Environment and energy
ISO 14001:2026
Environmental management systems
ISO 14001 sets out requirements for an environmental management system.
A certified organisation has identified how its activities, products and services affect the environment, knows the environmental law and other obligations that apply to it, and works to objectives that reduce harm and improve its environmental performance. ISO 14001:2026 is the current edition.
Who it suits
Manufacturers, construction, logistics and waste businesses, utilities, and any organisation that uses significant energy, water or materials, produces emissions or waste, or holds environmental permits. Offices and service organisations also use it when customers or funders ask for evidence of environmental management, and it is often requested in public-sector and large-company supply chains.
What certification involves
ISAO, or a certification body accredited for ISO 14001, audits the system in two stages: first the scope, the environmental aspects the organisation has identified and its readiness; then, on site, whether the controls work in practice. Auditors look closely at how the organisation keeps track of its legal obligations and checks that it meets them. Certification covers the management system, not the environmental performance of individual products, and it is neither an environmental permit nor a product label. Certificates are normally valid for three years, with surveillance audits at least once a year and a recertification audit before expiry. ISAO carries out this certification itself, and also accredits certification bodies to do it. Every certificate ISAO issues, and every certificate issued under ISAO accreditation, is recorded on the public register.
Key themes
- Identifying environmental aspects and their significant impacts, including in abnormal and emergency conditions
- Keeping track of compliance obligations and evaluating whether they are met
- A life cycle view of products and services, from raw materials to end of life
- How environmental conditions, such as climate change, affect the organisation
- Objectives and plans to improve environmental performance
- Operational control, including outsourced processes, and emergency preparedness
- Monitoring, internal audit, management review and improvement
Edition and transition
- Current edition
- ISO 14001:2026
- Replaces
- ISO 14001:2015Previous edition, in transition
- Transition period under ISAO accreditation
- Contact us
ISO 14001:2026, the fourth edition, was published in April 2026. It replaces ISO 14001:2015 and that edition's 2024 climate change amendment. The revision brings the standard into line with ISO's latest common text for management system standards and clarifies requirements on key topics, including risks and opportunities, the life cycle perspective and environmental conditions. It also adds requirements for planning and managing changes to the system.
A certificate to ISO 14001:2015 can stay valid during the transition period, but not beyond its own expiry date and only while it is not suspended or withdrawn. An organisation moves to the new edition through an audit by its certification body, usually combined with a surveillance or recertification audit.
Check a certificate for ISO 14001:2026
- Enter the certificate number or verification code at Verify a certificate, or scan the QR code on the certificate. The record shows the certificate's status today, for example valid, suspended, withdrawn or expired.
- Compare the organisation name, scope and sites on the record with the copy you were given. Environmental impacts differ from site to site, so check that the site you are concerned with is listed.
- Check who issued the certificate, as named on the record. Where a certification body accredited by ISAO issued it, the record shows the status of that accreditation and its accreditation number, and says so if the accreditation did not cover ISO 14001:2026 when the certificate was issued.
- During the transition a valid certificate may still name ISO 14001:2015, the previous edition: check it in the same way.
- If the certificate is not on the register, ISAO cannot confirm it: it may have been issued under another accreditation, or a detail may be wrong. Ask the issuing body, and report a concern if something does not look right.
Related standards
- ISO 50001:2018 Energy management systems Often run alongside ISO 14001
- ISO 9001:2026 Quality management systems For an integrated management system
- ISO 45001:2018 Occupational health and safety management systems For an integrated management system
- ISO 20121:2024 Event sustainability management systems Sustainability management for events
This is ISAO’s own summary, not the text of the standard. Copies of ISO 14001:2026 can be bought from ISO or from national standards bodies.