ISO discusses environmental standards revisions

The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) conducted a series of meetings from 23-28 May in order to resolve comments and questions submitted during the revision process of ISO 14001 - an international standard for the development of effective environmental management systems.

Susan Briggs, convenor of the group of experts leading the revision, explained that some of the major changes to the document include “requirements for visible involvement; support and commitment from top management; and for strategic understanding of the environmental issues that are important to the organisation”.

The experts also worked on the revision of the greenhouse gas standards ISO 14064 and ISO 14065, intended to make them easier to use and more adapted to the current market and policy needs. The chair of the committee tackling this project is Tom Baumann.

“This revision process was initiated because of the changing political climate, market needs and from feedback from practitioners on ways to improve these standards,” Baumann said. “For example, within 14064-2, which is for greenhouse gas projects, that standard will be elaborated on so that it can be applied for projects which generate carbon credits, innovative technology projects and projects internal to organisations.”

Baumann further noted that 14064-3, which relates to greenhouse gas verification and validation, is used alongside 14065 by greenhouse gas programs in support of their verification insurance needs. “These two standards are going to be revised so that they work better together and also serve new market needs,” he said.

Experts agreed during the week that the draft water footprint standard ISO 14046 would be published as an International Standard, with the final document expected in July. The Draft International Standard of ISO 14001 will also be published next month.