Does ISO 14001 certification enhance environmental performance? - A Working Paper

[Sidney Vianna]

Does ISO 14001 Certification Enhance Environmental Performance? - Conditions under which Environmental Performance Improvement Occurs

 

[Jim Wynne]

Does ISO 14001 Certification Enhance Environmental Performance? - Conditions under which Environmental Performance Improvement Occurs

It seems like a non sequitur to me; doing things to enhance environmental performance is what enhances environmental performance. ISO 14001 certification is a form of recognition that a system is in place, nothing more. I suppose it could be said that the idea of making people aware of environmental improvement through some sort of mandatory certification could help things in a general sense, though, much as mandatory driver licensing helps to improve the overall skill level of the driving populace.

 

[Sidney Vianna]

much as mandatory driver licensing helps to improve the overall skill level of the driving populace.

If the driver licensing process had an annual re-examination with the underlying requirement for the drivers to show continual improvement, then, chances are, the driving performance would improve. Environmental performance improvement would only be a byproduct (pun intended) of EMS certification if the CB's kept the registered organization accountable to the continual improvement aspect of the ISO 14001 standard. Some CB's do it. Some don't. That is one of the reasons why the conclusion section of the working paper I posted states

The studies so far, especially the empirical literature, treated ISO certification as a homogeneous phenomenon. It is implicitly assumed that there is no difference in the design, development and use of ISO 14001 standards among facilities. Apparently, this assumption does not hold.

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[BSMITH]

Does ISO 14001 Certification Enhance Environmental Performance? - Conditions under which Environmental Performance Improvement Occurs

Sidney,

It is difficult to respond to the working paper when the data from the study is missing; no graphs or figures are included.

Their general conclusions seem rather obvious; many third-party auditors could have come up with similar conclusions about their clients. Many large organizations have had environmental management systems well before publication of the first version of ISO 14001 in 1996.

It is too bad that they didn't circulate their questionnaire and study proposal more widely before gathering the data. They seem unaware of the Clean Texas Cleaner World program which requires EPA National Environmental Performance Track membership but has much more restrictive requirements.

It may be a good time to start studying implementation of the Clean Texas Cleaner World program, Responsible Care 14001, the U.S. Department of Energy's Integrated Safety (ES&H) Management System, and other programs that are more prescriptive and focused on performance measurements and accomplishments than ISO 14001-2004 alone.

Brent W. Smith