Why should we implement ISO14000 environmental management series standards?

The ISO14000 environmental management series of standards is a set of international standards issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) following the ISO9000 quality management series of standards. In 1993, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) formally established the Environmental Management Technical Committee with the serial number ISO/TC207, and officially started the work of formulating international universal standards for environmental management. ISO has allocated 100 standard numbers from 14001 to 14100 to TC207, collectively referred to as the ISO14000 series of standards, of which the ISO14001 standard is the core of the entire ISO14000 series of standards, and is also the only standard in this series of standards that can be used as the basis for third-party audit and certification of environmental management systems. Other standards are its supplements, interpretations and applications.

After the launch of the ISO14000 environmental management series of standards, the President of the International Organization for Standardization, Mohrmann, made the following evaluation of the environmental management standards. He believed that the standards can enhance environmental awareness, improve environmental behavior and performance; establish an effective mechanism for environmental management and promote continuous improvement, reduce environmental liability losses, and rationally utilize resources; and standardize environmental protection for the benefit of the next generation.

The purpose of standard implementation is to help organizations achieve the unity of environmental goals and economic goals, and to support environmental protection and pollution prevention. This is the fundamental starting point for the International Organization for Standardization to draft and implement this series of standards, and it should also be the ultimate goal for enterprises to implement standards and establish systems. Standards are not only to emphasize what requirements enterprises should meet, but more importantly to establish a management system for continuous improvement for enterprises. The implementation of standards also helps to eliminate non-tariff barriers set up by countries on environmental issues in international trade. This trade barrier has become a focus of world attention in recent years and is becoming the largest non-tariff barrier, hindering the export of products from developing countries to developed countries. The introduction of this international standard will change the situation of each doing its own thing in this field, form an environmental management standard based on the laws and regulations of various countries, provide a large space for developing countries in the establishment and certification of systems, and also set higher goals for the environmental behavior of enterprises in developing countries, creating an opportunity to keep up with the development of international environmental management.