Some of the organization's stakeholders can influence its ability to achieve intended environmental outcomes and improve its environmental performance.

The organization needs to identify:

• the stakeholders relevant to the environmental management system (EMS)
• the environmental needs, expectations, or requirements set by these stakeholders (when relevant)

The organization regularly reviews stakeholder information and their related environmental expectations to ensure the EMS remains up to date and aligned with changing requirements.

The organization regularly evaluates the level of environmental performance and the effectiveness of the environmental management system.

The organization has defined:

• monitored metrics to provide comparable results on the development of environmental performance
• persons responsible for the monitoring
• methods, timetable and responsible persons for reviewing and evaluating the metrics
• methods to document metric-related evaluations and results

Effective metrics are usable for identifying weaknesses, targeting resources better, and assessing the organization’s success or failure related to environmental performance.

The organization should establish and maintain a process to identify the environmental aspects of its activities, products, and services that it can control or influence. This process must include criteria to determine which aspects have or can have a significant environmental impact, considering a life cycle perspective.

The organization's top management ensures that responsibilities for relevant environmental roles are assigned, communicated, and understood within the organization. Along with responsibilities, these roles usually require authorizations for certain actions so that the responsibilities can be successfully fulfilled.

When necessary, these roles are also defined in the process sequence in relevant steps, for example, who can carry out an environmental review, inspection, approval, or monitoring action within a process.

Top management clearly assigns responsibility at least for:

• management system ownership (ensuring that the environmental management system conforms to selected requirements)
• process ownership (ensuring that processes deliver their intended environmental outcomes)
• performance communication (reporting on the environmental performance of the management system and identifying opportunities for improvement)
• environmental focus ownership (ensuring the promotion of environmental protection and related priorities throughout the organization)
• management system continuity (ensuring that the integrity of the environmental management system is maintained when changes are planned and implemented)

From the point of view of the environmental management system, non-conformities can be, for example, environmental incidents, deviations from operational controls, failures to meet environmental requirements, or other situations where environmental processes are not complied with.

In systematic environmental work, all detected non-conformities are documented and corrected. Non-conformity documentation is managed in the environmental management system and includes at least:

• description of the non-conformity and the related requirement
• evaluation of the non-conformity level and root cause
• improvements made to correct the non-conformity

The organization has an environmental policy developed and approved by top management.

The policy includes at least the following:

• is appropriate to the purpose and context of the organization and supports its strategic direction
• provides a framework for setting environmental objectives
• includes a commitment to meet applicable environmental requirements
• includes a commitment to continual improvement of the environmental management system and environmental performance

The organization should establish a mechanism for responding to relevant incoming inquiries concerning its environmental management system. This mechanism should ensure timely and appropriate responses, maintaining the dependability and alignment of information with internal system data and compliance obligations.

The organization needs a clear approach for creating and maintaining the documented information that supports its environmental management system (EMS). This helps ensure that the EMS is understandable, effective, and aligned with the organization’s real needs and operating environment.

• Document the EMS in a way that explains its purpose, scope, structure, responsibilities and how its different parts work together in practice.
• Identify all documented information that is required by the environmental standard and make sure it is included and kept up to date.
• Determine what additional documents or records are needed for the EMS to function effectively, such as process descriptions, templates, forms or evidence of routine activities.
• Adjust the amount and level of detail of documentation so that it matches the organization’s size, activities and operational complexity. Smaller or simpler operations may need fewer documents, while larger or more complex operations may require more.
• Ensure documentation is sufficient to demonstrate compliance with legal obligations, customer requirements and internal commitments, without becoming overly burdensome.
• Review and update documentation regularly to ensure it remains practical, clear and aligned with how the organization actually operates. Remove outdated or unnecessary content when needed.

This approach keeps the EMS documentation meaningful and balanced, helping the organization demonstrate compliance while keeping administrative effort appropriate to its needs.

The organization's top management sets environmental objectives that guide the direction of the environmental management system (EMS). These objectives must meet the following requirements:

• they are consistent with the environmental policy
• they are measurable and, where applicable, monitored through defined indicators
• they take into account applicable compliance obligations and other environmental requirements
• they are relevant to improving environmental performance and preventing or reducing adverse environmental impacts
• they are communicated, monitored, reviewed, and updated as appropriate

When documenting environmental objectives, the organization also defines the related top-level improvements and tasks, needed resources, responsible persons, due dates, and the methods for evaluating progress and results. This ensures that environmental objectives are planned, actionable, and integrated into the EMS.

The organization has determined and provided the resources needed for implementing and continuously improving the environmental management system.

When determining the resources, the organization considers:

• the capabilities and constraints of existing internal resources
• what needs to be obtained from external providers

The organization also defines the persons necessary for the effective implementation of the environmental management system and for the operation and control of its processes.

The environmental policy should be formally documented and maintained. It should be effectively disseminated to all personnel within the organization to ensure awareness and understanding. The policy should also be made accessible to relevant external stakeholders upon request.

