Templates and records · ISO 14001 · Clause 7.4

ISO 14001 environmental communications log

What the company communicates about its environmental performance and what it receives from outside —complaints, official requests, enquiries—, with the response given and who gave it.

In one sentence

The environmental communications log records each relevant communication with interested parties —complaints from neighbours, requests from the authorities, customer enquiries, published information— with its response, because ISO 14001 asks you to plan what is communicated, to whom and how, and to retain evidence of communications as appropriate (7.4.1).

Content reviewed on 17 October 2026

Where the standard requires it: ISO 14001 · Clause 7.4 Clauses are cited with the ISO 14001:2015 numbering, the same one the Academy uses. The 2026 edition was published on 15 April 2026 and 2015 certificates must transition to it before 30 April 2029.
Type of information: Mandatory record Documented information to be retained, as appropriate (7.4.1)
Who fills it in: Whoever receives the communication, and the environmental manager Reception and security staff can log it; the response is validated by the environmental manager or management
When: On receiving or sending each communication With a defined response time for external complaints
How long it is kept: Set by the organisation The standard sets no periods: it asks you to decide on retention and disposition (7.5.3.2). Covering at least the three-year certification cycle lets you show the history at recertification.

What the standard requires

What ISO 14001 demands and what it leaves to your judgement

The standard asks for internal and external communication processes to be established: what, when, to whom and how to communicate, taking compliance obligations into account and ensuring the information is consistent and reliable. Relevant communications on the environmental system must be responded to.

The phrase «as appropriate» leaves it to the company to decide which communications it records. The prudent approach is to record every external one that receives a response and those required by law, such as notifications to the authorities.

Read it in context: Support, in the ISO 14001 Academy

Structure

Fields the template should include

Date, channel and direction (received or sent)
Interested party: neighbour, authority, customer, NGO, employee
Subject and related environmental aspect
Summary of content and attached document
Response, date and who authorised it
Resulting action or nonconformity, if applicable
Status: open or closed

Example

Example: neighbour complaint about odour (invented data)

Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.

Field	Content
Date and channel	9 July 2026 · email from the residents’ association (fictitious)
Subject	Smell of hot plastic in the afternoons on the adjoining street
Related aspect	Emissions from the extractor on injection moulding line 3
Response	Letter of 15 July with the planned measures · signed by the plant manager
Action	NC-AMB-2026-05 · damaged activated carbon filter; replaced on 12 July
Closure	No further complaints after 60 days · closed on 14 September

At the audit

Mistakes auditors commonly flag

Neighbour complaints are handled by phone, leaving no trace and no response.
Requests from the authorities filed outside the system.
Environmental information published without checking that the figures match the records.
Repeated complaints that never trigger a nonconformity.

In Kimobox

How this record is kept in Kimobox

1External communications are recorded with their interested party and the environmental aspect they concern.
2If the complaint reveals a failure, a nonconformity is opened with mandatory root cause.
3Objectives and environmental performance are communicated to each user according to their role.
4Interested parties and their requirements sit in a versioned table, linked to these communications.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask us before getting started

Do you have to publish environmental information?

ISO 14001 does not require a published report; it requires you to decide what is communicated externally and to do so with reliable information. EMAS, by contrast, does require a public environmental statement.

Which communications should be recorded?

Every external one that requires a response, those required by law and those the company plans to issue. Routine internal ones can be evidenced by other means, such as minutes or the employee portal.

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Sources

Where each figure comes from

References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.

ISO 14001:2015 — Environmental management systems. Requirements with guidance for use ISO · 2015 edition, with Amd 1:2024; superseded by the 2026 edition
ISO 14001:2026 — Environmental management systems. Requirements with guidance for use ISO · 2026 edition, published on 15 April 2026
Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 (EMAS) EUR-Lex · 25 November 2009