Stakeholder: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)
A stakeholder (French: partie prenante) is, in the everyday language of social responsibility and sustainability reporting, any person or group concerned by an organisation's activities. The ISO harmonized structure, and therefore ISO 53001, uses “interested party” instead; the two notions largely overlap.
Updated: · edition covered: ISO/UNDP 53001:2026
In an ISO/UNDP 53001 audit
Using the word “stakeholder” is not penalised. Whichever term is chosen, the auditor checks that the relevant groups and their expectations have been identified. The nuance matters: sustainability frameworks often stress affected groups who cannot speak for themselves, such as communities far down the supply chain or future generations.
So the auditor looks at whether those silent voices have been taken into account, directly or through representatives. A dialogue limited to customers and shareholders looks narrow for an SDG system. The ISO/UNDP 53001 standard deals with this in clause 4.
Which word appears in the report
In the report, the auditor writes interested party, the term of the standard, even if the organisation's documents say stakeholder. What matters is consistency inside the organisation: two documents using the terms with different reach, one listing employees and the other not, point to an analysis that was never consolidated.
See also
- Interested party: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)An interested party (French: *partie intéressée*) is a person or group that can affect the organisation's decisions, be affected by them, or perceive itself to be affected: employees, customers, suppliers, neighbours, funders, authorities.
- Context of the organization: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)The context of the organization (French: *contexte de l'organisme*) covers the internal and external issues that shape an organisation's ability to contribute to the SDGs: market, regulation, supply chain, location, internal culture.
- Impact: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)An impact (French: *impact*, the same word) is a change, positive or negative, that an organisation causes or contributes to for people, society, the economy or the environment.
- ISO/UNDP 53001 clause 4: what the auditor checksISO 53001 clause 4 covers the context of the organization.