According the International Organization of Standardization (ISO), there are more than 300,000 certifications to ISO 14001 in 171 countries around the world, making it the most relied-upon symbol of environmental stewardship and sustainable business practice. True to its core tenant of continual improvement, the ISO 14001 environmental management system (EMS) standard has rolled out its latest update—the 2015 version—making the program leaner and more business-focused than ever before.

But the clock is ticking and has been since September 2015, when the new version was published. Beginning in March 2017, accredited certification bodies will cease issuing certificates to the earlier ISO 14001:2004 version, and in September 2018, ISO will end all support for the 2004 version.

“Too many organizations have gotten the impression that it’s just a routine update, and they can put it off until the last minute,” says Mickey Jawa, chairman and CEO of SatiStar Corp., a business-performance consulting company.

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