The effectiveness of international environmental regimes : the case of the ISO 14000 regime

ISO 14000 is a series of international environmental standards, which emerged in response to the combined forces of global economic integration, a shift from command-and-control regulations to voluntary forms of environmental protection, and the promotion of sustainable development. The most important component of ISO 14000, and the only element that can be certified, is ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS). It is a process-based, generic, voluntary standard, which does not set specific performance targets. It aims primarily to eliminate non-tariff trade barriers and improve environmental performance on a continuous basis. Since its introduction in 1996, the number of ISO 14001 certifications has increased dramatically, but it has been adopted unevenly around the world. Given the objective of ISO 14000 to be "practical, usable, and useful" to any type and size of organization, this thesis examines the structures and procedures of ISO 14000 and who has and has not adopted the standard and why. Despite the efforts of ISO, ISO 14000 standards are developed predominantly by large-scale economic actors and technical experts from developed countries. As the current adoption pattern indicates, the implementation cost and technical complexity of the standard is preventing many, such as small-and-medium-enterprises and organizations in developing countries, from adopting the standard. To achieve universal adoption, the thesis suggests that it is necessary to enhance the level of representation of international actors, and multiple stakeholders, and to increase the environmental accountability of the standard by strengthening capacity building and ensuring transparency of performance