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Environmental managementThe ISO 14000 family of International Standards
ISO in briefISO is the International Organizationfor Standardization. It has a membershipof 160 national standards institutes fromcountries large and small, industrialized,developing and in transition, in all regions ofthe world. ISO’s portfolio of more than 18 000standards provides practical tools for all threedimensions of sustainable development :economic, environmental and societal.ISO standards for business, governmentand society as a whole make a positivecontribution to the world we live in.They ensure vital features such as quality,ecology, safety, economy, reliability,compatibility, interoperability, conformity,efficiency and effectiveness. Theyfacilitate trade, spread knowledge, andshare technological advances and goodmanagement practice.ISO develops only those standards thatare required by the market. This work iscarried out by experts on loan from theindustrial, technical and business sectorswhich have asked for the standards, andwhich subsequently put them to use. Theseexperts may be joined by others with relevantknowledge, such as representatives ofgovernment agencies, testing laboratories,consumer associations and academia, andby nongovernmental or other stakeholderorganizations that have a specific interest inthe issues addressed in the standards.Published under the designation ofInternational Standards, ISO standardsrepresent an international consensus on thestate of the art in the technology or goodpractice concerned.ISO and the environmentISO has a multi-faceted approach to meeting the needs of all stakeholders from business, industry, governmental authorities andnongovernmental organizations, as well asconsumers, in the field of the environment.1.ISO has developed standards thathelp organizations to take a proactiveapproach to managing environmentalissues: the ISO 14000 family ofenvironmental management standardswhich can be implemented in anytype of organization in either public orprivate sectors – from companies toadministrations to public utilities.2.ISO is helping to meet the challengeof climate change with standards forgreenhouse gas accounting, verificationand emissions trading, and for measuringthe carbon footprint of products.3.ISO develops normative documentsto facilitate the fusion of business andenvironmental goals by encouraging theinclusion of environmental aspects inproduct design.4.ISO offers a wide-ranging portfolio ofstandards for sampling and test methodsto deal with specific environmentalchallenges. It has developed some 570International Standards for the monitoringof such aspects as the quality of air, waterand the soil, as well as noise, radiation,and for controlling the transport ofdangerous goods. They also serve in anumber of countries as the technical basisfor environmental regulations.
Environmental managementand sustainabilityOrganizations around the world, as well astheir stakeholders, are becoming increasinglyaware of the need for environmentalmanagement, socially responsible behaviour,and sustainable growth and development.Accordingly, as the proactive managementof environmental aspects converges withenterprise risk management, corporategovernance, and sound operational andfinancial practices and performance,International Standards are becomingincreasingly important for organizations towork towards common and comparableenvironmental management practicesto support the sustainability of theirorganizations, products, and services.Furthermore, governments and regulatorybodies are increasingly looking to ISOstandards to provide a framework to ensurealignment and consistency both nationallyand internationally.ISO International Standards and relatednormative documents provide consumers,regulators and organizations in both publicand private sectors with environmental toolswith the following characteristics :9 9 Technically credible as ISO standardsrepresent the sum of knowledge of abroad pool of international expertise andstakeholders9 9 Fulfil stakeholder needs as the ISOstandards development process is basedon international input and consensus9 9 Facilitate the development ofuniform requirements as the ISOstandards development process is builton participation by its national memberinstitutes from all regions of the world9 9 Promote efficiencies when the samestandards are implemented acrossmarkets, sectors, and/or jurisdictions9 9 Support regulatory compliance whenthe standards are used to meet marketand regulatory needs9 9 Enhance investor confidencebecause the standards can be used forconformity assessment such as by audit,inspection or certification. This enhancesconfidence in products, services andsystems that can be demonstrated toconform to ISO standards and providespractical support for regulation.Environmental Management 2009 – 3
