Environmental science concepts include mainly ecosystems, biodiversity, ecologically sustainable development, the precautionary principle, ozone depletion, climate change and greenhouse gases.
Environmental management concepts include mainly environmentally sound development, international conventions for the environment, environmental legislation, environmental management standards, environmental risk assessment and environmental auditing.
Environment Management - Definition
(1) It is an attempt to control human impact on and interaction with the environment in order to preserve natural resources (2) Environmental management focuses on the improvement of human welfare for present and future generations (3) Administrative functions that develop, implement, and monitor the environmental policy of an organization.
Environment Management – The General Concept
Environmental management
The objective of environmental management is improved human life quality. It involves the mobilization of resources and the use of government to administer the use of both natural and economic goods and services. It is based on the principles of ecology. It uses systems analysis and conflict resolution to distribute the costs and benefits of development activities throughout the affected populations and seeks to protect the activities of development from natural hazards. Conflict identification is one of the more important tasks in environmental management planning and the resolution of conflicts is a fundamental part of what makes up "environmentally sound development."
Organisations of all kinds are increasingly concerned with achieving and demonstrating sound environmental performance by controlling the impacts of their activities, products and services on the environment, consistent with their environmental policy and objectives. They do so in the context of increasingly stringent legislation, the development of economic policies and other measures that foster environmental protection, and increased concern expressed by interested parties about environmental matters and sustainable development. Environmental management is not, as the phrase could suggest, the management of the environment as such, but rather the management of the interaction of modern human societies with, and their impact upon the environment. The three main issues that affect managers are those involving politics (networking), programs (projects) and resources (money, facilities, etc.). The need for environmental management can be viewed from a variety of perspectives. A more common philosophy and impetus behind environmental management is the concept of carrying capacity. Simply put, carrying capacity refers to the maximum number of organisms a particular resource can sustain. The concept of carrying capacity, whilst understood by many cultures over history, has its roots in Malthusian theory. Environmental management is therefore not the conservation of the environment solely for the environment's sake, but rather the conservation of the environment for humankind's sake. This element of sustainable exploitation, getting the most out of natural assets, is visible in the EU Water Framework Directive.
Environmental management involves the management of all components of the bio-physical environment, both living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic). This is due to the interconnected and network of relationships amongst all living species and their habitats. The environment also involves the relationships of the human environment, such as the social, cultural and economic environment with the bio-physical environment.
As with all management functions, effective management tools, standards and systems are required. An environmental management standard or system or protocol attempts to reduce environmental impact as measured by some objective criteria. The ISO 14001 standard is the most widely used standard for environmental risk management and is closely aligned to the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). As a common auditing standard, the ISO 19011 standard explains how to combine this with quality management.
Sustainable Development – an important concept for Environmental Management
It is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come. The development initiatives are initiated in such a way that the future generations can enjoy the benefits of Nature without any compromise. Using the resources to the extent to which it is sustained. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Main characteristics of environmental management
The principles outlined above can be clearly identified in three environmentally-friendly management key features:
1st - Multidimensional target system (ecological, social and market aim-oriented);
2nd - it is more complex than a function in the corporation;
3rd - Proactive strategy.
The multi-dimensional target system means that the environmental management actions are not ad-hoc unique tasks. Management takes into account external and internal conditions and takes an environmentally-oriented corporate attitude. The concept of corporate environmental management in the interpretation of the ecological orientation of the primary objective of corporate behaviour is conceived as preventative through reduction of environmental impacts through practical action.
The aim is to achieve a relatively better environmental quality corporate target system. The effectiveness of this can be monitored through various indicators, for example, legal formulas and environmental limit standards could be set and can serve as points of reference. In addition, the use of company-made "internal indicators" can be a good measure of a company's environmental performance. Complex environmental problems require comprehensive, integrated, problem-solving systems which relate to the competitive corporate sphere as well as product and technology areas.
Company problems belong to not only one functional area of business. Environmentally-friendly actions are necessary in all areas: research and development, planning, organisation and management, finance, purchasing, production, sales, warehousing and logistics, and information. Any embracing of corporate activity, either directly (e.g., the installation of filters or replacement of scarce resources) or indirectly (e.g., research and development, environmental consultants, environmental policy, communication) contributes to the prevention and reduction of environmental loads.
