Dedicated to creating a sustainable future through

environmental skills, knowledge and thought leadership

Revision of ISO 14001

IEMA Briefing Note
The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) voted in early November 2011 to revise ISO
14001 the leading standard for Environmental Management Systems. Data available from ISO shows
that over 250,000 organisations have achieved accredited certification to ISO 14001 in 155 countries
around the world.
Use of the standard is probably the single biggest global voluntary initiative to improve organisational
environmental performance. IEMAs Executive Director - Policy, Martin Baxter, has been appointed by
BSI British Standards to lead the UKs input into the revision process. As such, we have instigated a
significant process of engagement activity with IEMA members to help inform our position on potential
changes to the standard it is critical that users are able to help shape the future direction of the
standard.
This briefing note outlines some of the key proposals and considerations which will frame the revision
process. It also includes the results of IEMAs recent survey, which tested the views of environment and
sustainability professionals on potential areas of change.
There are two main sources of input into the revision process:
A new high level structure for Management System Standards, which was approved by ISO in
February 2012:
A report from a study group of the ISO Technical Committee responsible for EMS (ISO/TC
207/SC1) on the future challenges of EMS and ISO 14001.
High Level Structure for Management System Standards
A new structure for all management system standards has recently been approved by ISO. As such, all
management system standards are required to follow a new structure, using pre-set identical text where
it might be appropriate (e.g. similar text relating to documentation). A copy of the proposed new
structure can be downloaded from ISOs website (see Annex SL p141-154). The revised structure is
being used as the basis for the revised version of ISO 14001.
Future Challenges of EMS and ISO 14001 Report
The Future Challenges of EMS and ISO 14001 report from the ISO TC/207/SC1 study group contains 24
individual recommendations and a further consideration regarding the use of maturity matrices (see
Annex A of this briefing). These will all be considered as part of the revision to ISO 14001.

Timetable
The working group that is revising the standard held its first meeting in Berlin in February 2012. Under
the schedule set by ISO, it is expected that the revised standard will be published early in 2015. It is
anticipated that the revised standard will be in use into the mid-2020s.

IEMA Survey on Revision to ISO 14001

IEMA has engaged in a wide-ranging engagement process to provide environment and sustainability
professionals with an opportunity to help shape the revision. This process included:
16 practitioner workshops throughout the UK, with over 400 participants
IEMA online survey 1,651 completed questionnaires over a 2 week period in April 2012
The survey was structured around the following issues:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Links between EMS and an Organisation's Strategy

Legal Compliance
Strengthening Requirements
Guidance and Accessibility
Overarching Principles

The results of the survey are given in the tables below.

IEMA Survey on Revision to ISO 14001 1,651 completed questionnaires

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree

Total
Agree

The revision to ISO 14001 should require the EMS to be linked / integrated to the strategic decision
making processes of the organisation.

1.2%

4.1%

51.5%

43.2%

94.7%

The revision to ISO 14001 should require organisations to consider impacts from a changing
environment that are relevant to their organisation, in addition to organisational impacts on the
environment.

2.0%

9.6%

56.6%

31.9%

88.5%

The revision to ISO 14001 should place greater emphasis on the management of impacts across the life
cycle of products / services provided and used.

2.0%

13.7%

52.6%

31.7%

84.3%

The revision to ISO 14001 should seek to position environmental management in the context of
sustainable development.

1.9%

7.5%

52.8%

37.8%

90.6%

The revision to ISO 14001 should strengthen and clarify how organisations demonstrate their
commitment to legal compliance.

1.1%

6.8%

47.5%

44.6%

92.1%

The revision to ISO 14001 should require organisations to periodically demonstrate their knowledge
and understanding of their compliance status.

1.1%

9.0%

53.4%

36.4%

89.8%

The revision to ISO 14001 should require organisations to demonstrate continual improvement of
their EMS and the environmental outcomes that they achieve.

0.5%

7.1%

55.6%

36.8%

92.4%

The revision to ISO 14001 should require organisations to evaluate their environmental performance
through the use of defined indicators which the organisation would be free to determine.

0.9%

9.3%

60.5%

29.3%

89.8%

ISO 14001 should support the provision of information on environmental performance which an
organisation is required, or may decide, to report or disclose.

1.0%

9.1%

63.3%

26.6%

89.9%

Guidance in ISO 14001 should refer to other relevant standards which can help with the achievement
of the aims of the EMS (e.g. ISO 14031 Environmental Performance Evaluation).

1.6%

7.6%

58.0%

32.7%

90.8%

The principal aim of ISO 14001 is to provide a framework through which organisations can deliver
improvements in their environmental performance.

0.4%

6.3%

55.3%

38.0%

93.3%

Maturity matrices should be included in the annex of ISO 14001 (as guidance) to help organisations
track and plan the development of the EMS, in order to continually deliver improvements in
performance.