ISO/TC 207,Environmental managementOriginsCompatibilityISO technical committee ISO/TC 207,Environmental management, isresponsible for developing and maintainingthe ISO 14000 family of standards.The committee’s current portfolio consistsof 21 published International Standards andother types of normative document, withanother nine new or revised documents inpreparation.From its beginning, it was recognized thatISO/TC 207 should cooperate closely withISO/TC 176, Quality management andquality assurance – the ISO technicalcommittee responsible for the ISO 9000family of quality management standards – inthe areas of management systems, auditingand related terminology.ISO/TC 207 was established in 1993, asa result of ISO’s commitment to respondto the complex challenge of “sustainabledevelopment” articulated at the 1992 UnitedNations Conference on Environment andDevelopment in Rio de Janeiro.It also stemmed from an intensiveconsultation process, carried out within theframework of the ISO Strategic AdvisoryGroup on Environment (SAGE). SAGEwas established in 1991 and brought togetherrepresentatives of a variety of countries andinternational organizations – a total of morethan 100 environmental experts – who helpedto define how International Standards couldsupport better environmental management.As a result, the ISO 14000 family ofstandards for environmental managementwas launched to provide a practical toolboxto assist in the implementation of actionssupportive to sustainable development.4 – Environmental Management 2009Successful steps have been taken toensure compatibility of the ISO 14001 andISO 9001 standards to facilitate their use byorganizations that wish to implement bothenvironmental and quality managementsystems to benefit themselves and theircustomers and stakeholders. These stepsinclude a common standard (ISO 19011) givingguidelines for auditing environmental and/orquality management systems.Global participationMembership of ISO/TC 207 is among thehighest of any ISO technical committee and isboth broad and diverse in representation, twokey indicators of the worldwide interest in thework of this technical committee. National delegations of environmental experts from over 100countries participate in ISO/TC 207, including27 developing countries. The leadership of thecommittee is “ twinned ” between a developedand developing country (currently Canada andBrazil).
The national delegations are chosen bythe national standards institute concernedand they are required to bring to ISO/TC 207a national consensus on issues beingaddressed by the technical committee. Thisnational consensus is derived from a processof consultation with interested parties andstakeholders in each country.ISO/TC 207 continues to explore new andinnovative ways to allow member countriesto contribute and participate in the standardsdevelopment process without increasing theircarbon footprint.ISO/TC 207 has relationships with over30 international organizations that serve asliaison members to the technical committee.These organizations include the following :9 9 Asian Productivity Organization9 9 Confederation of European PaperIndustries9 9 European Commission9 9 Environmental Defense Fund9 9 Global Ecolabelling Network9 9 International Aluminium InstituteScope of ISO/TC 207’s workPublished documents and ongoing work ofISO/TC 207 address the following areas :9 9 Environmental management systems9 9 Environmental auditing and relatedenvironmental investigations9 9 Environmental performance evaluation9 9 Environmental labelling9 9 Life cycle assessment9 9 Environmental communication9 9 Environmental aspects of product designand development9 9 Environmental aspects in productstandards9 9 Terms and definitions9 9 Greenhouse gas management and relatedactivities9 9 Measuring the carbon footprint of products.The ISO 14000 family of standardsreflects international consensus on goodenvironmental and business practice that canbe applied by organizations all over the worldin their specific context.9 9 International Chamber of Commerce9 9 International Institute for SustainableDevelopment9 9 International Iron and Steel Institute9 9 Organisation for Economic Co-operationand Development9 9 Sierra Club9 9 United Nations Environment Programme9 9 World Business Council for SustainableDevelopment9 9 World Health Organization9 9 World Resources Institute9 9 World Trade Organization.Environmental Management 2009 – 5
