Management system guidance
Updating your environmental management system
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How are you preparing for ISO 14001:2026?
ISO 14001:2026 is the upcoming updated version of the international environmental management system standard, with publication expected in January 2026.
The final version will incorporate changes and new requirements that address today’s global environmental challenges, such as climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation, supply chain transparency, and increased stakeholder demands for robust environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and reporting.
Organizations certified to the ISO 14001:2015 standard must transition to the new version within three years following publication, so it is essential to begin planning for your ISO 14001:2026 transition early to avoid disruption and maintain certification.
Who is this information for?
This article is for business owners and environmental managers and is a reliable resource for ISO 14001:2026 transition preparation. It provides sound, actionable advice when preparing for the new requirements, whilst maintaining a cautious balance between providing useful planning information and acknowledging the preliminary nature of the draft requirements.
What is expected in the new version?
ISO 14001:2026 is the upcoming version of the ISO 14001 environmental management system requirements standard, which replaces ISO 14001:2015. It maintains the same high-level structure (Annex SL) but introduces new terminology and refined clauses with a stronger focus on environmental performance.
This revision requires businesses to consider the environmental impact of their suppliers and supply chain, use tools like data analytics or smart monitoring to monitor environmental performance, plan for environmental changes and disruptions, and ensure the transparency of environmental performance reporting.
What is the proposed transition timeline?
Stay informed about the ISO 14001:2026 changes by keeping up with the latest updates and expert insights to ensure your business is ready for the 2026 transition. Subscribe to industry newsletters or network with or follow trusted ISO professionals. Below is a realistic timeline with a phase-based approach; however, the timeline is not yet definitive until the new version is officially released. It is likely that by:
- June 2025: Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) released, allowing businesses and certification bodies to provide feedback. We have created a change summary that you can download that highlights the changes and the actions you can begin taking today.
- January 2026: Final publication of ISO 14001:2026 expected. The standard three-year transition period is expected, during which certified organizations must update their management systems to the new standard.
- January 2026 to 2027: Early-phase in which companies should start analyzing gaps and aligning their EMS with the new requirements. During this early-phase transition period, we will update our customers with the documentation they need to revise their environmental management system.
- January 2027 to 2028: Mid-phase in which Certification bodies will update their auditing protocols to assess compliance with the revised standard. This will allow businesses plenty of time to upgrade their environmental management systems to incorporate the additional requirements.
- January 2028 to 2029: Final-phase in which all businesses must get their systems audit-ready before the transition period ends and complete the formal transition audit before ISO 14001:2015 certifications become invalid.
During the transition period, organizations can still get certified to the 2015 version, but they will need to transition to the 2026 version by the end of the transition period, which is expected in January 2029, to maintain their certification. Start your ISO 14001:2026 transition planning early to avoid disruption and maintain certification.
What are the proposed changes?
One main frame condition decided for the update has been to clarify existing requirements associated with key topics, but to limit the introduction of new requirements. Another aim has been to incorporate the relevant content of ISO’s Harmonized Structure for management system standards.The ISO 14001:2026 update will focus on clarifications and alignment rather than sweeping new requirements:
- Climate change amendments (Clause 4.1 and 4.2): The climate change amendment introduced in 2024 (ref. ISO 14001:2015/Amd1:2024) is now included in the standard. However, other environmental perspectives are considered in addition to climate change, such as using natural resources, pollution levels, and biological diversity.
- Actions to address risks and opportunities (Clause 6.1): The text has been restructured to clarify existing requirements: Most of the text in 6.1.1 ‘General’ has been moved to a new clause 6.1.4 ‘Risks and opportunities’, and ‘Planning actions’ is updated and renumbered to 6.1.5.
- Environmental aspects (Clause 6.1.2): A new note is included to explain the concept of lifecycle perspective. There is also a more explicit requirement to identify potential emergencies with environmental impacts.
- Planning and managing of changes (New clause 6.3): A new clause will be added to ensure a structured approach for managing changes relevant to the EMS.
- Operational planning and control (Clause 8.1): The focus is extended from controlling outsourced processes to controlling externally provided processes, products, and services.
- Improvement (Clause 10): Consolidation of clauses and renumbering. The content is quite similar.
- The guidance in Annex A has been substantially revised and improved for various clauses to support interpreting the requirements in Clauses 4-10.
