ISO 14001 is the world’s best-known environmental management system standard, and it provides a systematic framework to help organizations protect the environment through balanced socio-economic means.

In conjunction with an updated ISO 9001, a new version of ISO 14001 is being released in the middle of 2015, approximately a year from today. A draft version of the revised standard should be available later this year.

Increased attention to ISO 14001 comes as more and more companies are considering the importance of the “triple bottom line”—not only financial, but social and ecological concerns. In this way, by incorporating sustainability and strengthening the standard with respect to business management, the standard helps organizations be more sustainable and forward-looking, as opposed to just focusing on managing environmental aspects and compliance issues. 

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