How is ISO14001:2015 boosting the spread of product-oriented environmental management practices?

Abstract

This research sheds light on the impact of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001:2015 standard, particularly in its role in driving life cycle perspective (LCP) and effectively integrating product-oriented environmental management practices (POEMPs) within manufacturing sectors. Addressing this research gap, our analysis utilizes a worldwide sample of 1951 medium and large enterprises from the Thomson Reuters environmental, social and governance (ESG) database to compare the integration of POEMPs, in certified and non-certified companies, before and after the ISO14001 standard update with a quantitative approach. The findings reveal a higher adoption rate of the seven POEMPs analyzed among certified companies before the publication of the standard. However, its LCP-focused revision elevates only the implementation of three of them. This highlights a predominant selection effect over the intended treatment effect of the new standard and challenges the assumption that certification to the new version represents an advance in companies' product-related environmental strategies. The originality of this research lies in its critical analysis of the practical outcomes of ISO14001:2015, pointing the disconnection between certification and the incorporation of POEMPs into environmental management systems. It highlights the need to strengthen implementation mechanisms and provides a nuanced understanding of the role of the standard in driving environmental progress.