Environmental management according to ISO 14001 and EMAS: More up-to-date than ever before
Environmental protection, climate protection and sustainability dominate public discourse more than ever and are among the most important challenges of the present.
Conserving resources, reducing CO2 emissions and a circular economy worthy of the name are on the agenda, and the justified demand for more transparency and accountability are changing the markets and thus the demands on companies and organisations.
Thus, environmental protection as a competitive factor is now as important as the quality or price of products and services. The foresighted and systematic inclusion of environmental aspects in political and entrepreneurial decisions therefore holds not only idealistic values for companies, but also material and financial potential.
Why environmental management with a system?
An environmental management system enables organisations to contribute to the ecological pillar of sustainability. Both the ISO 14001 standard and the EMAS Regulation III provide a basis for the establishment of such a system that is accepted throughout Europe and the world. Certification or validation according to these standards by authorised bodies has established itself as a confidence-building and public relations measure. EMAS is considered one of the most demanding systems for sustainable environmental management worldwide due to its mandatory publication.
EMAS participants continuously improve their environmental performance with the help of a standardised management system that corresponds at least to the latest version of the international standard ISO 14001 and report on it in a public environmental statement according to defined standards.
Environmental management systems help to deal with current changes and to gradually move towards sustainable development.
The Brundtland Report 1987 already formulated that in order to satisfy today's needs and the needs of future generations, it is necessary to create a balance between ecology, economy and social behaviour. Sustainable development is to be achieved through the balance of these three pillars.
| ISO 14001 | EMAS III | |
| Goal / Scale | Continuous improvement of the EMS, geared towards improving environmental performance | Continuous improvement of the company's environmental performance (and the EMS) |
| Validity | Worldwide, internationally recognised | EU-wide, worldwide audit possible (Global EMAS) |
| Participant | 365,000 worldwide, approx. 12,000 in Germany (as of 2017) | 1,200 in Germany, 3,900 EU-wide |
| Test method |
Auditing by appointed auditors or environmental verifiers Certification on the basis of the audit result by an independent committee of the certification body. |
Assessment and validation by an environmental assessor |
| Proof of conformity | Certificate, participation logo | Validated environmental statement, entry in the EMAS register, participation logo |
| Public |
Publication of the environmental policy Advertising with certification mark(s)  |
Obligation to publish the environmental statement Advertising with the EMAS participation logo  |
| Legal Compliance | Commitment in environmental policy - procedures required to assess compliance with legal requirements | Commitment in environmental policy - procedure for continuous control of compliance with legal regulations, evidence |
EMAS covers part of the requirements of ISO 50001 and is therefore legally privileged in some regulations. EMAS validation is therefore considered equivalent, e.g. within the framework of the peak compensation and the special compensation scheme, and entitles the applicant to apply.
- GUTcert is THE environmental specialist - with the longest environmental experience within Germany.
- We are recognised by the DAkkS
- We have extensive know-how in various industries
- We certify worldwide - through our network in the AFNOR-Groupe
- The environmental verifiers and auditors of GUTcert all have practical experience and are always up to date.
- We offer integrated and combined certification procedures and compliance audits.