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Ten years after the last version of the ISO 14 001 standard, a new revision is needed to make it more readable and coherent in the light of new environmental and societal challenges.
Background to the revision
This revision takes the form of an amendment, i.e. a partial revision of the standard. The aim is to make the structure of the standard clearer and more readable, without adding any new requirements. The purpose of an amendment is to add or modify technical provisions to an existing standard, without modifying it entirely or adding any new requirements. A revision, on the other hand, is the complete modification of a standard.
However, publication of the new version, including the February 2024 amendment, should take the form of a consolidated version: ISO 14001/2025.
Content of the amendment
Firstly, the chapter on context includes new themes such as biodiversity, water, soil artificialisation and natural resources. The aim is to stress the importance of taking into account these environmental issues and the reciprocal impacts between the organization and its ecosystem. This means analyzing the organization's impact on the environment, but also analyzing how the ecosystem impacts the organization.
The notion of life-cycle perspective has been clarified to take better account of environmental aspects and impacts across the entire value chain, and thus move towards more accurate environmental analysis and improved operational control. In addition, the chapter on planning has been reorganized to improve the interface between the risks and opportunities approach and environmental aspects. The aim of this reorganization is to make this approach more coherent, by starting with environmental aspects and taking account of the context, risks and opportunities, then putting these elements into perspective in order to build the environmental policy.
With regard to external communication, the amendment stresses the importance of transparent communication with stakeholders. These requirements are modified to bring them into line with the obligations arising from the CSRD.
Compliance requirements have been lightened. In this new version, the organization must seek to achieve regulatory compliance, rather than a target of 100% compliance.
Furthermore, the notion of outsourced processes has been replaced by "processes, products or services supplied by external providers or suppliers, which are relevant to the expected results of the environmental management system".
Finally, a new clause on planning and change management has been included.
Implementation schedule
The partial revision of ISO 14001 is due to start in 2023, with a target publication date of 24 months.
The new version is due to be published in October 2025. It should be a consolidated version of the standard: ISO 14001/2025.
The amendment is directly applicable, but certifications are not called into question, since there are no new requirements. It is possible, however, that a transition period will be put in place to allow time for the changes to be fully understood.
