Change of Corporate Environmental Management from ISO Perspective

Abstract

The importance of “environmental management” has been increasing in recent years together with growing ESG investment. Although, generally, several elements of environmental management are published, specific activities for environmental management are based on ISO guidelines and other standards.

Regarding climate change, many companies have calculated the GHG emissions of their products using ISO standard of the carbon footprint （CFP） and the GHG emissions of their organization using “Scope 3 standard”. In addition, several new guidelines showing how to declare carbon neutrality have been recently published.

Moreover, “Avoided Emissions” claims to show that their products can reduce GHGs in society have been increased in the world.

Meanwhile, ISO standards on “economy” and “social” as well as “environment” are now being issued for sustainable development. The development of social LCA has begun, and ISOs regarding the climate change management for financial sectors were published.

Environmental management now usually takes into account the life cycle and is moving toward activities aimed not only at “climate change” but also at “sustainability”. The direction of future developments needs to be closely monitored.