ISO 14001:2026

ISO 14001:2026(en)
7 Support
7.1 Resources
The organization shall determine and provide the resources needed for the establishment, implementation, maintenance and continual improvement of the environmental management system.
7.2 Competence
The organization shall:
a) determine the necessary competence of person(s) doing work under its control that affects its environmental performance and its ability to meet its compliance obligations;
b) ensure that these persons are competent on the basis of appropriate education, training, or experience;
c) determine training needs associated with its environmental aspects and its environmental management system;
d) where applicable, take actions to acquire the necessary competence, and evaluate the effectiveness of the actions taken.
NOTE Applicable actions can include, for example: the provision of training to, the mentoring of, or the re-assignment of currently employed persons; or the hiring or contracting of competent persons.
Appropriate documented information shall be available as evidence of competence.
7.3 Awareness
The organization shall ensure that persons doing work under the organization’s control are aware of:
a) the environmental policy;
b) the significant environmental aspects and related actual or potential environmental impacts associated with their work;
c) their contribution to the effectiveness of the environmental management system, including the benefits of enhanced environmental performance;
d) the implications of not conforming with the environmental management system requirements, including not meeting the organization’s compliance obligations.
7.4 Communication
7.4.1 General
The organization shall establish, implement and maintain the process(es) needed for internal and external communications relevant to the environmental management system including:
a) on what it will communicate;
b) when to communicate;
c) with whom to communicate;
d) how to communicate.
When establishing its communication process(es), the organization shall:
— take into account its compliance obligations;
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© ISO 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO 14001:2026(en)
— ensure that environmental information communicated is consistent with information generated within the environmental management system and is reliable.
The organization shall respond to relevant communications on its environmental management system.
Appropriate documented information shall be available as evidence of the organization’s communications.
7.4.2 Internal communication
The organization shall:
a) internally communicate information relevant to the environmental management system among the various levels and functions of the organization, including changes to the environmental management system, as appropriate;
b) ensure that its communication process(es) enable(s) persons doing work under the organization’s control to contribute to continual improvement.
7.4.3 External communication
The organization shall externally communicate information relevant to the environmental management system, as established by the organization’s communication process(es) and as required by its compliance obligations.
7.5 Documented information
7.5.1 General
The organization’s environmental management system shall include:
a) documented information required by this document;
b) documented information determined by the organization as being necessary for the effectiveness of the environmental management system.
NOTE The extent of documented information for an environmental management system can differ from one organization to another due to:
— the size of organization and its type of activities, processes, products and services;
— the need to demonstrate fulfilment of its compliance obligations;
— the complexity of processes and their interactions;
— the competence of persons doing work under the organization’s control.
7.5.2 Creating and updating documented information
When creating and updating documented information, the organization shall ensure appropriate:
a) identification and description (e.g. a title, date, author, or reference number);
b) format (e.g. language, software version, graphics) and media (e.g. paper, electronic);
c) review and approval for suitability and adequacy.