This course contains the use of Artificial Intelligence.

ISO 14001:2026 is here, and every lead auditor needs to know exactly how to audit it. This course is a complete, step-by-step walkthrough of the audit of an environmental management system against the 2026 edition — from the first planning decision through to the closing meeting and the certification review.

The course treats the audit as a sequence you can repeat. Across twelve sections and sixty-three lectures, you walk through what the standard requires (clauses 4–10), what is new in 2026 (climate and biodiversity context, strengthened lifecycle perspective, separated risks and opportunities, the new change-management clause 6.3, supply-chain reach), the fundamentals of audit craft (document review, interviews, sampling, evidence), the audit standards that constrain the lead auditor (ISO 19011:2018, ISO/IEC 17021-1, IAF mandatory documents), the roles on an audit team, every planning decision, every performing-the-audit move, and the reporting and follow-up that close the loop.

Alongside the lectures you will work through five hands-on assignments on GreenTech Industries, a worked-example commercial-HVAC manufacturer, plus a role-play and seven section quizzes. The assignments are: auditing the 2026 deltas, identifying nonconformities and observations, developing an audit plan, writing three findings in Statement-Criterion-Evidence format, and drafting a complete audit report.

The target audience is lead auditors and audit-team leaders preparing for ISO 14001:2026 transition audits, internal auditors stepping up to lead-auditor competence, EMS and EHS managers responsible for the audit programme, and candidates preparing for CQI/IRCA, PECB, or Exemplar Global certification. A working knowledge of ISO 14001:2015 is assumed; some practical audit experience helps but is not strictly required.

By course end you will be able to plan, perform, report, and follow up a competent ISO 14001:2026 audit — and explain every decision you made along the way.