Environmentally aware personnel are one of the key resources for constantly improving environmental performance. The organization ensures that personnel are aware of:

• the environmental policy
• relevant environmental objectives
• their contribution to the effectiveness of the environmental management system (e.g. adherence to processes, improvement ideas, communicating to other personnel, taking responsibility), including the benefits of improved performance
• the implications of not conforming with environmental requirements (e.g. environmental incidents, resource waste, increased impacts)

Organizations often create training programs or other regular environmental sessions to help people understand how their work connects to environmental performance.

The organization should establish and maintain a comprehensive register or database of all identified legal and other environmental compliance obligations. This register should include details such as the source of the obligation (e.g., specific law, regulation, permit, voluntary agreement), its applicability to the organization's operations, and a mechanism to ensure its ongoing currency and accessibility. This documented evidence supports a structured approach to legal conformity and accountability.

The organization should establish a comprehensive plan for internal communication of relevant environmental information, including updates to the environmental management system (EMS). This plan should specify what information is communicated, when, through which channels, and to whom across all organizational levels and functions.

The organization has determined which issues related to the environmental management system need to be communicated on a regular basis. The plan includes answers to the following points:

• What issues are communicated? These can be, for example, new or updated environmental objectives or changes affecting environmental performance.
• How and when to communicate? What channels are used and how often?
• To whom is communication directed? How frequently information is shared with environmental management teams, the entire organization, or external partners.
• Who takes part? Who has the right to communicate and whose approval may be required before messages are delivered.

The task owner takes care of implementing the plan and regularly evaluating its effectiveness.

The organization must operate, maintain, and continuously develop a environment management system. The boundaries and scope, contents, role, cumulative implementation information and other necessary descriptive information related to the EMS must be clearly documented.

The organization needs to continually evaluate the suitability and effectiveness of its environmental processes to ensure they achieve their intended environmental outcomes and support the functioning of the environmental management system (EMS).

When significant changes to processes are needed, they are documented within the EMS to maintain clarity, consistency, and traceability. Changes may involve new environmental aspects, modified operational controls, updated technologies, or shifts in environmental conditions.

In systematic environmental management, all significant process changes are implemented in a controlled manner. The potential environmental impacts of these changes are first assessed, responsibilities are assigned, and the implementation of the change is monitored to ensure it does not negatively affect environmental performance or compliance obligations.

The organization should conduct a systematic assessment to identify and evaluate the potential environmental impacts arising from its activities, products, and services during both normal operations and foreseeable abnormal conditions. This includes considering impacts such as resource depletion, pollution, waste generation, and effects on ecosystems, to ensure a comprehensive understanding of environmental risks and opportunities.

The organization conducts internal audits in accordance with its internal audit procedure. The aim is to check:

• whether the environmental management system complies with the organization's environmental requirements
• whether the environmental management system complies with other operational environmental requirements that the organization follows
• whether the environmental management system is implemented effectively

Documented information on the execution and results of audits needs to be kept.

The organization should establish, implement, and maintain a process to evaluate its compliance with its legal and other obligations. This process should define the frequency of evaluations, the methods used, and the actions to be taken for any non-compliance. The organization should maintain knowledge of its compliance status and retain documented information of the evaluation results.

Top management reviews the organization's environmental management system at planned intervals to ensure that it remains appropriate, relevant, and effective.

The management review addresses and comments on at least the following:

• status of improvements (or other actions) initiated as a result of previous management reviews
• future changes relevant to the environmental management system
• performance of the environmental management system (problem areas, monitoring results, audit results, and fulfillment of environmental objectives)
• feedback from stakeholders related to environmental performance
• operation of the environmental risk assessment and treatment process

Documented information on the execution and results of the reviews needs to be maintained.

The organization's top management sets environmental objectives. Environmental objectives meet the following requirements:

• they are consistent with the environmental policy
• they are measurable
• they take into account applicable requirements
• they are relevant to improving environmental performance and reducing negative environmental impacts
• they are monitored, communicated and updated as appropriate

In connection with the documentation of environmental objectives, the necessary top-level improvements and tasks, needed resources, responsible persons, due dates and methods for evaluating the results in order to achieve the objectives are also defined.

The organization proactively identifies and evaluates different environmental risks. The goal is to continuously improve, give assurance that the environmental management system reaches intended results, and prevent or reduce undesired environmental impacts.

The environmental risk documentation includes at least:

• Description of the risk
• Evaluated impact and likelihood of the risk
• Tasks for managing the risk or other treatment options
• Acceptability of the risk

The organization continuously strives to improve the performance of the environmental management system. Ways to improve are actively sought – not just through audits or clearly identified non-conformities.

The task owner is responsible for documenting the improvements made to the environmental management system and dividing them into tasks to be performed, monitoring task execution, and assessing the effects that have been achieved.

The organization continuously strives to improve the performance of the environmental management system. Ways to improve are actively sought—not just through audits or clearly identified non-conformities.

The task owner is responsible for documenting the improvements made to the environmental management system and dividing them into tasks to be performed, monitoring task execution, and assessing the effects that have been achieved.