1.7%

9.9%

64.4%

23.9%

88.3%

Annex A
Recommendations for the Revision of ISO 14001 from the EMS Future Challenges
Report
"When considering new requirements in a revised version of ISO 14001, it should be remembered that ISO
14001 is a tool to improve environmental management; new requirements should not be set in such way that
they only reflect 'best in class' levels that will dissuade or exclude entry level organizations from adopting this
standard. The use of maturity matrices should be considered to show how requirements can be applied in an
increasingly comprehensive manner.
Maturity matrices are already a part of BS 8900: 2006 Guidance for Managing Sustainable Development,
which allows organisations to profile the maturity of the management system and identify areas of
weakness.
An example of how a maturity matrix might apply within ISO 14001 is shown below although it would
be the responsibility of individual organisations to prepare their own maturity matrix to ensure it is
relevant to them:
Management
System Criteria

System Maturity
Newly Established

Fully Embedded

Continual
awareness
raising programmes and
Basic
environmental Frequent
awareness staff engagement; staff
Training
and awareness
provided; raising programmes run; training
needs
Awareness Raising further training provided specific training needs continually assessed and
as required.
evaluated periodically.
met, including planning
for future needs and
capacity.
The 24 specific recommendations which will be considered in the revision process of ISO 14001 are set
out below with some further explanation of some recommendations in italics. IEMA has grouped these
into related areas to aid discussions

Context of Sustainable Development

1. Put environmental management more clearly in the perspective of contributing to sustainable
development (the planet pillar of SR). This does not mean incorporating requirements from other nonenvironmental aspects of sustainable development (i.e. people and profit pillars) into the standard, but to recognise
that an EMS is a tool used to address the planet pillar, often taken as part of wider action on sustainable
development and social responsibility in organisations.

2. Address life cycle thinking* and the value chain perspective more clearly in the identification &
evaluation of environmental aspects related to products and services. *this does not mean
imposing LCA.
3. Consider addressing other environmental principles from ISO 26000, clause 6.5. Some principles
from ISO 26000 are inherent to EMS implementation in line with ISO 14001 (e.g. environmental risk management) but others,
(e.g. the precautionary approach and polluter pays) are not and could be addressed in the revision.

4. Consider aligning language between ISO 26000 (Social Responsibility) and ISO 14001.
N.B. ISO 26000 (Guidance on social responsibility) is a guidance standard (i.e. not a management system standard which
can be audited against) which provides overarching guidance on what is meant by social responsibility, including definitions,
principles and covering the core subjects that should be addressed. The standard addresses social responsibility through
4

seven core subjects, namely: organisational governance, human rights, labour practices, the environment, fair operating
practices, consumer issues and community involvement and development.

Strategic Application
5. Strengthen (on a strategic level) the relationship between environmental management and the
core business of organizations, i.e. its products and services and the interaction with
stakeholders (including clients and suppliers). This would aim to move the EMS from what is often an operational
level only tool to one which has greater influence on the overall business management of the organisation.

6. Use the JTCG identical text on context of the organization to strengthen link between
environmental management and the organization's overall strategic considerations. This refers to
Section 4 in the proposed High Level Structure with identical text for Management System Standards, which reads, The
organization shall determine external and internal issues that are relevant to its purpose and that affect its ability to achieve the
intended outcomes of its XXX management system.

7. Consider the implications of new (strategic) business management models for application of ISO
14001
8. Pay attention to strategic considerations of environmental management, the benefits and
opportunities of it for organizations, not only in the introduction, but also in the requirements
Strengthen Requirements
9. Strengthen performance evaluation as part of 4.5.1 in ISO 14001 (e.g. use of indicators);
consider in this respect the ways in which performance evaluation is addressed in ISO 14031, in
ISO 50001 and in non-ISO sources such as EMAS III and GRI.
10. Strengthen attention for subjects such as:
a. Transparency/accountability with respect to environmental management/issues/
performance
b. Value chain influence/responsibility
11. Consider to include the concept of demonstrating knowledge and understanding of the
organizations compliance status. This refers to the legal compliance status of the organisation.
12. Address the concept of 'demonstration of the commitment to legal compliance'. There are currently
different views on what the requirement for commitment to compliance should deliver in practice in certified EMSs- this
variance could be addressed in the revision.

13. Building upon the (draft) JTCG identical text introduce a more systematic approach for
identification of, consultation and communication with stakeholders on environmental issues
14. The future revision of ISO 14001 should address a requirement to establish an external
communication strategy, including communication objectives, identifying relevant interested
parties, description of what and when to communicate. This does not necessarily mean that external
communication will be a requirement of ISO 14001, but that the current requirement to decide whether to communicate
externally about its significant environmental aspects could be enhanced to promote external communication.

15. Clarification of the requirements of (improving) environmental performance in ISO 14001.

Accessibility
16. An organization should retain the responsibility to align its ISO 14001 processes with its
environmental and business priorities.
17. Maintain the applicability of ISO 14001 to SMEs, e.g. by drafting/maintaining simple and
understandable requirements.
18. Consider the guidance given in CEN Guide 17 Guidance for writing standards taking into
account micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) needs

Language and Clarity

19. Draft clear and unambiguous requirements in ISO 14001
20. Clearly describe and communicate the approach/mechanism of achieving legal compliance in ISO
14001 (e.g. in the Annex)
21. Broaden/clarify the concept of Prevention of Pollution
5

Guidance
22. Provide where necessary clearer guidance in Annex A (according to its current aim: to prevent
misinterpretation of the requirements)
23. Provide guidance in the Annex on information related to environmental aspects of products and
services to external interested parties.
24. Include clear requirements/guidance related to strategic environmental considerations, design &
development, purchasing, market & sales activities in alignment with organizational priorities

Further Information:
ISO 14001 - http://www.iso.org/iso/home.html
EMS web-portal: www.iema.net/ems
IEMAs activities and evidence base used to develop this position statement can be found at
www.iema.net/iso14001
Contact IEMA about ISO14001:
Martin Baxter
Executive Director Policy
m.baxter@iema.net
Josh Fothergill
Policy & Practice Lead EMS
j.fothergill@iema.net
Post: St Nicholas House, 70 Newport,
Lincoln, LN1 3DP, UK
Telephone: +44 (0)1522 540 069
Further information about IEMA:
For further information about IEMA and our activities on environmental skills, knowledge and thought
leadership, visit:
Web: www.iema.net
LinkedIn: www.iema.net/linkedin