The new international environmental management standard ISO 14001:2015 has now been launched with a major update  - the first for a decade - affecting large and medium sized companies in particular.

According to Greg Roberts of Ramboll Environ – the only UK expert on the ISO14004 ISO committee – by bringing the 2004 version up to date, the new standard will force environmental management systems (EMS) to become more strategic, integrated and outward looking.

The new requirements can be grouped into five core areas:

• Strategic Leadership - Cross functional top management will need to promote and be accountable for the EMS. It should be integrated with business processes and compatible with business strategy.
• Context - The EMS will need to be built upon an understanding of what internal and external issues will assist or stop businesses from achieving their intended EMS goals.  
• Interested Parties - Businesses will be required to identify interested parties (customers, shareholders, regulators, local residents, etc), their needs and expectations and develop a communication plan to demonstrate that they will meet both legal and voluntary compliance obligations. 
• Risks and opportunities - Businesses will need to consider the impact of a changing environment on their organisation and manage risk and opportunities to build resilience into their EMS and their organisation.
• Lifecycle - The EMS will need to consider and manage impacts relating to suppliers, customers and at end of life in addition to those on their site.

Commenting on the changes, Greg Roberts said:

 “For organisations already signed up to the ISO14001 standard, starting transitioning to this new standard as soon as possible will make the process more efficient and bring more value to their business sooner, for example cutting costs further, increasing resilience and gaining greater competitive advantage. Conversely without a timely transition plan, loss of the certificate is a real risk; it’s not the sort of task that can be left to the last minute.”

“Too many environmental management systems are failing to add benefit to their organisations. The revised standard is a great opportunity to revitalise a failing EMS so that it is able to deliver real business value. This new version will also provide a stepping stone to developing a wider sustainability strategy by helping organisations to be more strategic and outward-looking in their approach to environmental management. 

“The first priority of any ISO14001:2015 transition project is to gain cross functional top management commitment – without it some of the new strategic and business focused requirements will be difficult to achieve. A gap assessment should be performed but specific focus should be given to understanding business processes and how the EMS can be integrated with them.”   

More than 300,000 certifications to ISO 14001 have been made in 171 countries around the world since the standard was first introduced in 1996 and then updated in 2004.  ISO14004, the guidance standard to help implement ISO14001, will be published late 2015/early 2016. The new version of the standard will continue to be used until 2025 and beyond.

The 2015 version brings substantial changes and organisations are being urged to take early action to ensure effective and efficient transition - without a clear and timely plan, there is a risk of losing the certificate, according to Ramboll.