Abstract: . . .  to demonstrable improvements in performance’. ISO 14001 does not Page 33 Paola Del Rio Special Topics 33 necessarily imply better environmental performance. Previous studies (ENDS Report 311 2001: 27) have found no evidence of improved performance at sites with certified EMSs. However, ISO is not a performance-based tool, it is a management system so this should not be considered as a limitation since environmental performance is not the scope of this tool. ‘While EMAS, and to a lesser extent ISO 14001 , are associated with better procedures, they are not associated with fewer incidents, complaints or non- compliance events. According to a study for the Environment Agency, industrial sites with certified EMS are no more likely to comply with legal requirements than sites without them. This raises issues of credibility of the international standard ISO 14001 . ISO14001 provides companies and Universities with tools to address environmental and social issues at the internal level but not as an external tool. Some procedural flaws inherent in the system and complexities encountered in its implementation have somewhat diluted its effectiveness. Overall, the benefits accruing to society far outweighs the costs and other efforts associated with EMS implementation. Limitation: An important consideration is that this study only focused on three Universities due to information and time constraint. Nevertheless, the results show an indicative of prevailing trends in terms of obtaining ISO 14001 certification. Conclusions Each of the Universities analysed provided a different set of insights towards the effects  . . .
--3000,1,1500,1713,55008