Discover the ISO 14001 Standard - Environmental Management

Summary

The ISO 14001 standard, launched in 1996 and revised in 2015, is a crucial environmental management tool. It helps organizations meet legal requirements, exceed stakeholder expectations, and improve competitive advantage through better resource use and employee engagement. The 2015 update emphasizes strategic planning, leadership involvement, resource optimization, lifecycle assessment, and improved stakeholder communication. With over 300,000 certifications globally, the standard is set for broader adoption, aiming to be the go-to tool for businesses managing environmental issues in strategic planning.

Takeaways

• 📚 ISO 14001 is a renowned standard for environmental management systems, first introduced in 1996 and revised in 2015 to address contemporary environmental challenges.
• 🌍 The 2015 revision of ISO 14001 was influenced by global discussions on climate change and the increasing expectations from policy makers and stakeholders regarding resource utilization and environmental stewardship.
• 🛠 The standard serves as a tool for organizations to not only meet legal requirements but also to exceed them by aligning with the expectations of stakeholders and shareholders.
• 🏆 ISO 14001 has been widely adopted, with over 300,000 certificates globally, highlighting its impact and acceptance across numerous countries.
• 💼 The standard is beneficial for organizations as it helps in engaging employees on environmental commitments, offering a structured approach to environmental management, and potentially providing a competitive advantage.
• 🌐 The new version of ISO 14001 emphasizes the integration of environmental issues into an organization's strategic planning, reflecting a more proactive stance on environmental management.
• 👥 Leadership involvement is a key aspect of the revised standard, with a stronger focus on the role of organizational leaders in environmental protection and resource management.
• 📈 The standard now places a greater emphasis on environmental performance, enhancing the expectations from organizations to demonstrate tangible improvements in this area.
• 🔄 Lifecycle perspectives are introduced, requiring organizations to consider the environmental impacts throughout the entire lifecycle of their products and services.
• 💬 Enhanced communication with stakeholders is a notable change, encouraging more effective dialogue about an organization's environmental impact and commitments.
• 📊 The transition to digital storage and cloud solutions is facilitated by the updated standard, reflecting a move away from paper-based systems towards more modern, efficient data management practices.

Q & A

What is ISO 14001?

ISO 14001 is a well-known standard for environmental management systems, first launched in 1996.

When was the 2015 edition of ISO 14001 published?

The 2015 edition of ISO 14001 was published in 2015.

Why was ISO 14001 revised?

ISO 14001 was revised to address the challenging environmental context, including issues like climate change, water utilization, and energy usage, and to meet the expectations of stakeholders and policy makers.

What are some challenges organizations face according to Kevin McKinley?

Organizations face challenges in meeting expectations related to climate change, water utilization, and energy usage, as well as the need to perform according to modern environmental stewardship expectations.

What is the main purpose of ISO 14001 according to Kevin McKinley?

ISO 14001 serves as a tool to support advancement, continual improvement, and helps organizations meet legal requirements and stakeholder expectations while providing a competitive advantage.

How many ISO 14001 certificates are there globally?

There are more than 300,000 ISO 14001 certificates globally.

What are the main benefits of using ISO 14001?

The main benefits include meeting legal requirements, engaging employees in environmental commitments, and providing a competitive and financial advantage by improving performance and efficiency.

Who contributed to the development of the new ISO 14001 standard?

More than 70 participating ISO members and over 120 experts actively contributed to the development of the new ISO 14001 standard.

What are some specific changes in the new version of ISO 14001?

Specific changes include enhanced focus on integrating environmental issues into strategic planning, stronger leadership involvement, improved environmental performance, lifecycle perspective consideration, better stakeholder communication, and the transition from paper to cloud documentation.

What is the future hope for ISO 14001 according to Dr. Anne-Marie Juarez?

Dr. Anne-Marie Juarez hopes that ISO 14001 will become the tool of choice for businesses to manage environmental issues in their strategic thinking, action, and plans over the next 20 years.

Outlines

00:00

🌍 Overview of ISO 14001 Standard

ISO 14001 is a well-known standard for environmental management systems, first launched in 1996. The 2015 edition addresses current environmental challenges, including climate change, water utilization, and energy usage. It reflects stakeholders' and shareholders' expectations for organizations to manage environmental performance responsibly.

