An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a cost-effective first step for establishing and achieving an organisation’s commitment to sustainability. EMS’s are policy action tools used to operationalise an organisations’ commitment to sustainability. A starting point for information relating to developing an EMS is the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), which has developed a set of EMS standards called the ISO14000 series. Many organisations choose to base their EMS on the ISO14001 standard, which is designed to provide a structure for continued environmental improvement and compliance to relevant legislation. An EMS helps to carry out the environmental policy of the organisation through strategic stages of planning, implementation and operations, checking and corrective action, and a review process. External training can be sought for environmental auditing. Reporting on results should also form a key component of your EMS.

Many campuses in Australia and overseas have developed an EMS tailored to meet their own particular needs. Examples include The Australian National University and James Cook University. An example from the United States is Duke University.