UK in top five for ISO 14001 environmental certification

Figures published recently show that more than 267,000 organisations in 158 countries are now certified against the ISO14001 standard's requirements. The standard, which aims to improve environmental performance in business and public sector organisations. During 2011 the top five countries holding the highest number of certificates were China, Japan, Italy, Spain, and the UK. The top six countries maintaining the highest levels of growth in certificates were China, Italy, France, Romania, Republic of Korea and the UK.

The Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment's (IEMA) executive director of policy, Martin Baxter said: "Growing at a rate of 6% during 2011, ISO14001 has proved both popular and effective at providing a global framework through which organisations across the world manage their impacts on the environment. With the UK maintaining its position as one of the top 5 countries globally this is excellent news for UK plc as companies are using ISO14001 to maintain competitive advantage, cutting costs, enhancing their reputation and winning new business."

Baxter added: "ISO14001 presents a fantastic opportunity to influence over a quarter of a million companies in the world. During this time of economic uncertainty, this continued growth in the number of companies that are now certified demonstrates that investing in environmental measures plays a fundamental role in helping companies and economies build a sustainable future."

Corporate Risk Systems has a range of solutions to support your organisation to gain, train or maintain ISO14001. Whether you are looking for a bespoke consultancy package to maximise business and environmental benefits to your organisation, or need support with a specific element our Team of EMS experts can help you with our Footsteps to 14001 System. We also run a range of in-house and open training courses to support your need; the brand new CIEH Level 3 Award in Environmental Management has been developed to specific to support managers operating IS014001.