🔧 Importance and Impact of ISO 14001

ISO 14001 serves as a tool for organizations to advance and improve continually. It has gained recognition through organizational use and third-party certification, with over 300,000 certificates issued globally. The standard helps organizations meet legal requirements, engage employees, and achieve competitive advantages, including financial benefits and improved performance.

👥 Development of ISO 14001

The development of ISO 14001 involved over 70 ISO members and more than 120 experts. Dr. Anne-Marie Juarez, chair of the ISO subcommittee, highlighted that the new version includes significant changes such as integrating environmental issues into strategic planning, stronger leadership involvement, enhanced focus on resource use and environmental performance, lifecycle perspectives, improved communications, and modernized documentation practices.

🔄 Future Vision for ISO 14001

Dr. Juarez hopes that ISO 14001 will become the preferred tool for businesses to manage environmental issues strategically. From September 2015, there is a three-year transition period for certified organizations to adapt to the new standard.

Keywords

💡ISO 14001

ISO 14001 is an internationally recognized standard for environmental management systems. It provides a framework for organizations to manage their environmental responsibilities and improve their environmental performance. In the video, it is highlighted as a tool that has been revised to address contemporary environmental challenges and has been adopted by over 300,000 organizations globally, indicating its widespread impact and acceptance.

💡Environmental Management Systems (EMS)

Environmental Management Systems are a set of processes and practices that enable an organization to monitor and continually improve its environmental performance. The script emphasizes the importance of EMS in aligning an organization's operations with environmental stewardship and regulatory compliance, as well as engaging employees in environmental initiatives.

💡Strategic Planning

Strategic planning involves setting goals and objectives for an organization's future and determining how to achieve them. The script mentions an enhanced focus on integrating environmental issues into an organization's strategic planning process, which means considering environmental factors and impacts as part of the organization's long-term goals and actions.

💡Leadership

Leadership in the context of ISO 14001 refers to the active involvement and commitment of an organization's top management in environmental issues. The script notes a stronger emphasis on leadership, indicating that leaders play a crucial role in driving environmental initiatives and ensuring the organization's environmental responsibilities are met.

💡Resource Use

Resource use pertains to how an organization consumes and manages its natural resources, such as water and energy. The script discusses the importance of examining resource use in the context of environmental performance, suggesting that organizations must be mindful of their resource consumption and strive for efficiency.

💡Stakeholders

Stakeholders are individuals or groups who have an interest or concern in the activities of an organization. The script highlights the expectations of stakeholders and shareholders for organizations to manage their environmental impact, emphasizing the need for transparency and responsiveness to external concerns.

💡Environmental Performance

Environmental performance refers to how well an organization manages its environmental responsibilities and impacts. The script points out that the new ISO 14001 standard places a stronger emphasis on environmental performance, requiring organizations to demonstrate a clear commitment to environmental stewardship.

💡Lifecycle Perspective

A lifecycle perspective involves considering the environmental impacts of a product or service from its creation to its end-of-life. The script mentions the need to think about the lifecycle when looking at environmental aspects and impacts, indicating that organizations should assess and manage the environmental consequences throughout the entire lifespan of their products or services.

💡Communication

Communication in the context of ISO 14001 is about effectively engaging with stakeholders to share information about an organization's environmental performance and initiatives. The script discusses enhancing communication as a key change in the new standard, suggesting that clear and open dialogue with stakeholders is essential for building trust and understanding.

💡Digital Transformation

Digital transformation refers to the integration of digital technology into all areas of an organization, fundamentally changing how it operates and delivers value. The script mentions moving from a paper-based system to one that can be stored in the cloud, reflecting the shift towards digital solutions for environmental management and record-keeping.

💡Transition Period

A transition period is a specified time frame during which organizations can adapt to new standards or regulations. The script indicates that there will be a three-year transition period for certified organizations to adapt to the new ISO 14001 standard, providing a clear timeline for implementation and compliance.

Highlights

ISO 14001 is a well-known standard for environmental management systems first launched in 1996.

The 2015 edition of ISO 14001 was revised to address challenging environmental context and expectations from stakeholders and shareholders.