Environmental management takes a dual-orientation. One aspect involves handling the company’s environmental problems, while the other involves ensuring the development of success factors and the elimination of risks related to environmental management. The planning and verification of these tasks require relatively long periods. An effective EMS can help a firm manage, measure, and improve the environmental aspects of its operations. EMS has the potential to lead to more efficient compliance, with mandatory and voluntary environmental requirements. EMS may help companies effect a culture change as environmental management practices are incorporated into its overall business operations.
Environmental management system (EMS)
An Environmental management system (EMS) refers to the management of an organisation's environmental programs in a comprehensive, systematic, planned and documented manner. It includes the organisational structure, and the planning and resources for developing, implementing and maintaining policy for environmental protection. An EMS is flexible and does not require organisations to necessarily “retool” their existing activities. An EMS establishes a management framework by which an organisation’s impacts on the environment can be systematically identified and reduced. For example, many organisations, including counties and municipalities, have active and effective pollution prevention activities underway. These could be incorporated into the overall EMS. The EMS provides a systematic way of addressing and managing the immediate and long-term impacts of an organisation’s products, services and processes on the environment and gives order and consistency to addressing environmental concerns through allocation of resources, the assignment of responsibility, and the ongoing evaluation of practices, procedures and processes.
An EMS can be implemented in many different ways depending on the precise sector or activity and the needs perceived by management, but several common core elements should be present: an environmental policy, an environmental programme or action plan, an organisational structure, integration into operations, a documentation system in order to collect, analyse, monitor and retrieve information, corrective and preventive action, EMS audits, management review, training, and external communications.
An Environmental Management System (EMS):
Serves as a tool to improve environmental performance
Provides a systematic way of managing an organisation’s environmental affairs
Is the aspect of the organisation’s overall management structure that addresses the immediate and long-term impacts of its products, services and processes on the environment
Gives order and consistency to organisations to address environmental concerns through the allocation of resources, the assignment of responsibility, and an ongoing evaluation of practices, procedures and processes
Focuses on continual improvement of the system
Key elements of an EMS:
Identification of Significant Environmental Impacts - environmental attributes of products, activities and services and their effects on the environment
Development of Objectives and Targets - environmental goals for the organisation
Implementation - plans to meet objectives and targets
Training - instruction to ensure employees are aware and capable of fulfilling their environmental responsibilities
Management Review
The environmental management system is designed to help organisations:
Monitor their environmental impacts, identifying and addressing the factors and risks that are relevant to the organisation;
Define the environmental policy in the short-, medium-, and long-term objectives and targets in such a way that ensures the balance of costs and benefits for both the organisation and shareholders and the "stakeholders" as well;
With the execution of their programs, which also includes compliance with environmental laws;
Define their principles, which show the company what to do with environmental responsibilities and tasks in the future;
Disseminate these principles within the organisation and amongst the general public, and more importantly, to more effectively fulfill their obligations.
Environmental management helps companies systematically better understand environmental issues, the environment and business strategy, and to have these issues become part of its everyday activities.
Environment Management – Place in modern world
In the complex and interdependent world that we have been given, environmental management is required because the activities of development in one sector affect in both positive and negative ways the quality of life in others. Indeed, if one asks of any "environmental impact" the questions "who caused it?" and "who felt it?," sector to sector relationships are identified. For example, a hydroelectric dam which reduces nutrient levels in the water and thus destroys downstream fisheries is sector 410 causing problems for sector 130 of the UN List of Economic Activities (UN, 1969). By the same token, cutting down trees to produce grazing land for cattle may cause sedimentation in a reservoir, and is a problem between sectors 111 and 420. And, if a hotel sends its wastes out to sea only to have them return to its beaches, a conflict is caused within sector 632. It needs to be said in addition that such "problems" are, in reality, conflicts between two activities. That is to say, the problem is not only caused by promoting ranching over fisheries since a decision in favor of fisheries will cause a problem for ranching as well. It is the conflict that requires solution.
Such a concept of "environmental impact" may be seen to have left out "the environment;" a very large black box exists between cause and effect if one is only interested in those sectoral activities which cause a problem and those which receive the problem. There are two basic reasons, however, why this is not a major concern here. First, the guidelines to be produced are guidelines for planning development at the earliest possible stage of the process. Time, funding, and expertise at this level do not allow in-depth study of that black box. Second, the guidelines are for planners in the humid tropics - a biome known for its lack of available information. That is, the black box covering the humid tropics is a very large one and efforts to reduce its size in any significant way - though certainly necessary and welcomed by planners - should not be undertaken by planners. The needs of development planning should help orient research in information-scarce areas. But, in the context of specific development planning projects, neither science nor planning will be advanced much by expenditures of large amounts of planning time and funds for research.
