Overview
ISO 37125:2024 - Sustainable cities and communities - Environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators for cities defines a structured set of ESG indicators, definitions and methodologies to inform an ESG profile for cities. The standard supports consistent city-level reporting on environmental, social and governance performance by specifying what to measure and how to interpret indicator data, enabling comparable monitoring, benchmarking and decision-making for urban sustainability.
Key topics and technical requirements
ISO 37125 organizes ESG reporting around core requirements and indicator methodologies. Key technical topics include:
- General ESG reporting principles and definitions for cities (scope, terms and reporting guidance).
- Structured indicator sets across the three ESG pillars:
- Environmental (E) - energy use (final energy of public buildings, residential electricity per capita), percentage renewable electricity, street lighting consumption (kWh/km), green roof area, EV charging ports per EV, hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, PM2.5 concentrations, percentage natural protection areas, GHG emissions per capita, air quality monitoring density, tree canopy coverage, ecosystem restoration expenditure, wildfire/forest fire impact, smart energy and water meters, and a wide range of solid-waste treatment and disposal indicators.
- Social (S) - (framework included in the standard to define social indicators relevant to cities).
- Governance (G) - (framework included to define governance indicators relevant to cities).
- Indicator-level requirements: definitions, unit measures, data sources and interpretation guidance (as exemplified in the table of contents for many environmental indicators).
- Emphasis on data quality, transparency and repeatability to support city-level ESG profiles and comparisons.
Practical applications - who uses it and why
ISO 37125 is practical for:
- City governments and urban planners - to baseline and monitor environmental performance and social/governance outcomes.
- Sustainability officers and ES G analysts - to prepare consistent city ESG reports for stakeholders and investors.
- Infrastructure and utility managers - to track energy, water, waste and air-quality metrics linked to operations.
- Consultants, researchers and NGOs - to benchmark cities, support policy design and evaluate program impact.
- Investors and financiers - to assess urban resilience, climate risk and ESG credentials of municipal projects.
Typical uses:
- Designing city ESG dashboards and monitoring systems
- Informing climate action plans, adaptation and resilience strategies
- Standardizing municipal data for benchmarking, procurement and funding decisions
- Improving transparency for citizens and investors
Related standards
Standards commonly used alongside ISO 37125 include ISO city‑indicator standards (for example, ISO 37120 and ISO 37101) to provide complementary metrics and management-system guidance for urban sustainability and resilience.
Keywords: ISO 37125:2024, ESG indicators for cities, sustainable cities, urban sustainability indicators, city ESG reporting, greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, waste management, energy consumption.