ISO 14001 is a tool that supports advancement and continual improvement in environmental management.

Over 300,000 ISO 14001 certificates have been issued globally, indicating its widespread adoption and impact.

The standard helps organizations meet legal requirements and exceed stakeholder expectations on environmental performance.

ISO 14001 provides a structured way to engage employees and make environmental commitments.

Using ISO 14001 can give organizations a competitive advantage and even financial benefits through efficiency improvements.

More than 70 ISO member countries actively contributed to the development of the new ISO 14001 standard.

The new ISO 14001 has seven specific changes, including enhanced focus on integrating environmental issues into strategic planning.

Leadership involvement in environmental protection is emphasized more strongly in the updated standard.

The new version places greater emphasis on considering the lifecycle perspective when assessing environmental impacts.

Enhanced communication with stakeholders about environmental performance is a key change in ISO 14001:2015.

The updated standard moves from a paper-based approach to embracing digital storage and cloud technology.

Dr. Anne-Marie Juarez, chair of the ISO subcommittee, highlights the main changes in the new ISO 14001 version.

The future goal is for ISO 14001 to become the tool of choice for businesses to manage environmental issues in their strategic thinking and action plans.

A three-year transition period for certified organizations to adopt the new ISO 14001 standard began in September 2015.

Transcripts

ISO 14001 Isis well-known standard for

environmental management systems was

first launched in 1996 with the

publication of the 2015 edition we asked

acting ISO secretary-general Kevin

McKinley where this standard has been

revised

well the environmental context now is

challenging we see a lot of difficult

discussions on climate change we see a

lot of challenges for organizations to

meet expectations of policy makers

related to water utilization related to

energy usage these are big challenges

challenges that are reflected as well in

the views of their stakeholders of

shareholders the expectation that

organizations will steward the

environment and perform according to

what they believe is appropriate in a

modern organization so these types of

changes that were very much taken to

into consideration by the committee that

developed the new 14001 so Kevin why is

the stander so important it's a tool

it's a tool that supports advancement

and supports continual improvement the

standard itself has gained recognition

through use in organizations as a

self-improvement tool it's also gained

prominence through third-party

recognition through certification where

we have now more than 300,000

certificates for 14000 won globally a

sign of its impact and a sign of its

uptake in many many countries now for

users of the standard what are the main

benefits the 14001 standard will be a

way for organizations to help meet their

legal requirements that's certainly very

important and to also go beyond and to

take measures that are in keeping what

they're the expectations of their

stakeholders of their shareholders it's

also an organised way to get employees

engaged on environmental meeting

environmental commitments finally it

also is a competitive advantage the use

of ISO 14001 is something that can be

used as a distinguisher from other

organizations and even in many cases

provide some financial advantage for the

organizers

realizing certain efficiencies and

improved performance and Kevin who is

behind the standard in this case we had

more than 70 participating ISO members

actively contributing time of their

experts their nominated experts to

provide insight and draft the new 14001

it involved more than a hundred and

twenty people and let's dr. anne-marie

juarez

one of the 120 experts in both and chair

of the ISO subcommittee responsible

anne-marie can you tell us what are the

main changes so the new version of ISO

14001 has seven specific changes there

are others as well and these are just a

seven perhaps most common one to talk

about the first one is the enhanced

focus on integrating environmental

issues into the strategic planning

process of an organization the stronger

focus on leadership and the demands of

leadership of an organization to get

involved in these issues protecting the

environment which is increased to look

at resource use and also to look at what

demands may be put on the environment by

the organization the environmental

performance which was one of those

things in the previous version under

standard that everybody said it was not

strong enough it's distinctly stronger

now the issue of lifecycle perspectives

of the need to think about the

perspective of a lifecycle when you

start looking at environmental aspects

and impact the issue of enhancing

communications or thinking about how

you're communicating better with your

stakeholders and lastly but not least

the important thing of moving us from a

world will be sort everything was a

paper to something that can be stored in

the cloud and hence a small change the

tournament ation and what are you hoping

for the future of ISO 14001 but what am

I looking for in the next 20 years

I'm hoping this matter will become the

tool of choice for businesses to help

them manage environmental issues in the

strategic thinking action and plans from

September 2015 there will be a three

year transition period for certified

organizations

you