BASIS AND PRINCIPLES BEHIND THE ISO 14000 SERIES STANDARDS

The ISO 14000 series Standards are developed with the following objectives:
• They must result in better environmental management.
• They must be applicable in all nations.
• They should promote the broad interests of the public and the users of the standards.
• They should be cost effective, non-prescriptive, and flexible, to allow them to meet the differing needs of organizations of any size worldwide.
• As part of their flexibility, they should be suitable for internal or external verification.
• They should be scientifically based.
• And above all, they should be practical, useful and useable.


ISO 14001:2004 EMS Standard is based upon the following principles:

Principle 1 – Commitment and policy: An organization should define its environmental policy and ensure commitment to its environmental management system.

Principle 2 – Planning: An organization should formulate a plan to fulfill its environmental policy.

Principle 3 – Implementation: For effective implementation, an organization should develop the capabilities and support mechanisms necessary to achieve its environmental policy, objectives and targets.

Principle 4 – Measurement and evaluation: An organization should check (monitor, measure and evaluate) its environmental performance.

Principle 5 – Review and improvement: An organization should review and continually improve its environmental management system, with the objective of improving its overall environmental performance.