This thesis was interested in examining which definitions and dimensions of sustainability are seen to be reproduced within the International Standardization Organization (ISO). To achieve this, the thesis utilized two ideal types of sustainability: weak and strong sustainability. By analyzing ISO 14001:2015, which is ISO’s most popular and comprehensive standard forimplementation of environmental management systems (EMS), the study found that ISO reproduces ‘weak sustainability’, not only through ISO 14001:2015, but furthermore, throughout its whole body.

The findings of the analysis were later discussed in relation to research about sustainability along with the public discourse on the matter. This thesis also argued that, due to the irreversible harm currently being done to our global environment, along with sustainability and sustainable development being so critical for the planet’s wellbeing today, but also in the far future, it maybe highly problematic that only one kind of sustainability (weak sustainability, as opposed to the additional strong sustainability) is discussed and used as a definitive definition of what it is to be sustainable.