ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

b.

1960S- the rise of environmentalism

Before 1960s- ethical principles were used as a guide to resource management
Peoples attitudes changed with the passing years
Now- there are many agencies to protect not only human, nut also little plants and
animals

RESOURCE/ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

I.
A.

GOVERNMENT STRATEGIES
REGULATORY- aka command and control approach

Direct regulation by the legislation

Government sets environmental standards or targets that will achieve the

kinds of solutions to environmental problems

polluters must pay- there are penalties for violators

2 kinds of standards being followed

o Health standards- based on scientist calculations of how much
quantity of a hazardous substance is considered harmful to
humans (BFAD)
o Technology-based standards- determined by the kind of device
that is used to control pollution

Emission test standards for vehicles

No use of leaded gasoline

Canned beer should be recycled

*disadvantage: costly, expensive, must weigh compliance against benefits, does not
allow business to develop unique methods of pollution problem
B. ECONOMIC INCENTIVE APPROACH

Indirect form of regulation

Economic Incentive Instruments (IIEs)/ Market-based instruments

o Consists of variety of charges, taxes, deposit-refund scheme,
information program, subsidies and tradable emission permits
1. Charges/Fines- when businesses are not able to comply with pollution
standards, a system of imposing charges or fines take over; businesses suffer the
cost and sometimes passed to consumers
2. Green Taxes- Taxes which are regular obligation imposed by governments to
business; the taxes will be used for research to innovate a more pollutionabatement technologies
3. Deposit-refund scheme (Sweden)a. Governments may impose an additional charge, called a surcharge on
the price of a product that a factory produces. When the used product
is returned for recycling, the government refunds the surcharge

4.

5.

6.

When a factory uses a potentially polluting product, it pays the

government a sum of money (deposit). After the product is used and
pollution is avoided, the product is returned to an authorized
collection point and the factory gets a refund of the deposit
c. mining and logging- some firms pays a cash bond; if the firm is found
to have violated any environmentally-acceptable practice, the
government uses the bond to undertake the clean-up (similar to Phil.
Mining Act of 1995)

Mainly, deposit is used to rehabilitate affected areas and

adversely affected communities
Information programs- requires the manufacturer to inform the public of any
potential toxic material on a certain product (pesticides, medicines, plastic
bottles-BFA free)
Tradable emission permits- Government Issue permits to businesses that allow
them to emit specific pollutants up to certain limits. When one company
produces pollutants less than the amount permitted, it may sell or trade its
permit to other companies that exceeded their limits.
*example: Trading of sulfur dioxide emissions in USA as stated in their
Clean Air Act
Lead Permit System-unused quotas will be sold to oil refineries
who found it hard to keep within their quota.
Subsidies-Government can grant subsidies, soft loans or by changes in
accounting procedures, give further incentives to business to adopt
environmentally-clean technologies; a business is allowed consumer rebates
when they purchase devices that controls pollution

C. PROPERTY RIGHTS APPROACH- due to tragedy of the commons

*indirect form of regulation
*government may impose regulatory measures in the local or national level that will
induce the errant property owner to make improvements in his property
*example:
>An environmentally-sensitive area/park- government will limit the number of tourist that will
be allowed
>A government can confer a land title of an individual whose land is inefficiently used; the land
title may be converted to state ownership by the government
>communal management- group of persons share in the ownership of a land, the idea is to put
limit to an individuals abuse of resources when his rights are shared by others

II.
1.

CORPORATE MANAGEMENT
Waste Minimization- social responsibility of business corporations to reduce
volume of waste
How?
>redesign products
>recycle
>incinerate waste
>proper waste disposal
*DOW Chemical WRAP (waste reduction always pays)
-give incentives for waste reduction projects
-recognize those who excel in waste reduction
-recognizes opportunities in waste reduction

2.

Product Life-cycle Analysis

Life cycle of a product:
Manufacturingdistributionuse/consumptiondisposal
*businessmen should assess the resources used, energy consumed, waste
produced, and emissions produced in every stage o
*management and employees share in the responsibility of recommending
improvements rather than only the people involved at the last stage of the
process

3.

Design for disassembly- products are designed to make it easier for consumers
to disassemble once they reach the end of being useful
*BMW, Whirlpool, Digital Equipment, 3M and General Electrics- there
products are designed in such manner that once they are taken apart, the
component parts can be used to make other products

4.

Green Marketing- corporations should think of a way to come up with products

which are biodegradable and recyclables
*more fuel efficient cars and appliances (TVCATV to LCD to LED)
*Procter and Gamble funded a research project in the US in exchange of
the environmental impact when they introduced disposable diapers
(Pampers)
*Green gold- a market term for gold that were mined using an
environmentally-friendly method (Germany
Greening of strategy- companies should conduct environmental assessment
*when resources are scarce, they should come up with other alternatives

5.

6.

III.

Greening of Communication- corporations should be transparent to public, they

should have a clear report of the impact of their business to the environment
(Environmental Report)
How?
*creation of citizen action panel
*community activities
*emergency planning networks
*publishing annual environmental reports (print, web)

OTHER APPROACHES
*Government to government assistance to less developed countries
* Example: Debt-for-Nature Swap Initiative Program (DFFNSIP)
> A MOA between Germany and Philippines
> Philippines borrowed money from Germany to fund a forestry
program in Quirino province, when the program succeeded; Germany
cancelled the Phil debt amounting to Php 371.9 M.