14001Certification Doesn’t Cost – It Pays - Steve Williams

Organisations are looking for more from Environmental Management Systems than just compliance. Increasingly, businesses are re-evaluating their systems and looking to improve and protect their current and future performance. The role of independent, third-parties and their assessment methodologies is growing in importance. In conjunction with their assurance providers, businesses are seeking to: take into account the concerns of stakeholders; address the organisation’s most significant risks; and identify potential areas of improvement.

Environmental issues pose a greater risk now than ever before, as consumers increasingly look for green and ethical products. However, consumers are not the only driving force behind environmental initiatives. Investors, staff, suppliers, partners and communities all apply pressure to organisations to improve environmental performance. Marketing departments have been quick to identify the power of the green consumer and many organisations have invested in the green aspects of their Brand. There are many environmental initiatives illustrating the drive to green; for example, the 10:10 campaign to
reduce carbon emissions by 10% in 2010 currently boasts over 3,400 businesses and over 89,000 individuals.

In addition, recent large fluctuations in the cost of energy have helped to focus attention on carbon efficiency and legislation such as the recent Carbon Reduction Commitment is forcing larger organisations to measure and control their energy usage.

Many companies now produce a Corporate Responsibility Report, sometimes referred to as a Sustainability Report, which outlines objectives and current performance. The need to include valid performance data in these reports is an important consideration and this is also driving organisations to assess their environmental performance and seek ways to improve. However, some of these reports have been criticised because either they claim undue environmental merit or they claim merit for the green credentials of one part of the organisation when the remainder is performing poorly. This misleading PR activity is known as ’Greenwash’ and needs to be avoided.

Clearly, environmental management needs to be holistic, involving every part of an organisation in a transparent manner. It needs to follow accepted best practice and create business systems that ensure continuous improvement. However, third party verification and approval is necessary in order to build trust in the results of environmental reports.