What are the key environmental aspects and impacts to consider for your EMS?

The main environmental aspects that should be applicable for any organisation are: - waste management - water (potable supply and natural resources) - utilities or energy (electricity, natural gas, LPG, renewable) - emissions (to air, land and water) - chemicals (use, storage, impacts) - carbon emissions and climate change (net zero) - natural heritage and biodiversity - built environment, amenity and people.

When setting up an Environmental Management System (EMS), you will want to focus on a few key things. First, think about the aspects of your business that can affect the environment. This could include things like energy use, water consumption, waste generation, and emissions. Then, consider the impacts these aspects might have. For example, if you use a lot of energy, it could contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. If you generate a lot of waste, it might end up in landfills and harm local ecosystems. The idea is to identify these aspects and impacts so you can manage and reduce them. This not only helps the environment but can also save you money in the long run and improve your company's reputation.

If your intention is to make your EMS more sustainably focused then it may be reasonable to avoid the temptation to limit the consideration of aspects to interactions with the biophysical environment alone. A more holistic and sustainability focused approach will be to also consider interactions of your activities, products and services with societal factors like equity and justice.

Environmental aspects are crucial elements to consider as they represent the interactions between your organization and the environment. Identifying and evaluating these aspects, such as energy consumption, waste generation, water use, and emissions, is essential for understanding and managing your environmental impact effectively.

It is important to adopt a ecosystems analytical approach to identify enablers, constraints, and environmental spillovers related to corporate action.

Assessing the nature, extent and severity of environmental impacts and effects is often beyond the scope of a single project. In addition, baseline data on air, soil and water quality and the biological entities dependent on them is typically limited. This can result in the reliance on models to assess potential impacts and effects, but these models must also rely on the same limited data. Instead, the identification and assessment of environmental impacts and effects should be seen as a learning exercise where the proponent and the government agencies contribute to creating a larger database of direct measures and monitoring of the nature, extent and severity of potential environmental impacts.

From a Sustainability (Envision for Infrastructure) & ESG (GRI- ISSB) perspective need to widen from EIs to include social/community SIs as in ESI, and now, use Prof Sir Desgupta Economics (TBL) for valuing Natural Capital within organisations governance practice. Use this to support holistic assessments.

The assessment should be comprehensive, considering not only the immediate effects but also the long-term and cumulative repercussions. Furthermore, the severity of impacts should guide prioritization, with a focus on addressing the most significant ones first. In conclusion, understanding and addressing environmental impacts isn't just a regulatory requirement; it's a moral obligation to safeguard our planet for future generations. It's about recognizing that every action, no matter how small, has consequences, and it's our responsibility to minimize those consequences to the best of our abilities.

Exactly! Priority should be given to environmental impact assessments of activities to ascertain the level of environmental impacts to help create a sustainable environment.

This is the most critical document in the EMS because it is the buy in by senior management, from the CEO/MD down. It is part of the Governance documents that show the organisations commitment to and above minimal legal requirements. Although the threat of CEO culpability certainly drives top down change. However, no matter how good 'management', e.g., EMP documents are unless grass roots buy in by 'coal face' workers within weekly tool box meetings, nothing changes. Every supervisor needs to be a HSE champion as incidents often trigger all aspects!

The environmental policy statement is very important because it outlines an organisations commitment to environmental sustainability, providing a framework for setting objectives, implementing strategies, and of-course measuring environmental performance. It further the company’s dedication to reducing its environmental impact, complying with regulations, and promoting environmental stewardship. Additionally, it can enhance reputation, attract environmentally conscious stakeholders, and mitigate risks associated with environmental issues.

You must ensure the process includes input from affected minority and disadvantaged populations. Lack of 360 degree participation is a serious deficit of any environmental planning procesd

Environment policy must recognize that our knowledge and understanding about protecting the environment is incomplete. Continuous Improvement is one term included in policy statements. This must be elaborated in detail as part of the EMS.

An organization's policy is crucial for its management system. The environmental impacts and aspects considered for an EMS are not the policy itself. However, the policy should be carefully crafted to reflect the environmental aspects most relevant to the organization's activities and should reflect a commitment from the board to reduce any impact.

The scope, frequency, sensitivity and relevance of measures that monitor the health and adaptive success of affected habitats and species, including human health, is a big task. This should not come across as a public relations exercise. It should be undertaken as an ongoing effort to learn how to best minimize environmental impacts using the best monitoring methods available.

A concise register of compliance obligations, national and international legislation is the best base for identifying main risks within environmental aspects, linking them to key potential environmental impacts. Once these are identified or understood, quantifying or estimating the gap in compliance is vital. Once the baseline is known, one can then plan effective environmental performance indicators (EPIs). The form of the EPIs can be short or long term objectives, stepped or absolute objectives or goals, quantitative or qualitative. Not meeting set EPIs should not be viewed as absolute failure, it just means that something went awry in the process and requires revisiting within the Plan, Do, Check, Act.

