"Standards act as a lever: they force us to question our practices, challenge ourselves, and keep improving. This shared framework strengthens the rigor of our CSR approach while creating a space where everyone can align, coordinate, and innovate," explains Stéphane Rubatat, System & Product Quality Manager and co-lead of the initiative alongside Richard Cousin, CSR Manager. ISO 14001:2015 is an international standard designed to help organizations manage and reduce their environmental impacts. It provides a reference framework to assess, manage, and continuously improve an environmental management system, based on clear process mapping and analysis. Elle s’appuie sur une cartographie claire et une analyse des processus. At Petzl, these processes are naturally connected to the 1% CSR plan introduced in 2023, which dedicates 1% of revenue to funding projects focused on sustainability. Each year, every department reviews its processes to plan, implement, and improve its actions. Audits then assess progress and, where needed, recommend corrective measures. In this way, ISO 14001:2015 provides a structured framework for continuous improvement."For Petzl, pursuing ISO 14001:2015 certification meant giving ourselves the means to be more creative in finding solutions, more consistent and more ambitious over the long term," adds Stéphane Rubatat.

 

Stéphane Rubatat plays a central role: all internal approvals related to launching a new product or validating a process go through him. For him, ISO 14001:2015 is first and foremost "a stimulating challenge."  He sees the forty days spent each year working with auditors as time invested in helping the company grow. A hands-on leader, Stéphane meets directly with the people involved to understand the challenges they face in their day-to-day work. For him, nothing replaces firsthand observation: going out into the field, taking the time to talk, to compare perspectives, to understand and to find solutions together.

Stéphane and Richard quickly recognized the collective momentum this regulatory work could generate. They set up a steering group with three additional experts: Diane Castelain, Environmental Compliance Manager; Stéphane Brun, Project Quality Manager; and Adrien Combes, Risk Prevention Engineer.  The group meets monthly to track progress, share challenges, and coordinate solutions. In their view, having five people around the table makes it easier to address sensitive topics and step back in order to move forward together. Taking a pragmatic approach, the team also built on existing processes established during the ISO 9001 certification obtained in 1995.

The ISO 14001:2015 approach has strengthened the company's ability to manage a wide range of regulatory requirements by providing a framework to identify, understand, organize, and monitor these obligations over time. It has notably enabled Manon De Gaulejac, Head of Waste Management, to reinforce her tracking and reporting systems for improved compliance. This work is part of a broader effort to connect and align initiatives, giving them greater coherence and responding to the certifications that are most relevant to Petzl’s various stakeholders. 

 

 

Requests, primarily from customers, have increased sharply. From just a few in the early 2020s, Richard Cousin now reports receiving more than forty per year. Most requests relate to ISO 14001:2015, EcoVadis, and SBTi — three environmental frameworks that have become essential, particularly for procurement in the professional market. This represents a major challenge for the company, as this sector accounts for 65% of our total revenue. 

To learn more about our environmental approach, click here.