Globalisation and sustainability issues impose new demands on companies. Markets may expand but so does the responsibility, not to mention stakeholder security. But critical risks can lead to opportunities if responsible solutions are successfully applied to mitigate risks, provide transparency and build trust across the boundaries.

Stakeholders are increasingly concerned about requiring companies to show compliance with, and even go beyond, standard rules and regulations and a commitment to act as a responsible party. In turn, companies are cascading this demand for compliance down throughout the supply chain. DNV continues to deliver and develop its certification services to meet customer needs. Examples of current services are:
The management systems address internal processes related to individual areas, like quality, environment, health and safety, information security and others. Many of our customers are looking for management system certification, and companies are increasingly looking to create one management system to ensure quality across the whole enterprise. This underscores the importance of systematically managing and improving internal processes to reach strategic goals and operate responsibly in relation to customers, employees and other stake-holders. Through Risk Based Certification™, DNV is able to combine an assessment of compliance with standards with an evaluation of company-critical processes that are key to business success.

Product certification
Most countries have rules and regulations related to safety for almost all products. The focus on environmental aspects is growing, ranging from the use of hazardous substances to energy efficiency and recycling.
DNV has a long tradition of providing product certification services, such as CE- marking and certification according to national regulatory schemes. Due to the growing integration of economies and globalisation of consumer preferences, global trade increased considerably in 2007. We see a need for both voluntary and regulatory certification regimes in 2008, especially in the developing markets.

Climate change
DNV has specialised in delivering independent, third party services for climate change activities, and has over the past few years been engaged in a number of diverse validation, verification and certification activities. DNV has developed methodologies to ensure transparent, reliable and credible audit results, and we are accredited under the most important international schemes for verification of carbon inventories and offset projects, such as the Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation under the Kyoto protocol, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, the Californian Climate Action Registry, and the Chicago Climate Exchange.

Corporate Responsibility
There is an increasing demand for Corporate Responsibility (CR) services, reflecting the emphasis on issues such as supply chain management, ethical behaviour, and the implementation of codes of conduct and principles such as the Global Compact in business and society worldwide. Rating, the verification of sustainability reports and supply chain management are important parts of DNV’s service portfolio for providing complete solutions to customers.

Acknowledging the importance of CR to managing risk as well as managing business opportunities is vital for adding value to our customers. DNV will make strong efforts to meet market needs and stand out when delivering CR solutions to more customers in more countries in 2008.