Overview of the ISO 14000family of standardsPublished standardsISO 14001 is the world’s most recognizedframework for environmentalmanagement systems (EMS) –implemented from Argentina to Zimbabwe– that helps organizations both to managebetter the impact of their activities on theenvironment and to demonstrate soundenvironmental management.ISO 14001 has been adopted as a nationalstandard by more than half of the 160 nationalmembers of ISO and its use is encouragedby governments around the world. Althoughcertification of conformity to the standard isnot a requirement of ISO 14001, at the end of2007, at least 154 572 certificates had beenissued in 148 countries and economies.Other environmental managementtools developed by ISO/TC 207 include :ISO 14004, which complements ISO 14001 byproviding additional guidance and usefulexplanations.Environmental audits are important toolsfor assessing whether an EMS is properlyimplemented and maintained. The auditingstandard, ISO 19011, is equally useful forEMS and quality management system audits.It provides guidance on principles of auditing,managing audit programmes, the conduct ofaudits and on the competence of auditors.ISO 14031 provides guidance onhow an organization can evaluate itsenvironmental performance. Thestandard also addresses the selection ofsuitable performance indicators, so thatperformance can be assessed against criteriaset by management. This information canbe used as a basis for internal and externalreporting on environmental performance.Communication on the environmentalaspects of products and services is animportant way to use market forces toinfluence environmental improvement.6 – Environmental Management 2009Truthful and accurate information providesthe basis on which consumers can makeinformed purchasing decisions.The ISO 14020 series of standardsaddresses a range of different approachesto environmental labels anddeclarations, including eco-labels (seals ofapproval), self-declared environmental claims,and quantified environmental informationabout products and services.ISO 14001 addresses not only theenvironmental aspects of an organization’sprocesses, but also those of its productsand services. Therefore ISO/TC 207 hasdeveloped additional tools to assist inaddressing such aspects. Life-cycleassessment (LCA) is a tool for identifyingand evaluating the environmental aspectsof products and services from the “cradle tothe grave” : from the extraction of resourceinputs to the eventual disposal of the productor its waste. The ISO 14040 standards giveguidelines on the principles and conduct ofLCA studies that provide an organization withinformation on how to reduce the overallenvironmental impact of its products andservices.ISO 14064 parts 1, 2 and 3 are internationalgreenhouse gas (GHG) accountingand verification standards which providea set of clear and verifiable requirements tosupport organizations and proponents of GHGemission reduction projects.ISO 14065 complements ISO 14064by specifying requirements to accreditor recognize organizational bodies thatundertake GHG validation or verification usingISO 14064 or other relevant standards orspecifications.ISO 14063, on environmentalcommunication guidelines and examples,helps companies to make the important linkto external stakeholders.
ISO Guide 64 provides guidance foraddressing environmental aspectsin product standards. Althoughprimarily aimed at standards developers,its guidance is also useful for designersand manufacturers.Upcoming new standardsSustainable development policyand practice has attracted considerableattention and debate in the past 15 years.Our understanding of and concerns aboutenvironmental and sustainable developmentissues have also evolved over time. Just as theexisting ISO 14000 standards play an importantrole in helping organizations to address today’spriorities, so too can future standards help toaddress future priorities.An integral part of an organization’s EMS isthe commitment to continual improvement.ISO/TC 207 takes this principle to heart andis constantly improving its process to identifyand respond to new standardization needs.ISO/TC 207’s success in continuing to workon relevant standards is evidenced by thedevelopment of the following new standards :ISO 14045 will provide principles andrequirements for eco-efficiencyassessment. Eco-efficiency relatesenvironmental performance to value created.The standard will establish an internationallystandardized methodological framework foreco-efficiency assessment, thus supportinga comprehensive, understandable andtransparent presentation of eco-efficiencymeasures.ISO 14051 will provide guidelines for generalprinciples and framewo
or recognize organizational bodies that undertake GHG validation or verification using ISO 14064 or other relevant standards or specifications. ISO 14063, on environmental communication guidelines and examples, helps companies to make the important link to external stakeholders. Overview of the ISO 14000 family of standards Published standards. Environmental Management 2009 – 7 ISO Guide 64 .
