The reputation of IEMA as a leading contributor to the development of environment and sustainability policy has grown further after chief policy advisor Martin Baxter was appointed to head an international committee on developing standards.
Baxter was confirmed last month as chair-elect of the sub-committee responsible for environmental management systems standards at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). He will replace Dr Anne-Marie Warris, also a Full member of IEMA, who is standing down from the role at the end of the year.
‘It is a tremendous honour to have been appointed to this role,’ said Baxter. ‘ISO’s environmental management systems standards support organisations in all parts of the world to improve performance and enhance resilience. I look forward to working with colleagues from around the world to enhance the contribution that standards make to tackling long-term environment and sustainability challenges.’
Scott Steedman, director of standards at British standards body BSI, said: ‘International standards play an important role in reducing barriers to global trade to the benefit of organisations that adopt them. ISO’s suite of environmental management standards provide comprehensive guidance for organisations’ to improve their environmental performance, develop good processes and save money. We are delighted to welcome Martin Baxter to this influential position.’
ISO TC207/SC1 is the sub-committee responsible for ISO 14001, the global standard for environment management systems and other supporting standards, including 14004, 14005 and 14006. Standards being developed include 14007 (guidance on determining environmental costs and benefits) and 14008 (monetary valuation of environmental impacts from specific emissions and use of natural resources).
Baxter led the UK’s input on the working group that revised 14001, which was published in September 2015.
Data from ISO at the end of last year, revealed that 319,324 organisations in 201 countries were certified as meeting the requirements of ISO 14001, an annual growth of 8%. Many more organisations use the standard as a framework to help them improve their environmental performance.
