Global environmental issues were discussed at the Conference on the Environment and Development in 1992. The conference adopted Agenda 21, an action plan to protect the global environment. The ISO 14000 series' Environmental Management System standards formulated by the International Standards Organization (ISO) were created in 1996 with the objective of promoting Agenda 21, and are the core of the series. ISO 14001 are the provisions for creating an Environmental Management System (EMS).

ISO 14001 does not have any legal binding force. It seeks to have each organization achieve the objectives of the environmental policies they formulate to the extent possible, and to assume the responsibility of reducing the environmental burden by applying their own methods. Acquiring ISO 14001 certification requires third-party auditing (by an auditing and registration organization). A company will be certified if it is found in compliance. This is one standard for determining whether a company incorporates global environmental considerations.