ISO standards and World Environment Day
Many ISO International Standards support the objectives of World Environment Day, held every year on 5 June by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which itself participates in developing ISO standards, notably the ISO 14000 family for environmental management. WED celebration began in 1972 and has grown to become the one of the main vehicles through which the UN stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and encourages political attention and action. The theme of WED 2011 is “FORESTS: NATURE AT YOUR SERVICE”.
The development by ISO of the ISO 14000 family was one of the concrete results following on from the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992,
translating into action ISO’s commitment to support the objective of sustainable development discussed at the first Earth Summit.
In essence, the ISO 14000 family provides a framework for organizations large and small, in manufacturing and services, in public and private sectors, in industrialized, developing and transition economies, to:
- Minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by their activities
- Meet regulatory requirements
- Achieve continual improvement of their environmental performance
- Improve business performance through more efficient use of resources
At end of December 2009, 13 years after publication of the first edition of ISO 14001, which gives the requirements for environmental management systems, the standard was being implemented by users in 159 countries and economies. These include both public and private sector organizations, large and small, in manufacturing and services, in developed and developing economies.
read at http://www.iso.org
