Management system guidance
6.2 Environmental Objectives and Planning to Achieve Them
ISO Navigator Pro™ is a free tool that provides practical, expert guidance for businesses wishing to interpret and better implement the requirements of ISO 9001:2026, ISO 14001:2026 and ISO 45001:2018.
Our range of ISO templates cover the requirements of ISO 9001:2026, ISO 14001:2026 and ISO 45001:2018, and offer an easy way to implement your next management system.
6.2.2 Planning actions to achieve environmental objectives
Your organization must plan how each of its environmental objectives will be achieved. For every objective the plan has to establish what will be done, what resources will be needed, who will be responsible, when the work will be completed, and how the results will be evaluated – including the indicators that will be used to track progress toward measurable objectives (see 9.1.1). Your organization must also consider how these actions can be built into its business processes, rather than being run as a separate “environmental” activity.
What changed in ISO 14001:2026
Clause 6.2.2 is unchanged in substance from ISO 14001:2015. Note, however, that clause 6.1.5 Planning action (renumbered from 6.1.4) expects actions for significant aspects, compliance obligations and risks and opportunities to be implemented through EMS processes, including 6.2, so your objective action plans are one of the main routes for delivering those actions.
Evaluating results and indicators
You should look for evidence that effective planning is taking place to support the achievement of your organization’s objectives. The use of indicators needs to be audited in detail in order to determine whether:
- Objectives are based on sound information;
- Indicators really relate to the corresponding objectives;
- Statistical tools are needed to define and to monitor objectives;
- Indicators are reaching the expected values;
- The organization can demonstrate that the objective has been achieved.
Building the action plan
You should ensure that the planning takes into account the objectives set under 6.2.1, as well as the following points:
- The processes, resources, skills and budget needed to achieve each target (see 7.1 and 7.2);
- Technological options, such as more efficient equipment, cleaner process inputs or pollution control technology;
- Milestones and interim checkpoints at appropriate stages;
- The monitoring methods and data sources that will feed each indicator, including calibration of any environmental monitoring equipment used;
- Any operational controls that need to be introduced or changed (see 8.1).
Establishing an action plan for each objective may require considerable effort on the part of the personnel at relevant levels within your organization. To ensure the progress of the action plan and a coordinated effort, a target leader should be selected for each target. The target leader will be responsible for ensuring a target is achieved within the specified time-frame. Once the action plan is established, you must implement it. You may find that the following suggestions will help foster a cooperative effort in accomplishing the plan:
- Involve your employees early in establishing and carrying out the action plans;
- Communicate the expectations and responsibilities laid out in the action plans to those who need to know;
- Build on the plans and programs you already have for environmental compliance;
- Keep it simple;
- Focus on continual improvement of the action plans over time.
Integrating actions into business processes
Environmental actions are more likely to be delivered when they are part of normal business decisions. Examples include adding energy and waste criteria to capital expenditure approvals, building environmental requirements into purchasing specifications and supplier selection, including objective milestones in departmental budgets and business plans, and making targets part of managers’ performance reviews.
The action plan should be revised regularly to reflect changes in your organization’s objectives and targets. Track all new or modified operations, activities, products and services in case the plan needs to be amended to reflect these changes, and manage any resulting changes to the EMS in a planned way (see 6.3 Planning of changes).
You should seek and record evidence that an action plan exists for each environmental objective, showing the actions, resources, responsibilities, completion dates and evaluation method; that indicators are defined and are being used to track progress; that progress is reviewed and actions are taken when targets slip; and that your organization has considered how the actions can be integrated into its business processes.
More information on PDCA
Planning
Context
Planning
Support
Doing
Support
Operations
Checking
Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation
Acting
Improvement
Want to know more?
- Read our customer's feedback
- Client list - who's using our templates?
- How the templates are formatted and download examples
- Why we use turtle diagrams and process maps
- What's the difference between a process and a procedure?
- About documented information
SSL certification
A certificate guarantees the information your internet browser is receiving now originates from the expected domain - https://www.iso9001help.co.uk. It guarantees that when you make a purchase, sensitive data is encrypted and sent to the right place, and not to a malicious third-party.
Free PDCA guidance
ISO Navigator™ is our FREE online training tool that shows you how to apply the principles of PDCA to your operations. We also offer many helpful templates that get you on the road to documenting your management system, please visit the download page.