Conflicts between natural hazards and development activities also exist and result from a confrontation between hazardous natural events and human activity. So-called "natural disasters" occur because we have not paid sufficient attention to natural hazardous phenomena. Indeed, the term "natural disaster" is misleading for this reason: it places the blame on nature when, in fact, the blame belongs to those who decided that projects be implemented under circumstances that jeopardize the very objectives that the development activities were designed to meet.
The techniques of conflict resolution are well known and are comparatively successful given man's continued existence on earth for several thousands of years under very complex conditions. If they had not worked there would be no life as we know it today. Conflicts make up the matrix in which we live; it is a world of uncertainties compounded by a shortage of technical information, a large variety of values, interests and judgements, and overlapping environments.
Planning, especially intersectoral planning, has a tremendous advantage over efforts in real life to resolve conflicts because, in many ways, planning is a game; and, to play the game one must cooperate. Within this context, individuals on a planning team have a shared commitment to rules and procedures which can be controlled. The various parties (sector specialists) operate with a similar rationale, can be easily encouraged to focus on criteria rather than on positions and, each can insist that evaluation criteria be objective. The result is an opportunity to invent options for conflict resolution that provide for mutual gain.
Many activities designed to use, improve, conserve, and protect goods and services for development purposes support other development activities. Development projects requiring the conservation of ecosystems for purposes of wildlife management also conserve the soil stabilization function of vegetation and, as a result, downstream reservoirs receive less sediment. Development policies that restrict construction in areas of natural flooding create recreation possibilities and green space near urban areas and lessen dependence on expensive flood control structures. Enlightened systems engineering turns industrial wastes into residuals that provide raw material for other development projects.
In 1991, a visionary tool was developed, aiding international companies with their need for sustainable development in an organised manner. In response to the World Commission on Environment and Development report, ICC developed a 'Business Charter for Sustainable Development' which sets out sixteen principles for environmental management. The Charter covers environmentally-relevant aspects of health, safety and product stewardship. Its objective is “that the widest range of enterprises commit themselves to improving their environmental performance in accordance with their principles, to have in place management practices to affect such improvement, to measure their progress, and to report this progress as appropriate, internally and externally.” To date, more than 2,300 companies have signed up to it, and the list includes corporations such as Norsk Hydro and Xerox. In addition, several industry associations use it as the basis for their sustainability programmes.
The main milestones of environmental management:
1972: UN Conference on Human Environment, Stockholm;
1972: The subcommittees of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP);
1984: World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) Our Common Future (1987);
1984: Responsible Care Programme: chemistry;
1990: The Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD): Floating World (1992);
1991: International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Business Charter for Sustainable Development: 16 principles for environmental management;
1991: BSCD discussed about the development of environmental standards.
1992: UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED): Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration;
1994: Standards, Methods: BS 7750, Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), ISO.
The History of Sustainable Development in the United Nations
1972
In 1972, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm brought the industrialized and developing nations together to delineate the ‘rights’ of the human family to a healthy and productive environment. A series of such meetings followed, e.g. on the rights of people to adequate food, to sound housing, to safe water, to access to means of family planning. The recognition to revitalize humanity’s connection with Nature, led to the creation of global institutions within the UN system.
1980
In 1980, the International Union for the Conservation of Natural Resources (IUCN) published the World Conservation Strategy (WCS) which provided a precursor to the concept of sustainable development. The Strategy asserted that conservation of nature cannot be achieved without development to alleviate poverty and misery of hundreds of million of people and stressed the interdependence of conservation and development in which development depends on caring for the Earth. Unless the fertility and productivity of the planet are safeguarded, the human future is at risk.
1982
Ten years later, at the 48th plenary of the General Assembly in 1982, the WCS initiative culminated with the approval of the World Charter for Nature. The Charter stated that "mankind is a part of nature and life depends on the uninterrupted functioning of natural systems".
