Some Tools For Environmental

Management
• Environmental Impact Assessment: A process
whereby the impact on the environment of a
project or development is assessed in terms of
biodiversity, geology, water, energy, waste,
historical and indigenous significance (if
relevant) and social and economic changes.
• Environmental Effects Statement (EES) or
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS): The
report produced as a result of an
environmental impact statement that
describes the effects/impacts of the
project/development. This is mandated by
planning regulators and available to
stakeholders for consultation.
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) : Also called “cradle to grave
analysis”, it is a technique to assess environmental impacts
associated with all the stages of a product's life fromcradle-to-
grave (i.e., from raw material extraction through materials
processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and
maintenance, and disposal or recycling).
• LCA’s can help avoid a narrow outlook on environmental
concerns by:
• Compiling an inventory of relevant energy and material inputs
and environmental releases;
• Evaluating the potential impacts associated with identified
inputs and releases;
• Interpreting the results to help you make a more informed
decision.
• ERA Environmental (or Ecological) Risk
Assessment is the process of estimating the
effects of human actions on a natural
resource. It is comprised of the following
steps:
• Planning the assessment by setting the
management goals, objectives and resources
available.
• Formulating the problem to determine the
scope of the assessment.
• Identifying the ecological values and the likely
hazards to these values.
• Analysing the risks to ecological values using
qualitative, semi-qualitative or quantitative
risk assessment methods.
• Characterising and ranking the risks, including
uncertainties and assumptions, to make them
accessible to decision makers and
stakeholders.
• Developing a risk management plan to
minimise the risks.
• Monitoring the system to provide information
on the effectiveness of the plan.
 Some Examples of EMS:
• Kimberly-Clark Australia was one of the first Australian companies to adopt a
corporate environmental policy and develop its Environmental Management
System (EMS) using ISO 14001. The company aims to:
• continually improve its environmental performance, prevent pollution and
responsibly minimise and control its wastes.
• plan, construct and operate all operating locations to comply with applicable
regulations, to meet ISO 14001 or its equivalent and to act with due diligence
for environmental protection and improvement.
• source its paper-products fibre from either:
• – recycled fibre recovered from waste paper or virgin fibre which is made from
wood out of forests which have had their operations and management
certified to one of the listed forest management systems . We shall strive for
100% compliance while accepting 70% as a minimum
• help conserve resources by the design and production of products to reduce
the use of raw materials, packaging and energy in manufacture, and by
recycling production wastes.
 SIGNIFICANCE
• Environmental Management is an approach which integrates Ecology,
Policy making, Planning and Social development. Its main objectives are as
follows:
• To prevent and solve environmental problems.
• To establish limits .
• To develop research institutions and monitoring systems.
• To warn threats and identify opportunities.
• To suggest measures for resource conservation.
• To develop a strategy for the improvement of quality.
• To suggest long-term and short-term policies for sustainable development.
• To identify new technology for future development.
 General Scheme For
Environmental Management
• STEP I: Identification of objectives and define
problems.
• STEP II: Determination of appropriate action
plan.
• STEP III: Implementation & progress
evaluation.
• STEP IV: Monitoring & adjust management.
• STEP V: Future environmental management
and planning
Trends In Environmental Management
• Impact Assessment and Planning (IAP) Assessing environmental and
social impacts prior to setting up operations and obtaining environmental
approval from the authorities is almost mandatory in most project
categories. IAP assessments may be required not only for newly
constructed facilities, but also for new operations that will be housed in an
existing building.
• Environmental Liability and Clean-up
• Foreign investment has resulted in heightened scrutiny of current and
historic environmental liabilities associated with property transactions in
India.
• Sustainability and Regulatory Compliance
• The increasing desire of Indian companies to meet world class standards
has caused established companies in India to take on sustainability
initiatives as a means of improving their global brand and reputation.
 Environmental Initiatives In India
• National Council for Environmental Policy and Planning was set up in
1972 which was later evolved into Ministry of Environment and Forests
(MoEF) in 1985.
• MoEF and the pollution control boards (CPCB i.e. Central Pollution
Control Board and SPCBs i.e. State Pollution Control Boards) together
form the regulatory and administrative core of the sector.
