Future tasks of environmental management systems
When asked to what extent and with what intensity the ISO/TC 207* Technical Committee should address the five new environmental management concepts (Future Challenge Concepts) published in the committee's 2020 Report during the next revision, there was a narrow majority among non-users of the standard. They wanted more stringent requirements in relation to the two topics:
- Identifying environmental aspects in the supply chain or product life cycle
- Promoting environmental responsibility in organizations and employee engagement.
For standard users, on the other hand, the main focus was on further information and more clarity regarding existing requirements, as well as additional support.
* The ISO/TC 207 Technical Committee meets annually to further develop the ISO 14000ff series of environmental standards. The members discuss and update future requirements of various standards. Key action areas in the Future Challenges Report 2020 include identifying environmental aspects in the supply chain, promoting a culture of environmental responsibility, employee engagement in environmental management, integration of the environmental management system, and external reporting of environmental objectives.
ISO 14001 revision - Conclusion of the current survey
The majority of respondents (elicited mainly by standard users) would like to see more support in meeting existing standard requirements, but would rather not see any far-reaching changes from a possible revision (source: User Survey Report 2021).
It may play a role in this attitude that significantly more than half of the responding users are represented by environmental management officers who have to put new requirements into practice. According to their own statements, more than two thirds of the standard users needed more than six years to implement their environmental management system, which suggests an enormous amount of work.
These statements also refer to the so-called Future Challenge Concepts of ISO/TC 207, which would provide sufficient material for a revision of the environmental standard. However, the noticeable rejection of these concepts among standard users could also be due to the fact that they have been little known up to now.
Nevertheless, ISO/TC 207 has now initiated a revision of ISO 14001. However, in line with the wishes of the users of the standard, this "minor revision" will not contain any changes relevant to the requirements. The revised ISO 14001 standard is expected in fall 2025.