The application of environmental certification to the Province of Siena

The SPIn-Eco project has provided very broad and precise data collection regarding the Province of Siena. These data and their elaborations have also been developed as a basis for the environmental certification of this organization. In this way, the Administration of the Province of Siena (the first Province in Italy) has reached its goal of obtaining better knowledge of the state of the system and of constructing its environmental management system (EMS) according to the environmental aspects directly and indirectly arising from the organization's activities. Indirect aspects are mainly related to the territorial monitoring and planning. Indicators based on the classical pressure-state-response approach, as well as more complex ones based on CO(2) balance, emergy and ecological footprint analyses, have been used to assess the environmental performance of the EMS. This paper presents how this EMS is constructed, as well as the indicators that are used to analyze the system, paying particular attention to sustainability indicators.     

Environmental performance indicators: an empirical study of Canadian manufacturing firms

The aim of this exploratory study is to examine the importance of measurement and use of environmental performance indicators (EPIs) within manufacturing firms. Two research questions are investigated: (i) To what extent are firm characteristics associated with the importance of measurement of various categories of EPIs? (ii) To what extent are firm characteristics associated with global and specific uses of EPIs? More specifically, this paper examines four uses of EPIs (i.e. to monitor compliance, to motivate continuous improvement, to support decision making, and to provide data for external reporting) as well as four characteristics of firms, namely environmental strategy, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 compliance, size, and ownership. This study contributes to the environmental management accounting literature by collecting and analyzing empirical evidence that provides a better understanding of the associations among firm characteristics and EPIs.     

The ISO 14001 environmental management standard in Japan: results from a national survey of facilities in four industries

Since establishment of the ISO 14001 environmental management system in 1996, Japanese facilities have led the world in numbers of certifications. This research utilises survey data from more than 1700 Japanese facilities as well as follow-up interviews to identify the determinants of ISO certification, to examine the differences between early, recent and in-process certifiers, and to understand how ISO 14001 certification affects various environmental and managerial outcomes in Japan. Findings show that ISO certified facilities are larger and report higher levels of environmental management capacity. In addition, early certifiers are more likely to have established voluntary environmental agreements and are more active in international trade and business. Findings also provide evidence that while many facilities believe that ISO 14001 certification is excessively costly, they also report that certification has resulted in the establishment of new energy efficiency and waste reduction targets and higher target levels. Nevertheless, evidence indicates that certification does not generally result in longer-term outcomes such as post-certification adjustment of non-regulated targets.     

Public regulatory relief and the adoption of environmental management systems: a European survey

An increasing number of organizations across the world have adopted Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) based on certifiable standards, notably the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) and the ISO 14001 standards. Although the specialized literature has studied the motivations, obstacles and benefits of the adoption of these standards for EMSs extensively, the impact of the public incentives on the adoption of such environmental management tools has been overlooked. In order to fill this gap in the literature, this article aims to shed light on the level of companies' knowledge and application of the main regulatory relief initiatives provided by public administrations around the EU for organizations with a certified EMS. For that purpose, this article summarizes the main findings of a survey carried out with the participation of 244 European EMAS-registered organizations. The findings of the survey highlight the fact that most of the surveyed companies have adopted or benefitted from some form of regulatory relief, mainly by making use of the measures granting an extended duration of some permits (44%), reductions in financial guarantees in the waste-treatment sector (31%) and tax reductions (26%). Moreover, it emerges that, among countries, the role of regulatory relief to support companies in the path to the adoption of EMSs is not univocal.     

建立环境管理体系与中小企业可持续发展

分析我国中小企业在当前国际市场环境下建立ISO1 4 0 0 1管理体系的必要性 ;提出中小企业建立环境管理体系的步骤 ;阐述了实施环境管理体系与中小企业可持续发展的关系 ;为中小企业进行环境管理体系建立实施提供参考。     

Assessment of the critical factors in ımplementing ISO 14001:2015 environmental management systems for developing countries: A case study for Sri Lanka

ISO 14001:2015 is an international standard that specifies the requirements of environmental management systems (EMS). This study assessed the influence of top management commitment, applications of compliance and other requirements, operational control, monitoring and measurements, resource management and improvements as critical factors on successful implementation and the operation of the ISO 14001:2015, by considering organizations in Sri Lanka as a case study. A data collection was conducted via questionnaires and structured interviews from stakeholders who are directly responsible for the EMS such as environmental managers, quality mangers and general managers of the organizations, who are certified with ISO 14001:2015, and comparisons were undertaken. The statistical analysis of the critical factors has shown a significant positive effect on both large‐scale organizations and export‐oriented organizations on EMS implementation. Furthermore, the results indicate that the EMS adoption has created significant positive impacts on efficient energy and resource consumption within organizations.     

自愿型环境规制:研究进展及未来展望

环境规制工具的选择决定了生态环境保护的成效,环境规制研究也是当前资源环境领域的研究热点之一。根据政府赋予被规制对象自由裁量权空间从小到大,可以将规制工具分为纯粹政府规制、元规制、自我规制、无约束的自由四种类型。既有研究对传统的纯粹政府规制工具给予了大量的关注,相比而言,对元规制和自我规制等自愿型环境规制工具的关注相对较少。已有的自愿型环境规制的研究主要从俱乐部物品理论、制度主义理论、利益相关者理论等视角出发,探讨自愿型环境规制的供给和需求问题。自愿型环境规制工具作为一种俱乐部物品,实践中面临的最大挑战在于如何克服企业的“搭便车”行为。现有的实证研究分别将自愿型环境规制作为自变量和因变量,分别探究①自愿型环境规制对企业环境绩效和经济创新绩效的影响,以及②企业参与自愿型环境规制的内外部动因。对比国内外文献我们发现,目前基于中国的社会经济背景下的自愿型环境规制的研究非常欠缺,这主要是因为中国在环境规制领域具有长期使用纯粹政府规制工具的传统,自愿型环境规制的实践较为欠缺,目前在中国实践较为广泛的自愿型环境规制工具仅有ISO14001环境管理体系以及化工行业的“责任关怀”体系。最后,本文基于现有对于中国自愿型环境规制研究的不足,展望了未来研究可能的方向。我们认为既有对于自愿型环境规制的研究更多关注对企业绩效的因果效应,而对其如何影响企业绩效的因果机制识别不足;此外,现有文献很少将中国特色的政治、经济、社会因素纳入自愿型环境规制的研究领域,未来的研究应当多从这两个方面着手深入。     

A hybrid design methodology for structuring an Integrated Environmental Management System (IEMS) for shipping business

The International Safety Management (ISM) Code defines a broad framework for the safe management and operation of merchant ships, maintaining high standards of safety and environmental protection. On the other hand, ISO 14001:2004 provides a generic, worldwide environmental management standard that has been utilized by several industries. Both the ISM Code and ISO 14001:2004 have the practical goal of establishing a sustainable Integrated Environmental Management System (IEMS) for shipping businesses. This paper presents a hybrid design methodology that shows how requirements from both standards can be combined into a single execution scheme. Specifically, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Axiomatic Design (FAD) are used to structure an IEMS for ship management companies. This research provides decision aid to maritime executives in order to enhance the environmental performance in the shipping industry.     

创建机关ISO 14001环境管理体系探析

围绕天津市环境保护局创建机关ISO14001环境管理体系过程中的环境因素识别这一核心问题,进行了深入研究和探讨,并对体系的概况,特点和创建体系的意义等进行了概述和分析,为全国环保机关建立ISO14001环境管理体系提供了借鉴。