ISO 14000 Series of Standards, Emerging Needs and Expected Contribution from Stakeholders

Abstract

Standardisation in the field of environmental management systems and tools in support of sustainable development are being carried out by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) through its Technical Committee ISO/TC 207 and its various subcommittees. Standards developed by ISO/TC 207 are commonly named as ISO 14000 family .Up to now, 45 standards
already developed on consensus and published as voluntary standards and 20 more are in the pipe line of standardisation. ISO 14000 family focuses on specific approaches such as audits, communications, labelling and life cycle analysis, as well as environmental challenges such as climate change. Organisations implement ISO 14000 family standards to demonstrate their environmental performance and commitment to manage environmental responsibilities in a systematic manner as it contributes to the environmental pillar of sustainability. In accomplishment of environmental objectives, support of conformity assessment services such as testing, inspection and certification available in the market is vital factor. Selection of suitable and credible conformity assessment services is burden to Environmentalist or anyone work for any organisation, enforcement and regulatory bodies and policy makers on environment in the country. Reliability and credibility of conformity assessment services and competency of bodies performing conformity assessments are ensured through accreditation process. A review of ISO 14000 family against the thematic areas of the symposium was conducted as primary data collection method under descriptive qualitative studies. The document review found that there are 32 standards related to Forest and Natural Resource Management, 14 standards related to Biodiversity and Ecological Health, 28 standards related to Climate Change and Disaster Management, 10 standards related to Sustainable Land Use and Urban Development, 14 standards related to Biomass and Sustainable Energy, 23 standards related to Waste Management and Pollution Control, 23 standards related to Wood Science, Wood and Non Wood Industry, 14 standards related to Environmental Economics in Resource Management, 14 standards related to Geology, Soil and Water Resource Management, 18 standards related to Environmental Engineering and Green Technology and 23 standards related to Corporate Responsibility and sustainable tourism. This article aims to provide an overview on ISO 14000 family standards in relation to thematic areas of the symposium and open up new window for environmental community to extend their research and development activities towards compliance & monitoring in accordance with international standards and revisit and amend existing environmental regulations , introduce new policies/regulations to facilitate emerging environmental needs and convert business processes to improve environmental performance.

Keywords: ISO 14000 Family, Monitoring and compliance, Conformity assessment accreditation regulations