In 1972, the United Nations held the Human Environment Conference in Stockholm, Sweden. The conference established an independent committee, namely the World Commission on Environment and Development. The committee undertook the task of re evaluating the relationship between environment and development, and after several years of research and verification of a large amount of materials, published the "Our Common Future" report in 1987. This report first introduced the concept of "sustainable development" and urged the industry to establish an effective environmental management system. This report received the support of leaders from over 50 countries as soon as it was released, who jointly called for the convening of a global conference to discuss and formulate action plans.

Since the 1980s, some companies in the United States and Western Europe have established their own environmental management methods in response to the call for sustainable development, reducing pollution, and improving their public image to gain business support. This is the prototype of the environmental management system. In 1985, the Netherlands first proposed the concept of establishing an enterprise environmental management system, which was implemented on a trial basis in 1988 and entered the standardization and licensing system in 1990. In 1990, the European Union specifically discussed the issue of environmental audits at the Environmental Roundtable Conference in Munich. The UK has also developed the BS7750 Environmental Management System based on the Quality System Standard (BS5750). After the implementation of BS7750 in the UK and environmental audits in the EU, many European countries have launched certification activities to have third-party certification of a company's environmental performance. These practical activities have established the foundation for the generation of the ISO14000 series standards.

In 1992, the "Environment and Development" conference was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, attended by 183 countries and over 70 international organizations, and documents such as "Agenda 21" were adopted. The convening of this conference marks the beginning of an era of global pursuit of sustainable development. Leaders of governments, scientists, and the public around the world recognize that in order to achieve sustainable development goals, it is necessary to change industrial pollution control strategies, start with strengthening environmental management, and establish a new concept of pollution prevention (clean production). Integrating environmental management into the overall management of the enterprise through the methods of "self-determination, self-control, and self-management".

To this end, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) established the ISO/TC207 Environmental Management Technical Committee in June 1993, officially carrying out the development of environmental management series standards to regulate the environmental behavior of all organizations such as enterprises and social groups in their activities, products, and services, and to support global environmental protection efforts. Some large companies in Europe and America began spontaneously formulating their environmental policies in the 1980s, commissioning external environmental consulting firms to investigate their environmental performance and publicly disclose the investigation results (which can be considered as the predecessor of environmental audits). This proves their excellent environmental management and proud environmental performance. Their approach has gained public understanding of the company and gained widespread recognition, resulting in economic and environmental benefits for the company. In order to implement this approach, by the end of 1990, Europe had developed two plans to provide companies with environmental management methods, so that they did not have to take separate actions to prove their credibility. The first plan is BS7750, developed by British standards; The second plan is the EU's environmental management system, known as the Eco Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), which is largely based on BS7750. After trying out these standards, many companies have achieved good environmental and economic benefits. These two standards have been well promoted and implemented in Europe. At the same time, other countries in the world have also begun to establish environmental management systems in accordance with the provisions of BS7750 and EMAS, and refer to their own regulations and standards.

Another fundamental action was the success of ISO 9000 "Quality Management and Quality Assurance", the world's first management series standard issued by ISO in 1987. Many countries and regions attach great importance to the ISO9000 series of standards, actively establishing enterprise quality management systems and obtaining third-party certifications as one of the advantageous conditions for conducting international trade and entering the international market. The successful experience of ISO9000 proves the feasibility and significant progress of establishing management series standards in international standards. Therefore, based on the successful development of the ISO9000 series of standards, ISO began to develop a series of environmental management standards with the standard number 14000. Therefore, it can be said that the successful experience of BS7750, EMAS, and ISO9000 actively promoted by developed European countries is the foundation of the ISO14000 series of standards.