International environmental management standards

Before the advent of ISO 9000 Quality Management standards, the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) nearly exclusive focus was on international technical and safety standards. Then, some ten years ago, the ISO impanelled a new technical committee (TC 176) to develop “Quality Management” standards for organizations. With that, it entered the relatively “soft” science of organizational management. This resulted in the ISO 9000 series of quality standards which have won adherents throughout the world and have (in some regions) become requirements of trade. Now, ISO has formed Technical Committee 207 to develop yet another set of management standards, this time focusing on the considerably less tractable subject of environmental protection activities within organizations.