The origin of ISO14000

In 1972, the United Nations held a conference on the human environment in Stockholm, Sweden. The conference established an independent committee, the "World Commission on Environment and Development." The committee undertook the investigation and research task of reassessing the relationship between environment and development. It lasted for several years. After verifying a large number of materials, Yu Ji published the "Our Common Future" report in 1987. This report introduced the concept of "sustainable development" for the first time. , Urge the industry to establish an effective environmental management system. As soon as the report was promulgated, it was supported by leaders of more than 50 countries, who jointly called for a world conference to discuss thematic topics and formulate an action plan.

Since the 1980s, some companies in the United States and Western Europe have begun to establish their own environmental management methods in order to respond to the call for sustainable development, reduce pollution, and improve their public image to obtain operational support. This is the embryonic form of the environmental management system. In 1985, the Netherlands took the lead in proposing the concept of establishing a corporate environmental management system, which was implemented on a trial basis in 1988 and entered the standardization and licensing system in 1990. In 1990, the European Union specifically discussed the issue of environmental audits at the Environmental Roundtable in Munich. The UK has also formulated the BS7750 environmental management system on the basis of the quality system standard (BS5750). After the implementation of the UK's BS7750 and the EU's environmental audit, many European countries have carried out factory inspection activities, and a third party will prove the company's environmental performance. These practical activities have established the basis for the production of the ISO14000 series of standards.

The "Environment and Development" conference was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. 183 countries and more than 70 international organizations attended the conference and passed the "Agenda 21" and other documents. The convening of this conference marked the beginning of the era of global pursuit of sustainable development. Government leaders, scientists, and the public of various countries recognize that to achieve the goal of sustainable development, it is necessary to change the industrial pollution control strategy, starting with strengthening environmental management, and establishing a new concept of pollution prevention (cleaner production). Through the enterprise's "self-decision, self-control, and self-management" approach, environmental management is integrated into the overall management of the enterprise.

For this reason, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) established the ISO/TC207 Environmental Management Technical Committee in June 1993 to formally develop a series of environmental management standards to regulate the environment for the activities, products and services of all organizations such as enterprises and social organizations. Behaviors to support global environmental protection work.

Some large companies in Europe and the United States began to formulate their environmental policies spontaneously in the 1980s, entrusting external environmental consulting companies to investigate their environmental performance, and publicizing the results of the investigation (this can be considered the predecessor of environmental audits). This proves their excellent environmental management and proud environmental performance. Their practices have gained the public's understanding of the company and won widespread recognition, and the company has also obtained economic and environmental benefits accordingly. In order to implement this approach, by the end of 1990, Europe formulated two related plans to provide companies with environmental management methods so that they do not have to take separate actions to prove credibility. The first plan of di is BS7750, which is formulated by the British standard; the second plan is the EU's environmental management system, called the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), and most of its content comes from BS7750. After trying these standards, many companies have achieved better environmental and economic benefits. These two standards are well promoted and implemented in Europe.

At the same time, other countries in the world have also begun to establish environmental management systems in accordance with the terms of BS7750 and EMAS, and with reference to their own laws and standards.