What is an Environmental management system (EMS)?

An Environmental Management System (EMS) is the organized, documented, systematic and perpetual application of commonsense solutions to meet the desired objective of improved environmental performance.

More explicitly, EMS is that part of the overall management system covering organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources necessary for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing and maintaining the organization’s environment policy.

EMS is a problem-identification and problem-solving tool, based on the concept of continual improvement that can be implemented in an organization in many different ways, depending on the sector of activity and the needs perceived by management. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has come out with a series of standards to enable organizations establishes an environmental management system.

EMS involves:

1. Documentation of the system

2. Defining roles and duties

3. Training

4. Communication strategies

5. Commitment

6. Periodic reviews

7. Audits of what is actually happening

8. Continual monitoring. Stages in the implementation of an EMS

In planning for implementation of an EMS to meet the ISO 14001 standard, it is necessary for the organization to follow the principles given below which are also detailed

1) Define an environmental policy;

2) Develop an environmental action plan and define environmental responsibilities;

3) Develop internal information and training courses; and

4) Audit the environmental management system and conduct an environmental management review.

Life cycle assessment

A product’s life cycle starts when raw materials are extracted from the earth, followed by manufacturing, transport and use, and ends with waste management including recycling and final disposal. At every stage of the life cycle there are emissions and consumption of resources. The environmental impacts from the entire life cycle of products and services need to be addressed. To do this, life cycle thinking is required

The role of NGO’s and public participation in development and conservation activities

Non-governmental organizations have emerged as key players performing a wide variety of tasks. They help design and implement environment policies, programmes and action plans, set out specifications for EIAs, play advocacy roles through their environmental campaigns, educate the public about the environment campaigns, educate the public about the environment and raise awareness among them. They also question the wrong policies of any government, marshalling public opinion and even guide them in formulating policies.

In some countries, community participation is required by law for implementation of policies and plans, where NGOs play the major role in liaising with the stakeholders-the government and the people.

Even some movements, like the Chipko movement (started in a district of the Himalayas, by a group of tribal women to resist tree felling) and the Narmada Bachao Andolan have raised their voices in environment-development issues and have mobilized people into action. Some novel concepts like people’s tribunals which hear cases filed by individuals or communities affected by environmental degradation have also been adopted.

Some organizations have helped the local people, who wish to manage their resources in an efficient and sustainable way, by providing them trade contacts and some others have helped the local populace by ecotourism. As the local people know more about their forests, they have been employed as guides, trackers etc.

Some NGOs are small and work in a particular small area. For example, Wildlife First! a small NGO, works on ecodevelopment projects around the Bhadra National Park. Some of them are very big and work worldwide. For example, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) is a large organization, working in quite a large number of countries. Some NGOs form a consortium of many organizations and work towards achieving a common goal.

Community participation has long been known to be a prerequisite for any project’s success. Moreover, as custodians of the wealth that they have been endowed with, the local people have more at stake than any others to protect and judiciously use that wealth.

The NGOs are facilitators, educators, defenders and are very important in helping the people and their environment. Some of the important Indian NGOs are the following:

1. The Energy Resources Institute (TERI), Delhi.

2. Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Maharashtra.

3. Institute of Advance Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Assam.

4. Indian Centre for Plastic in the Environment (ICPE), Maharashtra.

5. Environment Management Division-Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Delhi.

6. Development Alternatives (DA), Delhi.

7. World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF), Delhi.

8. Centre for Environment Education (CEE), Gujarat.

9. Environment Protection Training and Research Institute (EPTRI), Andhra Pradesh.

10. Indian Environmental Society (IES), Delhi.

11. Centre for Media Studies (CMS), Delhi.

12. Centre for Symbiosis of Technology, Delhi.

13. Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC), Gujarat.

14. CPR Environmental Education Centre (CPR), Tamilnadu.

15. Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), Karnataka.

16. National Solid Waste Association of India (NSWAI), Maharashtra.

17. Sulabh International Institute of Health and Hygiene, Delhi.

18. Waterfalls Institute of Technology Transfer (WITT), Delhi.

19. Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Tamilnadu.

20. Environmental Management and Policy Research Institute (EMPRI), Karnataka.

21. International Institute for Population Sciences (HPS), Maharashtra.