Lesson 5: Business, Industry and Transportation, all gasping for air
This lesson will explore the role of business and the impact of industry with regard to air quality. The case study is followed by an interactive exercise with background reading. The exercise is intended to generate comments on the role and impact of transportation modes on air quality, the environment in general and city management in particular.
Case Study - Business & Industry Actions
Business and industry are of central importance to environmental management. They have a major impact on air quality. As firms and industrial plants grow and expand, so do the emissions they produce. Many pollutants are released into the environment and become a “public good” so to speak. Today many business try to reduce and contain pollution, but fully “clean” production is still a rare case. Often it takes public and Government pressure to get businesses to reduce pollution. At times investments in cleaner production are delayed or not made, as fines for polluting are low in comparison.
Cleaner production means the continuous application of an integrated preventive environmental strategy to processes, products and services in order to increase efficiency and to reduce risks to humans and the environment.
Arguably, a company's existence is closely bound up with the global environment as well as with the community it is based in. In carrying on its activities, each company must maintain respect for human dignity, and strive toward a future society where the global environment is protected [Keidanren, 1991] .
UNEP created the Division of Technology, Industry and Economic (UNEP DTIE) - to help decision makers in government, local authorities, and industry develop and adopt policies and practices that:
· are cleaner and safer; · make efficient use of natural resources; · ensure adequate management of chemicals; · incorporate environmental costs; and · reduce pollution and risks for humans and the environment.
To get a sense how such efforts can be organized across industries browse through the Keidanren Voluntary Action Plan on the Environment, at:
http://www.keidanren.or.jp/english/polic...
In this example from Japan, 36 industries drafted plans in cooperation with 137 industrial organizations from manufacturing and energy, to distribution, transportation, finance, construction, and foreign trade.
Corporate accountability and ethical commitment to protect the environment prove to be essential with regard to reducing the impact of business activities on the environment. A forward looking initiative to foster such involvement is among the mandate of “CERES”, a US-based coalition of environmental, investor, and advocacy groups working together for a sustainable future. The network encourages corporate environmental responsibility in a number of ways, from encouraging companies to endorse the CERES Principles, working with endorsing companies both on meeting their commitment and on environmental reporting through the Global Reporting Initiative, and mobilizing the network in activist projects.
------------------------------------------ The concept of "Cleaner Production" has expanded to cover a lot of topics related to environmentally sustainable industry. A helpful hands-on step-by-step guide and toolkit to assist small companies in implementing an environmental management is available online at
http://www.inem.org/htdocs/toolkit/conte...
In particular for Business Managers, there are now many Cleaner Production Resources available online to assist in improving a company’s performance, and compliance with environmental regulations. Businesses should be encouraged to integrate responsibilities and practices into an overall management system to increase efficiency and reduce environmental impacts. Tools for doing just this can be found at
http://www.cleanerproduction.com/Ecolink...
http://www.cleanerproduction.com/Ecolink... ------------------------------------------
Today more and more businesses, notably SMEs (Small and Medium sized Enterprises) are progressing towards ISO 14001 certification. As progress and change needs to be made step by step and not ad hoc or imposed top-down, it is advisable for SMEs to take "one level at a time" . Five levels of environmental performance can be suggested that cumulatively satisfy the requirements of ISO 14001.
Level 1: Commitment to System and Quantification of Inputs/Outputs Level 2: Compliance with pre-defined legislative issues Level 3: Identification of Significant Environmental Impacts Level 4: Management of Significant Environmental Aspects Level 5: Documenting the EMS
In many instances, SMEs that set out to improve their environmental performance will face initial constraints, usually in the form of costs and often low critical mass to implement major changes. However there are "keys to succesful organizational change" that apply to large and small companies alike. Definitely managers of SMEs should make themselves knowledgeable of the pros and cons of change as well as recognise the longer-term impact on productivity of capacity strengthening investments today. In his 2002 book, D.Chaudron has spelled out pitfalls in organizational change and advises on how to avoid them. A successful environmental manager will also need to be skillful in leading necessary organazational change in his or her efforts at improving/protecting/sustaining environmental resources, systems and processes.
There is an ever-growing numebr of firms and organisations engaged in environmental technology. In the "Green Pages" database some 6700 listings from 136 countries are documented (http://eco-web.com/cgi-local/framecontex... ).
Thus, many ideas and capacities for better environmental management and improvement are available. A key challenge is for businesses and Governments alike to identify suitable approaches and technologies for improved environmental management and importantly, to make significant use of them in reducing emissions.
