IEMA at 25 years: Change, adapt, sustain

Since IEMA was formed 25 years ago, the environment and sustainability professions have been transformed, moving from the fringes of the global economy, right to the centre.

Our membership has been instrumental in setting the standard for environment and sustainability professionals,  ensuring we evolve and adapt to challenges from local to global level.

Over the coming weeks, we will feature content created with a range of longest standing (and some more recent) IEMA members discussing key moments for the environment and sustainability professions over the last 25 years.

Exploring how our professions have changed, what we've done to adapt and what we must do to sustain our influence into the future. 

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IEMA impact over 25 years

Established with the objective of promoting the goal of sustainable development, IEMA's Deputy CEO has been with the organisation since the start.

Here he recalls some of the key impacts that IEMA have made over the past 25 years and urges members to continue their efforts to be at the vanguard of the sustainability profession, setting the standard and driving the changes that are needed across the global economy.

IEMA impact over 25 years

25 years with IEMA

Way, way back in 1999, I joined the Institute of Environmental Management (IEM) and the Environmental Auditors Registration Association (EARA), just before they merged to form IEMA. Over the past two and a bit decades (yes, I really am that old), I have been a proud and active member of our professional body. IEMA is a fantastic source of information and a true melting-pot for professional collaboration and influence over both industry and government. In all my time as a member I have always felt supported by IEMA and somewhat emboldened by the validation that membership has given me. I remember becoming a Chartered Environmentalist in 2006 and my boss at the time (a Chartered Chemical Engineer) told me that I couldn't become 'Chartered' because I wasn't an Engineer. This 'underestimation' of the importance of environmental management and sustainability as a profession has always stuck with me as another myth worth busting!

Frances Stones FIEMA, IMS Lead Auditor

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Our history

In September 1999, IEMA was formed by the merging of three organisations – the Institute of Environmental Assessment (formed mainly of corporate members), the Environmental Auditors Registration Association (EARA, formed of individual professionals working in Environmental Assessment), and the Institute of Environmental Management.

In 2014, IEMA merged with the Global Association of Corporate Sustainability Officers, incorporating corporate sustainability into the environmental agenda. Since then, we have expanded our work to encompass everything in both environmental management and sustainability.