1983
In 1983, the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) was created and, by 1984, it was constituted as an independent body by the United Nations General Assembly. WCED was asked to formulate ‘A global agenda for change’. In 1987, in its report Our Common Future, the WCED advanced the understanding of global interdependence and the relationship between economics and the environment previously introduced by the WCS. The report wove together social, economic, cultural and environmental issues and global solutions. It reaffirmed that "the environment does not exist as a sphere separate from human actions, ambitions, and needs, and therefore it should not be considered in isolation from human concerns. The environment is where we all live; and development is what we all do in attempting to improve our lot within that abode. The two are inseparable."
1992
In June 1992, the first UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was held in Rio de Janeiro and adopted an agenda for environment and development in the 21st Century. Agenda 21: A Programme of Action for Sustainable Development contains the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, which recognizes each nation’s right to pursue social and economic progress and assigned to States the responsibility of adopting a model of sustainable development; and, the Statement of Forest Principles. Agreements were also reached on the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Framework Convention on Climate Change. UNCED for the first time mobilized the Major Groups and legitimized their participation in the sustainable development process. This participation has remained a constant until today. For the first time also, the lifestyle of the current civilization was addressed in Principle 8 of the Rio Declaration. The urgency of a deep change in consumption and production patterns was expressly and broadly acknowledged by State leaders. Agenda 21 further reaffirmed that sustainable development was delimited by the integration of the economic, social and environmental pillars.
The spirit of the conference was captured by the expression "Harmony with Nature", brought into the fore with the first principle of the Rio Declaration: "Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature".
1993
In 1993, UNCED instituted the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) to follow-up on the implementation of Agenda 21.
1997
In June 1997, the General Assembly dedicated its 19th Special Session (UNGASS-19) to design a "Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21".
2002
In 2002, ten years after the Rio Declaration, a follow-up conference, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) was convened in Johannesburg to renew the global commitment to sustainable development. The conference agreed on the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) and further tasked the CSD to follow-up on the implementation of sustainable development.
2009
On 24th December 2009 the UN General Assembly adopted a Resolution (A/RES/64/236) agreeing to hold the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in 2012 - also referred to as 'Rio+20' or 'Rio 20'. The Conference seeks three objectives: securing renewed political commitment to sustainable development, assessing the progress and implementation gaps in meeting already agreed commitments, and addressing new and emerging challenges. The Member States have agreed on the following two themes for the Conference: green economy within the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and institutional framework for sustainable development
Since UNCED, sustainable development has become part of the international lexicon. The concept has been incorporated in many UN declarations and its implementation, while complex has been at the forefront of world’s institutions and organizations working in the economic, social and environmental sectors. However, they all recognize how difficult it has proven to grant the environmental pillar the same recognition enjoyed by the other two pillars despite the many calls by scientists and civil society signalling the vulnerability and precariousness of the Earth since the 1960s.
The History of Sustainable Development in the United Nations
1972
In 1972, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm brought the industrialized and developing nations together to delineate the ‘rights’ of the human family to a healthy and productive environment. A series of such meetings followed, e.g. on the rights of people to adequate food, to sound housing, to safe water, to access to means of family planning. The recognition to revitalize humanity’s connection with Nature, led to the creation of global institutions within the UN system.
1980
In 1980, the International Union for the Conservation of Natural Resources (IUCN) published the World Conservation Strategy (WCS) which provided a precursor to the concept of sustainable development. The Strategy asserted that conservation of nature cannot be achieved without development to alleviate poverty and misery of hundreds of million of people and stressed the interdependence of conservation and development in which development depends on caring for the Earth. Unless the fertility and productivity of the planet are safeguarded, the human future is at risk.
1982
Ten years later, at the 48th plenary of the General Assembly in 1982, the WCS initiative culminated with the approval of the World Charter for Nature. The Charter stated that "mankind is a part of nature and life depends on the uninterrupted functioning of natural systems".
1983
In 1983, the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) was created and, by 1984, it was constituted as an independent body by the United Nations General Assembly. WCED was asked to formulate ‘A global agenda for change’. In 1987, in its report Our Common Future, the WCED advanced the understanding of global interdependence and the relationship between economics and the environment previously introduced by the WCS. The report wove together social, economic, cultural and environmental issues and global solutions. It reaffirmed that "the environment does not exist as a sphere separate from human actions, ambitions, and needs, and therefore it should not be considered in isolation from human concerns. The environment is where we all live; and development is what we all do in attempting to improve our lot within that abode. The two are inseparable."
