ISO 14020 Accreditations

ISO 14020 establishes principles and specifies general requirements that are applicable to all types of product-related environmental statements and environmental statement programmes.

Communicating the environmental aspects and potential environmental impacts of products assists intended audiences (e.g. investors, purchasers, consumers) to make decisions on the selection and use of those products. The overall objective of providing information about the environmental aspects and environmental impacts of products (i.e. environmental statements) is to encourage the selection, purchase and use of those products that have the least adverse potential or actual environmental impact.

Suppliers that communicate the environmental aspects and environmental impacts of their products via environmental statements hope to influence the market in favour of their products. If the communication has this effect, the market share of those products can increase, and it is possible that other suppliers will respond by improving the environmental performance of their products. Ultimately this results in reduced environmental impact from that product category.

Suppliers that communicate the environmental aspects of their products via environmental statements also benefit at different levels within their organizations, both in the development of their products as well as in their environmental management and improvement of environmental performance.