The ISO 14000 international standards are used by organizations to manage their day-to-day operations with a minimum impact on the environment. ISO 14001 sets forth the requirements for an environmental management system (EMS) while ISO 14004 provides general EMS guidelines for addressing a wide range of issues, including:

1. Ensuring top management’s commitment to continuous improvement, compliance and pollution prevention
2. Creating and implementing environmental policies, including setting and meeting appropriate targets
3. Integrating environmental considerations in day-to-day operating procedures
4. Training employees in regard to their environmental obligations
5. Conducting audits of the environmental management system

The Four Goals

As part of its commitment to the ideals and practices of environmental sustainability, UNU has established four goals for the continual improvement of University’s environmental performance and for the prevention of pollution: two concerned with “greening” and two focused on “making a contribution”. The UNU environmental policy is referred to as “Going for Green”.

1. Bring about environmental improvements in our work practices (i.e., promoting green procurement, complying with environmental laws, reducing waste and energy consumption, etc.)
2. Improve the quality of the working environment (i.e., internal air quality, water quality, light, health and safety)
3. Contribute to the global community through our research projects and capacity building efforts
4. Contribute to the local community through our activities and events.

How Are Staff and Students Involved?

While procedures related to the certification process — such as auditing, information management and preparation of EMS-related documents — are the responsibility of the UNU ISO 14001 Steering Committee, individual staff members and students are encouraged to:

1. Participate in the ISO 14001 training sessions organized by the UNU ISO 14001 Steering Committee
2. Work on environment-related projects that contribute to raising awareness around the world on pressing environmental problems
3. Be involved in capacity building activities in support of the environment
4. Take steps to implement waste recycling and resource & energy conservation measures
5. Act in an environmentally friendly way every day by recycling paper, reducing and separating waste, turning-off electronic equipment when not in use, and so on.