ISO 14001 is being revised - what can we expect?

Following the last revision (revision) of ISO 14001 in 2015, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is now once again working on a possible revision, which is expected at the end of 2025. Some of our qualityaustria experts are represented in the international standardization committee and we are pleased to be able to provide you with the latest information in compact form.

Some of the planned changes are as follows:

• ISO 14001:2015/ WD AMD 2, ISO TC 207, WG 15 are currently under revision
• Environmental aspects will be further developed as "technical topics" in ISO 14002-1 ff
• The "life cycle perspective" as well as climate change adaptation and the significance of greenhouse gases are presented more prominently as future topics in the environmental aspects in accordance with the London Declaration from 09-21
• Adaptation of the standard from the original HLS (High Level Structure) to the new Harmonized Structure and expansion to include standard section 6.3 "Planning of change"
• There are ideas for anchoring the "purpose" of an organization in the standard. However, there are very different points of view on this
• The term "outsourcing" is replaced by "externally provided"
• Reporting will also become more of a focus in the future
• Amendment means that, above all, clarifications and additional explanations are to be expected in the appendix or in "Notes"

Next steps

The standard is currently in the design specification process – the revised standard is therefore not expected to be published until fall 2025 at the earliest. We will of course keep you up to date on the current status and are available to answer any questions you may have until then!