After reading this article you will learn about ISO-14000 and its impact on developing countries.
Environmental Quality Monitoring: ISO-14000:
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The International Standard Organisation (ISO) and International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) jointly set up a Strategic Advisory Group on the Environment (SAGE) in 1991.
This Committee, at their meeting TC 207 in July 1993, agreed to set up a number of subcommittees (SCs) to deal with:
1. SC1 — Environment management system;
2. SC 2 — Environmental auditing;
3. SC 3 — Environmental labelling;
4. SC4 _ Environmental performance evaluation;
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5. SC 5 — Life cycle analysis; and
6. SC6 — Term and definitions.
Each of the subcommittee further set up working groups (WGs) for appropriate functioning.
The details are given in the Table 36.1.
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The ISO-14000 have five basic principles:
1. Should focus on what needs to be done;
2. Should formulate a plan to fulfill its environmental policy;
3. Should develop the capabilities and support mechanisms necessary to achieve its environmental policy;
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4. Should measure, monitor and evaluate its environmental performance;
5. Should review and continually improve its environmental management systems.
ISO 14000—Impact On Developing Countries:
During the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD) emphasized that “business and industry needs tools to help measure environmental performance and to develop powerful environmental management techniques”.
ISO was specifically requested to step up its activities in the environmental field in response to such needs. The organisation set out to evaluate just what the market expected from an international environmental standardisation system, and to pinpoint the high priority issues.
Following the recommendations of its Strategic Advisory Group on Environment (SAGE)—which included representatives of 20 countries, 11 international organisations and more than 100 environmental experts—ISO created in J993 its Technical Committee 207, Environmental Management, to develop standards in six areas for:
1. Environmental management systems (EMS)
2. Environmental auditing and related environmental investigations
3. Environmental labelling
4. Environmental performance evaluation
5. Life cycle assessment
6. Terms and definitions.
Progress in the development of environmental management and environmental auditing standards has been rapid, thanks to the enthusiasm of the committee members representing 70 countries and the support of the various stake-holders-industry, governments, inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations.
The first two standards of the series-ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems- specification with guidance for use, and ISO 14004 Environmental Management Systems-General Guidelines on principles, systems and supporting techniques were published in September 1996 three years after the establishment of TC 207 and in a record time for achieving international consensus.
Good progress was also seen in other areas of the ISO/TC 207 programme, notably environmental labelling, environmental performance evaluation, life cycle assessment and terms and definitions. The draft of a Guide for the inclusion of environmental aspects in product standards was approved for circulation to ISO member bodies.
The ISO 14001 Approach:
While most governments have enacted legislation aimed at protecting the environment, it is generally recognised that “policing the compliance of industry to environmental legislation is no easy task in view of the large number of companies and the limited resources at the disposal of the enforcement agencies”.
Voluntary implementation by industrial firms of an environmental management system, according to ISO 14001, can go a long way towards ensuing compliance of firms with the legislation and continual improvement of their environmental performance.
Indeed, the ISO 14001 standard stipulates that the implementing organisation shall have an environmental policy defined by top management and communicated to all employees. This policy which is available to the public, should be geared towards compliance with environmental legislation and continual improvement of environmental performance.
The standard requires the organisation to establish a procedure for identifying aspects of its activities with significant impacts on the environment as well as taking stock of legislation applicable to the environmental aspects of its activities, products or services as a basis for actions to improve the environmental performance.
The standard further requires the organisation to establish environmental objectives consistent with its policy and carry out programmes to achieve these objectives.
As the case in other management systems standards (such as ISO 9000), ISO 14001 sets out procedures and measures that ensure that the environmental management system of the company is appropriate effective and reliable.
These measures include the clear definition of responsibility and authority an enhanced level of awareness and competence of all employees achieved through training, effective internal and external communication, controlled documentation and procedures for initiating corrective action.
The standard also requires the organisation procedures to identify potential for accidents and emergency situation and to institute emergency preparedness to prevent and mitigate their environmental impacts if they do occur.
Similarly, to quality management system standards, ISO 14001 institutes procedures for chocking the effectiveness of the environmental management system, namely, record keeping, regular internal audits and a periodic management review of the continued effectiveness of the system.
It is expected that the widespread implementation of ISO 14001 by industrial firms will considerably boost their environmental performance and enhance compliance with environmental regulation, thanks to its comprehensive system approach that mobilises the employees of each implementing firm.
Impact on Developing Countries:
Since the publication and widespread implementation of quality management system standards (ISO 9000) a debate has been raging in developing countries, if the latter cannot implement or cannot demonstrate that they are effectively implementing the standards.
Sceptics in developing countries go to the extent of saying that ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 (as well as the whole of the GATT Agreements) are simply ploys invented by industrialised countries to stop the export of products from developing countries which compete with their own products.
These claims are countered by voices from industrialised countries which say that, if developing countries do not follow the progress of technology in the areas of quality and preservation of the environment, they cannot expect their products to be welcome in other markets.
An Assessment:
The real problem may be on another level-whether the awareness, the will and the necessary conditions exist for a widespread implementation of these standards in developing countries.
To gain greater insight and to seek better ways to assist developing countries deal with the problem, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) conducted, in collaboration with ISO in 1995, a survey of the situation concerning ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 series of standards in developing countries and emerging economics in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.
The results of the survey show that, although a certain level of awareness of ISO 9000 exists in most regions and some efforts are being made to implement those standards with varying degrees of success, awareness of ISO 14000 standards clearly lags behind. For example, fewer respondents to the survey had seen a draft of ISO 14000 series while most respondents were familiar with ISO 9000.
This situation was particularly difficult in Africa and catastrophic in some countries of Eastern Europe where the respondents had never read the standard. There appeared to have great difficulties in understanding ISO 14000 in most regions with the exception of Asia.
Understanding was particularly poor in Africa. Even though almost all governments had supported the development of environmental awareness, very few had publicized ISO 14000.
The lack of awareness of ISO 14000 standards and their potential benefits was considered as the most common factor deterring companies from implementing the standards. For SMEs the cost setting up an environmental management system as well as the lack of consultancy were considered as other weighty counter-arguments against ISO 14000 implementation.