Competent personnel are one of the key resources for maintaining strong environmental performance. To ensure the competence of personnel, the organization:

• determines which personnel affect the performance of the environmental management system
• determines the necessary competence for these people
• ensures that these people are competent on the basis of appropriate education, training, or experience
• takes actions to acquire the necessary competence (e.g. training, mentoring, reassignment, hiring), and evaluates the actions taken

It can be relevant to define required competences separately for:

• environmental management key team
• other system users (e.g. process owners)
• all employees

Appropriate documented information needs to be available as evidence of personnel competence.

The organization should retain documented information as evidence of its internal and external communications related to the environmental management system. This ensures that a record of communications is available for review and to demonstrate compliance with established processes.

Top management plays a key role in ensuring that the environmental management system (EMS) works effectively. They need to show visible support, make informed decisions, and provide what the organization needs to manage its environmental responsibilities successfully.

• Take overall responsibility for how well the EMS works and make sure it is part of everyday business processes.
• Set the environmental policy and objectives so they reflect the organization’s situation, goals, and strategic direction.
• Identify the legal requirements, customer expectations, permits, and other obligations that guide the organization’s environmental work.
• Provide the people, budget, tools, and time needed to achieve environmental goals.
• Communicate why environmental protection, process thinking, preventing pollution, and managing risks are important.
• Monitor whether the EMS is delivering the expected environmental results.
• Encourage and support employees so they can contribute to EMS effectiveness.
• Promote ongoing improvement in both the EMS and overall environmental performance.

Top management also defines the scope of the EMS and documents it clearly. This includes deciding which activities, products, services, and locations are included in the EMS, and explaining any exclusions in a justified and compliant way.

The organization should implement and maintain communication channels that enable personnel to provide feedback and contribute to continual environmental improvement. These channels should facilitate a two-way exchange to support engagement and alignment with environmental objectives.

The organization should establish a process to identify and have access to the compliance obligations related to its environmental aspects. The process must also determine how these obligations apply to the organization.

The organization has established a procedure for conducting internal audits. The procedure describes at least:

• how often audits are carried out
• who may carry out the audits(including audit criteria)
• how the actual audit is carried out
• how audit results are documented and to whom the results are reported
• how results are reported to a competent authority when required by law

The organization should establish controls to ensure its environmental requirements are addressed throughout the product and service lifecycle. This includes considering environmental aspects in design and development, procurement of goods and services, and providing information about potential significant environmental impacts during use and end-of-life treatment.

The organization has a process for identifying internal and external issues that are relevant to its purpose and environmental management system (EMS). This can be implemented through strategic planning, environmental context analysis, or tools such as SWOT (for internal issues) and PESTLE (for external issues).

The process includes describing how relevant issues are monitored and how they may lead to environmental risks, opportunities, changes, improvements, or actions within the EMS. The aim is to ensure that the organization can properly anticipate and respond to internal and external factors affecting its environmental performance.

Examples of relevant internal issues include:

• organizational values related to sustainability
• environmental culture and employee awareness
• structure, governance, and roles influencing environmental responsibilities
• organizational knowledge related to environmental impacts
• current environmental performance and operational practices

Examples of relevant external issues include:

• new or changing environmental legislation and regulations
• technological developments that affect environmental impacts
• environmental expectations from stakeholders, customers, or communities
• climate-related risks or changing environmental conditions
• market or industry trends that influence environmental sustainability

The organization must maintain a listing of the main processes related to its environmental management system (EMS), including processes that have or can have significant environmental impacts and those needed to support ongoing EMS operations. A process owner is designated for each process, responsible for completing the related documentation and any environmental actions connected to the process.

Process documentation must include at least:

• Process purpose
• Link to a more detailed description of process steps, interactions, or environmental aspects
• Required inputs and expected outputs, especially those influencing environmental performance
• Connected resources (e.g. equipment, data systems, materials, sites, partners, or other assets impacting the environment)
• Metrics used to monitor the environmental performance and effectiveness of the process
• Other key actions related to the process (e.g. identified environmental aspects, assessed risks and opportunities, planned or executed improvements or changes)

The employees of the organization accept the environmental policy. The acceptance is monitored regularly. The environmental policy may also refer to a number of topic-specific policies or procedures.

The environmental policy is available within the organization, communicated and clearly understood by employees, applied in daily operations, and made accessible to relevant (also external) interested parties.

The organization's environmental policy should explicitly state its commitment to pollution prevention. This commitment should guide operational practices and decision-making across all relevant activities to minimize environmental impact and prevent pollution at its source.

The organization should establish, implement, and maintain a process for managing its environmental objectives. This process should ensure that:

• Objectives are formulated and documented for relevant functions and levels, are consistent with the environmental policy, and consider significant environmental aspects, compliance obligations, and risks and opportunities.
• Actions to achieve objectives are planned, defining what will be done, required resources, responsibilities, and timelines.
• Methods for evaluating results, including measurable indicators, are established to track progress.
• Objectives are monitored, communicated to relevant stakeholders, and updated as necessary.