Start with the customer result
Imagine a UAE distributor promising next-day delivery of temperature-sensitive products. During periods of extreme heat, the organisation experiences longer vehicle loading times and occasional temperature excursions while goods wait at the dispatch bay. Writing 'climate change is relevant' in a context register does not protect the product. Writing 'not relevant because we are not a factory' ignores the delivery process that creates the customer result.
This is an illustrative scenario, not a claimed LETA client result. Begin with the intended QMS outcome: conforming product or service delivered against an agreed requirement. Then ask how changing heat, rainfall, water availability, energy reliability, logistics routes, supplier conditions, material rules or customer expectations could affect that outcome. Keep the assessment within the organisation's actual scope and evidence.
Make relevance a reasoned determination
Collect inputs from contract review, customer communication, legal and regulatory monitoring, supplier performance, continuity planning, complaints, risk review and market requirements. Speak to process owners who see the operational effect. The useful record is not a generic list of global climate risks; it is the connection between a specific issue, the affected process, the evidence considered and the conclusion reached.
A conclusion of 'not relevant' can be legitimate when supported by the organisation's context, scope and evidence. Record who made the determination, what was considered and what would trigger review. Avoid copying a consultant's universal answer. Relevance can change when the organisation enters a new market, accepts a new customer requirement, changes a critical supplier or experiences a disruption.
Connect relevant issues to existing controls
Where an issue is relevant, use the management system already in place. In the distribution example, controls might include dispatch-bay exposure limits, vehicle pre-cooling checks, packaging criteria, temperature monitoring, escalation rules and contingency capacity. In another organisation, the relevant control may sit in design review, supplier selection, infrastructure maintenance, competence, customer communication or business-continuity arrangements.
Define the owner, operational criterion, evidence and monitoring method. Test the control on a real transaction rather than accepting the context register alone. For example, follow one heat-affected delivery from customer requirement through planning, monitoring, acceptance and any deviation. Determine whether the evidence supports the claimed control and whether the customer consequence was evaluated.
Review the decision through normal QMS evidence
Use complaints, delivery failures, supplier changes, trend data, audit results, interested-party requirements and management review to decide whether the assessment remains valid. A severe event is not the only trigger; gradual changes in specifications, insurance conditions, infrastructure performance or customer expectations may be visible earlier in normal business evidence.
This evidence trace is LETA's practical implementation method, not a mandatory ISO form or copied requirement. ISO's official 2026 overview confirms that climate-change consideration has been carried forward. The ISO 9001 Auditing Practices Group climate paper offers useful educational considerations, but the APG states that its papers are not definitive requirements, industry benchmarks or universal audit criteria. Confirm exact requirements using an authorised copy of ISO 9001:2026. LETA supports implementation and readiness; an independent certification body makes certification decisions.