In addition, there are some other textual changes to align with the Harmonized Structure. The overall changes are relatively moderate and less extensive than those for transitioning to the 2015 edition.
What about the unchanged requirements?
To reassure businesses already compliant with ISO 14001:2015, the continuity of the unchanged ISO 14001:2015 requirements will remain, so expect to undertake targeted updates to the 2026 version rather than a complete overhaul of your environmental management system.
Although new themes such as sustainability, digital environmental, and resilience will be woven into the proposed standard, they will likely add new dimensions to consider rather than a radical departure from the previous requirements.
What action should my business take?
You do not need to overhaul your environmental management system! As the ISO 14001:2026 update approaches, organizations must proactively prepare for the anticipated changes. This 7-step preparation process involves understanding the new requirements, assessing current systems, and planning for necessary adjustments.
- Monitor Progress: Stay informed and await the final release of the standard and official transition guidelines from Certification Bodies and industry authorities. Once it’s released, purchase a copy of ISO 14001:2026.
- Conduct a Gap Analysis: Understand how the current EMS aligns with the new standard. We recommend starting this process early to identify areas that need improvement. Use our free Gap Analysis Tool to assess where your environmental management system stands today and identify areas for improvement.
- Develop an Action Plan: Start planning by reviewing key changes, engaging leadership, and considering necessary updates to your environmental management system before the new standard takes effect.
- Review and Update Documentation: As needed, revise your environmental manual, policies, procedures, and other documented information to meet the new requirements.
- Train Staff: Ensure employees are aware of the changes and their implications, and that staff at all levels know the upcoming changes and understand their roles in implementing them.
- Engage Stakeholders: Involve relevant parties in the transition process to ensure a smooth implementation.
- Undertake Readiness Audits: After completing steps 1 to 4 above, perform internal audits to assess your business’s readiness for the new requirements. These pre-assessments allow businesses to correct issues before the official transition audit.
Our environmental management system templates offer a reliable way of achieving process-based compliance to ISO 14001:2015 and will ease the eventual transition to the new version of ISO 14001:2026.
The three-year transition period, which is expected to end in January 2029, is plenty of time to achieve compliance even if you are beginning from scratch today.
How should I plan for the 2026 transition?
The greatest resource of any organization is its people, so strategies for managing real and perceived change, or concerns and attitudes, should be addressed during transition planning. It is likely that during the first few months, Top management will need to regularly reinforce the benefits of the transition project to ensure that your employees maintain focus and motivation for upgrading the environmental management system.
Adjusting the environmental management system documents should also be expected as staff become accustomed to the requirements and suggest usability improvements. Instant business or environmental improvements may be initially observed; however, experience suggests a lag phase before consistent improvements become the norm.
The benefits to the organization of a properly functioning environmental management system are not just restricted to the knowledge that it complies with regulatory requirements, but that it has the discipline to manage customer requirements effectively.
What about our existing EMS documentation?
The extent of the documented information will differ from one organization to another because of the organization's size and its activities, processes, products, and services; the complexity of processes and their interactions, and the competence of personnel. In ISO 14001:2015, the environmental manual helped to establish and document the framework of your organization's environmental management system while articulating those aspects of the EMS to any interested parties.
While there is still no requirement for an environmental manual or documented procedures in ISO 14001:2026, it is suggested that they should not simply be binned if they add value. You will be expected to maintain the integrity of the environmental management system during the transition process.
You do not need to renumber your existing documentation to correspond to the new clauses. It is down to each organization to determine whether the benefits gained from renumbering will exceed the effort involved. You do not need to restructure your management system to follow the sequence and titles of the requirements. Providing all of the requirements in ISO 14001:2026 are met, your organization’s environmental management system will be compliant.
The type and extent of documented information that your organization should retain and maintain, to comply with ISO 14001:2026, clearly depend on the nature of your organization’s products and processes.
The following criteria can be used to assess the different types of ISO 9001:2015 documents and information that your organization should retain and maintain as documented information by determining whether the information:
- Communicates a message internally or externally;
- Provides evidence of process and product conformity;
- Provides evidence that planned outputs were achieved;
- It is a source of knowledge sharing.
Suppose any of the above criteria apply to any type of document or information within your organization's domain, it should be retained and maintained as a form of 'documented information' per Clause 7.5.
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