Value of the Planning Phase of Environmental Management Systems to Large Organizations

Formalized management systems for environmental aspects and impacts are relatively new to the corporate world, with the first systems being launched in the early 1990s. In the ensuing years, the ISO 14001 standard (currently valid in its 2015 edition) has become the premier global guidance on environmental management. The objective of an Environmental Management Systems (EMS) is to improve the environmental performance of an organization and demonstrate its proper management of environmental aspects. A systems approach is an effective way to run an effective EMS and the most popular model is the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) model. The foundation of a good quality EMS lies in a proper understanding of the aspects and impacts of an organization and this paper promotes the importance of the planning stage, particularly for larger organizations such as multinational corporations. The objective of the planning stage is to plan the time, cost and resources to appropriately establish the work required to administer the EMS. It entails a comprehensive understanding of key value-adding activities in the organization, including an assessment of important stakeholders, related environmental aspects and impacts, key controls, and environmental laws and regulations.