes to the requirements (cf. Z 2), the overall effort required for certification will increase slightly. Our tool for assessment effort enables you to make a quick, approximate calculation (direct download; click here for multiple business sites). A detailed description of the assessment efforts for single-site certifications can be found in Z 4 – Your Path to Certification (chapter Z 4-1.3 Calculation of Effort) and for multi-site certifications in Z 5 – Solutions for Multiple Business Sites (chapter Z 5-2 Planning, Sampling and Efforts).

For a quote for the assessment, the efforts and the exact costs, please feel free to contact the accredited certification bodies (new tab).

As soon as you have received a valid certificate ZNU-Standard Driving Sustainable Change 2026 from your certification body, you are permitted to use the logo marks and icons of the ZNU-Standard in accordance with the regulations in Z 6 – Regulations for Communication. It continues to apply that logo marks and advertising for the ZNU-Standard may not be displayed on products. As long as you hold a valid certificate ZNU-Standard Driving Sustainable Change 2018, you may of course continue to use the existing logo marks and icons under the existing communication rules (cf. transition periods).

For questions relating to the ZNU-Standard and its implementation, please feel free to contact znu@uni-wh.de or your responsible certification body (new tab).