The article analyzes the new requirements and guidelines of the international standard ISO 14001 version 2015 for environmental management systems in the context of sustainable business development with emphasis on its 'environmental' component. The authors studied the experience a number of Russian oil and gas companies in the implementation of the programs and the principles of sustainable development, as well as related issues, the elimination of which should be in the focus of attention of business and regulators in the transition period for the implementation of the standard. Among them we considered the specificity of national environmental legislation, lack of development of environmental infrastructure, a significant depreciation of fixed assets environmental protection, requiring a significant investment in the transition to the best available technology (BAT). The authors analyze the implementation of new environmental management tools introduced ISO 14001:2015, including the following: the process approach to management, the analysis of the context of the organization and stakeholders requirements, risk analysis in management, life cycle management of products/services, the introduction of environmental performance indicators, management leadership. Special attention is paid to strengthening the complexity in the management of sustainable development of the organization by bringing in a uniform manner and 'baseline' maintenance systems for environmental and energy management, as well as quality and safety control. A new generation of environmental management tools intended to support the implementation of the strategic objectives of enterprises, enhance their competitiveness and sustainable development in a changing macro and microenvironments and more stringent requirements of stakeholders.