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In June 1992 the "Earth Summit" was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, organized by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The objective was to discuss global environmental problems and sustainable development and to adopt "The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development". In Japan, Keidanren (the Chamber of Commerce equivalent) established the "Global Environment Charter" in 1991. Internationally, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) announced the "Business Charter for Sustainable Development", and emphasized the responsibility of organizations for the maintenance of global environment.
Against this background, a conference of the Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD), an international grouping of industrial representatives, was held under the auspices of UNCED. This conference recommended that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) develop an international standard for environmental management. In response to this request, ISO and IEC jointly organized a "Strategic Advisory Group for Environment" in 1991 and started preliminary studies, which led to the establishment, in February 1993, of the ISO Technical Committee for Environmental Management (ISO TC 207).
The first environmental management standard, ISO 14001 for Environmental Management Systems (EMS) was published in 1996. ISO 14001 sets out the requirements for managing the effects of business activities on the environment, including a process of continuous improvement of environmental performance, in order to reduce the environmental burden generated by the activities of the organization, and by the products and services it produces (an Environmental Management System).
Following the publication of this new international standard, ISO 14001, in 1996, Certification/Registration Schemes for ISO 14001 were developed and began operation, on a similar model to ISO 9000. As was the case with ISO 9000, the movement spread from the early adopting countries to cover most countries in the world.
Like ISO 9000, ISO 14001 is subject to review every five years. Preparatory work for a first revision of the standard is currently underway.
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The ISO 14000 series of standards are international standards specifically designed for the purpose of minimizing the impact of business activities on the environment. The series includes ISO 14001 and 14004 for Environmental Management Systems, ISO 14010, 14011, 14012, for environmental audits, ISO 14024 for eco-labeling etc. ISO 14001 was published in 1996 and specifies a system for continuous improvement of environmental performance, including the reduction of the environmental burden generated by the activities of businesses, and by the products and services they produce, i.e., the requirements for an Environmental Management System (EMS).
The ISO 14001 standard incorporates the PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act) that has always been the basic concept of Total Quality Management (TQM). The methodology aims to reduce the environmental burden and to prevent environmental accidents from happening.
Like ISO 9001 for Quality Management Systems, ISO 14001 is the standard used when organizations make a declaration of conformity in relation to their Environmental Management System or when they obtain EMS certification from a third-party Certification/Registration Body.
Organizations or businesses that are certified against ISO 14001, are perceived by consumers as being more environmentally responsible than companies that are not certified and will be preferred by consumers. It is, therefore, expected that more organizations will obtain ISO 14001 certification, and implement environmentally responsible business practices, and that gradually this will become commonplace.
For information on the progress of standards development by ISO/TC 207 (Technical Committee for Environmental Management), please visit the website of the Japanese Standards Association. http://www.jsa.or.jp/
In Japan, the electric/electronic industry was the first to show keen interest in obtaining ISO 14001 certification, but these days interest is spreading to include local administrative authorities, trading firms, hospitals and banks, and the number of ISO 14001 certificates issued is growing exponentially. Japan now leads the world in the number of organizations with Environmental Management Systems certified to ISO 14001.
The reason why ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 are attracting so much interest can probably be explained by the fact that they are globally recognized international standards. At the same time, the Certification/Registration Bodies that audit the organizations and certify conformity against the standards are also contributing to the rising interest. The Certification/Registration Bodies and Auditor Training Bodies that play the central role in this conformity assessment structure are accredited by the Japan Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment (JAB). They are assessed by JAB in accordance with JAB's accreditation criteria, which are, in turn, based on international conformity assessment standards. Once accredited, these Bodies receive a certificate of accreditation and can use the JAB logo on the ISO 9001:2000 or ISO 14001 certificates that they issue to their clients. In Japan, there are more than fifty Certification/Registration Bodies and Auditor Training Bodies all told, including those of both domestic and foreign origin.
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