1992
In June 1992, the first UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was held in Rio de Janeiro and adopted an agenda for environment and development in the 21st Century. Agenda 21: A Programme of Action for Sustainable Development contains the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, which recognizes each nation’s right to pursue social and economic progress and assigned to States the responsibility of adopting a model of sustainable development; and, the Statement of Forest Principles. Agreements were also reached on the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Framework Convention on Climate Change. UNCED for the first time mobilized the Major Groups and legitimized their participation in the sustainable development process. This participation has remained a constant until today. For the first time also, the lifestyle of the current civilization was addressed in Principle 8 of the Rio Declaration. The urgency of a deep change in consumption and production patterns was expressly and broadly acknowledged by State leaders. Agenda 21 further reaffirmed that sustainable development was delimited by the integration of the economic, social and environmental pillars.
The spirit of the conference was captured by the expression "Harmony with Nature", brought into the fore with the first principle of the Rio Declaration: "Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature".
1993
In 1993, UNCED instituted the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) to follow-up on the implementation of Agenda 21.
1997
In June 1997, the General Assembly dedicated its 19th Special Session (UNGASS-19) to design a "Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21".
2002
In 2002, ten years after the Rio Declaration, a follow-up conference, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) was convened in Johannesburg to renew the global commitment to sustainable development. The conference agreed on the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) and further tasked the CSD to follow-up on the implementation of sustainable development.
2009
On 24th December 2009 the UN General Assembly adopted a Resolution (A/RES/64/236) agreeing to hold the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in 2012 - also referred to as 'Rio+20' or 'Rio 20'. The Conference seeks three objectives: securing renewed political commitment to sustainable development, assessing the progress and implementation gaps in meeting already agreed commitments, and addressing new and emerging challenges. The Member States have agreed on the following two themes for the Conference: green economy within the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and institutional framework for sustainable development
Since UNCED, sustainable development has become part of the international lexicon. The concept has been incorporated in many UN declarations and its implementation, while complex has been at the forefront of world’s institutions and organizations working in the economic, social and environmental sectors. However, they all recognize how difficult it has proven to grant the environmental pillar the same recognition enjoyed by the other two pillars despite the many calls by scientists and civil society signalling the vulnerability and precariousness of the Earth since the 1960s.
The International Organisation for Standardization, widely known as ISO, is an international-standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standardisation organisations. Founded on 23 February 1947, the organisation promulgates worldwide proprietary industrial and commercial standards. It has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. While ISO defines itself as a non-governmental organisation, its ability to set standards that often become law, either through treaties or national standards, makes it more powerful than most non-governmental organisations. In practice, ISO acts as a consortium with strong links to governments.
International Standards are identified in the format ISO[/IEC][/ASTM] [IS] nnnnn[:yyyy] Title, where nnnnn is the number of the standard, yyyy is the year published, and Title describes the subject. IEC for International Electrotechnical Commission is included if the standard results from the work of ISO/IEC JTC1 (the ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee). ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) is used for standards developed in cooperation with ASTM International. The date and IS are not used for an incomplete or unpublished standard, and may under some circumstances be left off the title of a published work.
The work of preparing international standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. The committees are made up of experts from different industries. In the last sixty years, more than 15,000 standards have been published. After the rapid acceptance of ISO 9000, and the increase of environmental standards around the world, ISO assessed the need for international environmental management standards. They formed the Strategic Advisory Group on the Environment (SAGE) in 1991, to consider whether such standards could serve to promote a common approach to environmental management similar to quality management. In June 1992, the British Standards Institute published BS 7750, the first Environmental Management Systems standard. This standard set the stage for the world to take a look at their environmental practices.
The ISO 14000 series emerged primarily as a result of the Uruguay round of the GATT negotiations and the Rio Summit on the Environment held in 1992. While GATT concentrated on the need to reduce non-tariff barriers to trade, the Rio Summit generated a commitment to the protection of the environment across the world. The environmental field has seen a steady growth in national and regional standards. The British Standards Institution has BS 7750, the Canadian Standards Association has environmental management, auditing, eco-labelling and other standards, the European Union has all of these plus eco-management and audit regulations, and many other countries (e.g., USA, Germany and Japan) have introduced eco-labelling programs. In 1996, the International Organization for Standardization published standard 14001 Environmental Management Systems – Requirements with Guidance for Use. ISO 14001 was first published in September 1996 and amended in November 2004. It was created and amended by Technical Committee ISO/TC207, Environmental Management, Subcommittee SC1 Environmental Management Systems.
No comments:
Post a Comment