• The Policy Statement for Abatement of Pollution and the National
Conservation Strategy and Policy Statement on Environment and
Development were brought out by the MoEF in 1992.
• The EAP (Environmental Action Programme) was formulated in 1993 with
the objective of improving environmental services and integrating
environmental considerations into development programmes.
 Environmental Initiatives In India
• For the protection of environment and to control pollution several
measures have been undertaken both by government and NGOs.
• Even before independence, some laws have been enacted for the
protection of environment. In Indian Penal Code of 1860, Articles 268,
290, 291, 426, 430, 431 and 432 are related with environment. Similarly,
Article 277 was related with water pollution and 278 with Air pollution.
• National Environmental policy, 2006
• It the first initiative in strategy-formulation for environmental protection
in a comprehensive manner. It undertakes a diagnosis of the causative
factors of land degradation with a view to flagging the remedial measures
required in this direction. It recognizes that the relevant fiscal, tariffs and
sectoral policies need to take explicit account of their unintentional
impacts on land degradation
 GLOBAL INITIATIVES: ISO14000 EMS
CERTIFICATION
• The International Environmental Standards are intended to provide
organizations with the elements of an effective environmental system,
which can be integrated with other management requirements to assist
organizations to achieve of an environmental management system to
support it to cover the following major areas:
• Environmental management system.
• Environmental auditing .
• Environmental labeling.
• Environmental Performance evaluation .
• Life Cycle Assessment.
• ISO 14000 builds a single global management system that allows effective
management of environmental responsibilities, liabilities, costs; document
commitment to governmental management system (EMS).
• ISO 14000 is a way of empowering businesses to take control of
environmental responsibility and encouraging government
departments to approach the challenge with far greater flexibility.
• ISO 14000 does not only relate to massive global companies. The
standard states “It has been written to be applicable to all types
and sizes of organizations and to accommodate diverse
geographical, cultural and social conditions.”
• ISO 14001 Certification is an initiative to bring about uniformity in
environmental compliance standards to reduce impediments to
trade among countries. If it is accepted and implemented properly,
it can bring about a lot of changes in the present Indian scenario.
• After the increase of environmental standards around the world,
ISO assessed the need for International environmental standards.
They formed the Strategic Advisory Group on Environment (SAGE)
in 1991, to consider whether such standards could serve to be
effective instruments of pollution control.
 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS:- AWARENESS
• LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) 1994
• It is a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and
maintenance of green buildings, homes and neighborhoods, developed by the
U.S. Green Building council (USGBC), LEED is intended to help building owners
and operators be environmentally responsible and use resources efficiently.
• LEED has evolved since 1998 to more accurately represent and incorporate
emerging green building technologies. The pilot version, LEED New
Construction (NC) v1.0, led to LEED NCv2.0, then LEED NCv2.2 in 2005. LEED
was most recently updated in 2009, to LEEDv3. It encompasses nine rating
systems for the design, construction and operation of buildings, homes and
neighborhoods. Five overarching categories correspond to the specialties
available under the LEED Accredited Professional program. That suite currently
consists of:
• Green Building Design & construction.
• Green Interior Design & construction .
• Green building operations & Maintenance.
• Green Neighborhood Development .
 UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROGRAMME
• It is an agency of the United nations, that coordinates its environmental
activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally
sound policies & practices. It was founded as a result of the United
Nations Conference on the Human Environment in June 1972.
• Its activities cover a wide range of issues regarding the atmosphere,
marine and terrestrial ecosystems, environmental governance and green
economy.
• It has played a significant role in developing international environmental
conventions, promoting environmental science and information and
illustrating the way those can be implemented in conjunction with policy,
working on the development and implementation of policy with national
governments, regional institutions in conjunction with environmental non-
governmental organizations (NGOs).
• UNEP has also been active in funding and implementing environment
related development projects.
 INDIAN GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL
• It was formed by confederation of Indian industry in the year 2001 is
continuously striving towards wider adoption of eco – friendly/ Green
building concepts in the Indian Industry.
• There are three primary ranking in India GRIHA, IGBC etc promotes a
whole building approach to sustainability based on the principles of 5
elements of the nature. They are:
• Sustainable site development
• Water savings
• Material selection
• Energy Efficiency
• Indoor Environmental Quality