What is ISO14000 Environmental Management Systems

What is ISO 14000?ISO 14000 is a series of international standards on environmental management. It provides a framework for the development of an environmental management system and the supporting audit programme.
The main thrust for its development came as a result of the Rio Summit on the Environment held in 1992.
ISO 14000 is an Environmental Management System (EMS), which requires that an organization consider the environmental aspects of its products and services.
Iso14000 approach forces you to take a hard look at all areas of your business that has an environmental impact.
Iso14000 is the world’s first series of Internationally accepted Standards for Environmental Management Systems (EMS).
Iso14000 elevates Environmental Management to a Strategic Level that can be applied to any organization, from any industry, anywhere in the world.
ISO 14000 is a series of voluntary standards and guideline reference documents.
The part of the overall management system that includes organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing and maintaining the environmental policy.
ISO 14000 is an Environmental Management System (EMS) who’s purpose is:
· A management commitment to pollution prevention.
· An understanding of the environmental impacts (reducing) of an organization’s activities.
A commitment (pollution prevention) to employees, neighbors and customers
The History of ISO 14000As a number of national standards emerged (BS 7750 being the first), the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) created a group to investigate how such standards might benefit business and industry. As a result this group recommended that an ISO committee be created to create an international standard.
What is ISO 14001?ISO 14001 is the corner stone standard of the ISO 14000 series. It specifies a framework of control for an Environmental Management System against which an organization can be certified by a third party.
The environment cannot be protected by our convictions or goodwill alone. Efforts to protect the environment must be planned, coordinated and organized into a system, such as ISO 14001.


· ISO 14004 provides guidance on the development and implementation of environmental management systems
· ISO 14010 provides general principles of environmental auditing (now superseded by ISO 19011)
· ISO 14011 provides specific guidance on audit an environmental management system (now superseded by ISO 19011)
· ISO 14012 provides guidance on qualification criteria for environmental auditors and lead auditors (now superseded by ISO 19011)
· ISO 14013/5 provides audit program review and assessment material.
· ISO 14020+ labeling issues
· ISO 14030+ provides guidance on performance targets and monitoring within an Environmental Management System
· ISO 14040+ covers life cycle issues
Of all these, ISO14001 is not only the most well known, but is the only ISO 14000 standard against which it is currently possible to be certified by an external certification authority.
ISO14000 – Introduction
After the success of the ISO9000 series of quality standards, the International Standards Organization published a comprehensive set of standards for environmental management. This series of standards is designed to cover the whole area of environmental issues for organizations in the global marketplace.
History of Development
The ISO 14000 series emerged primarily as a result of the Uruguay round of the GATT negotiations and the Rio Summit on the Environment held in 1992. While GATT concentrates on the need to reduce non-tariff barriers to trade, the Rio Summit generated a commitment to protection of the environment across the world. The environmental field has seen a steady growth of national and regional standards. The British Standards Institution has BS 7750 , the Canadian Standards Association has environmental management, auditing, eco-labeling and other standards, the European Union has all of these plus the eco-management and audit regulations , and many other countries (e.g. USA, Germany and Japan) have introduced eco-labeling programs.