I previously designated Key EPIs as KEPIs, like the French Foreign Legion caps going into battle for the environment but now I prefer Performance Indicators for Key Sustainability (PIKS) for picking those things that will make the greatest decarbonization impact.

Environmental Performance Indicators are metrics used to assess an organization's impact on the environment and its effort towards sustainability. These indicators help measure, monitor and communicate environmental performance. More like KPI's regarding the environment. Some of these indicators include; -Carbon footprint which quantifies the total greenhouse gas emissions, measured by carbon dioxide equivalents. -Energy consumption which measures the energy consumed. -Water Usage -Waste Generation Efforts towards sustainability indicators include: -Recycling rate -Renewable energy use -Eco-Efficiency -Sustainable supply chain management -Compliance with environmental regulations -Environmental training and awareness

Environmental performance indicators are essential tools for tracking progress in environmental management. They must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). Aligning them with environmental aspects, impacts, and policy ensures they are part of a holistic strategy. Collecting, analyzing, and reporting results demonstrates commitment and transparency to stakeholders.

Effective audits (especially those aligned to ISO) can be broken down into two main categories operational and systematic audits (systematic audits looking at the management systems' processes such as legal evaluation and operational audits looking at the activities such as compliance with individual legislation). By adopting a process/risk-based approach to this as opposed to just a clause-based approach means effectiveness can be better gauged, time saved and key integrations observed.

Environmental audits, in my view, must encompass all EMS elements, leaving no area unexamined. This comprehensive approach, covering aspects, impacts, policy, indicators, procedures, and practices, is essential for identifying improvement opportunities. Both internal and external audits hold significance. Internal audits uphold self-assessment and accountability, while external audits offer impartiality. The real value of an environmental audit lies in pinpointing gaps and weaknesses, paving the way for enhancement. Acting on these findings with corrective and preventive actions is where progress toward sustainability begins. It's about driving positive change and fostering continuous improvement, not just assessment.

An environmental audit assesses EMS compliance, effectiveness, and efficiency by examining all elements, including aspects, impacts, policy, and performance indicators. It identifies gaps for improvement, requiring regular internal and external audits and corrective actions.

To make the most out of your audit, it should t be seen merely as a tick box exercise to meet EMS requirements or attain or certification. Internal auditors must be well trained and committed to improving environmental performance through the audit process.

One thing that I have observed is occasional confusion between actual internal audits by a qualified 'second line' internal EMS/ISO14001:2015 assessor, and checks or assessments undertaken by a competent first line (operational-based) person. Both are vital for maintaining compliance, but the former is more specialised and the latter is regular and guided by a list or aide memoir.

I would add that when using an EMS it's imperative that it has "versioning" capabilities! Let me explain.... Once your applicability has been completed it should generate your comprehensive legal register outlining specific requirements and their associated tasks to ensure compliance. After this is when the versioning would come in. Your solution should enable you to create new versions of your review in response to new or updated regulations with the ability to recall previous versions. This facilitates accurate auditing that reflects the regulatory requirements and compliance status during that specific timeframe.

In an Environmental Management System (EMS), key aspects and impacts include energy use, water consumption, waste generation, chemical usage, emissions, biodiversity, land use, noise pollution, resource depletion, community relations, compliance, climate change, eco-efficiency, supply chain, and emergency response. These factors help organizations minimize environmental harm and enhance sustainability.

Compliance Obligation: 6.1.3 When setting up an Environmental Management System (EMS), it's important to include these legal requirements. This helps the organization avoid fines and penalties, reduces risks, and improves its reputation. Following the law also promotes responsible practices and supports long-term sustainability.

As an organization, take the perspective that the identification of aspects and impacts is an opportunity and not just another task. It is an opportunity to regularly reevaluate business processes and practices not only for environmental impact, but also for sustainability improvements.

A definição dos aspectos e impactos chaves depende dos processos de produção do empreendimento. Com base nesse mapeamento se determina quais sao esses aspectos e impactos e existem várias metodologias que ajudam a definir os críticos. Materialidade, frequência, probabilidade são algumas variáveis que podem ser consideradas para definir os impactos mais significativos e assim, definir as chaves.

Concordo com os pontos apresentados mas ainda adicionaria um além desses: as certificações. Elas são a chancela de que seu SGA realmente saiu do papel e está sendo aplicado. É uma chancela importante e cada vez mais necessária, hoje sendo um diferencial comercial mas que num futuro não muito distante, a falta de certificações pode se tornar um fator limitante para seu empreendimento.