| The series is made up of documents related to EMS | | | | assist in identifying opportunities to improve the |
| - environmental management tools (i.e.,all other ISO | | | | environmental aspects of (products and services) at |
| 14000 series documents). This approach takes the | | | | various points in their life cycle". |
| view that establishment and implementation of an | | | | |
| organization's EMS is of central importance in | | | | Reporting and communicating |
| determining the organization's environmental | | | | In general, the management of an organization will |
| policy,objectives,and targets. Environmental | | | | decide the content format of any environmental |
| management tools exist to assist the organization in | | | | reporting or communicating. However, the |
| realizing its environmental policy, objectives, and | | | | organization may find that it has a number of |
| targets. | | | | different reporting needs and intended audiences. ISO |
| Environmental Aspects | | | | 14001 and ISO 14004 provide guidance on reporting |
| Identifying the environmental aspects of an | | | | and communicating information on the environmental |
| organization's activities, product and services, and | | | | aspects and the EMS of an organization. ISO 14010 |
| determining their relative signification, are important | | | | and ISO 14011 provide guidance on the |
| elements of implementing an EMS or conducting EPE | | | | preparation,content and distributions and claims can |
| (environmental performance evaluation) inan | | | | be viewed as ways in which the environmental |
| organization. ISO 14001, ISO 14004 and ISO 14031 | | | | aspects of products and services are reported or |
| provide guidance on identifying significant | | | | communicated, the ISO 14020 standards provide |
| environmental aspects. | | | | appropriate guidance. ISO 14031 provide appropriate |
| ISO 14040 states in its introduction: "LCA (life cycle | | | | guidance on reporting and communicating |
| assessment) is a techniquefor assessing the | | | | performance of an organization. The ISO 14040 |
| environmental aspects and potential impacts | | | | standards provide guidance on reporting and |
| associated (with products and services ) ...LCA can | | | | communicating the results of an LCA study. |