organisations and the environment

Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2011 by Darren Willman.

ORGANISATIONS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

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http://www.soas.ac.uk/cedep/


LEARNING OBJECTIVES

› Understand the relationship and interactions between organisations and the environment

› Introduce some drivers and approaches for organisations in being considerate of environmental impact

› Introduce the role of the Environmental Manager in organisations

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Saturday 8 April 2023

Organisations and the environment share a close relationship

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Organisations affect the environment:› Macro and

micro scales› Direct and

indirect impacts

Environment affecting

organisations:› Direct impacts

(e.g. water pollution,

droughts, floods)› Indirect impacts…

PRESSURE




With the environment most often compromised

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Organisation:› Economic growth

› Production› Consumption

Environment:› Growth in CFCs› Dependency on oil economy› Influence of chemicals on agriculture and environment




Yet this in turn indirectly affects the organisations themselves

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Investor concernsInvestor concerns

Financial drivers

Financial drivers

NGO campaigns

NGO campaigns

Customer preferencesCustomer

preferences

Legal restrictions

Government policy and/or

response

Government policy and/or

response Employee concerns

Employee concerns

Competitor pressure

Competitor pressure




As a result nowadays, organisations are being put under greater scrutiny

› First national pollution control agency in the UK: the Alkali Inspectorate. Established 1863 to curb pollution in the caustic soda industry

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Landmark events and media:› Rachel Carson book, Silent Spring› Oil price crises 1973-4 and 1978-80› Bhopal and Chernobyl› Al Gore’s Inconvenient

Truth

Events and conferences:› 1972 UN conference on the human environment, Stockholm

› 1992 Earth Summit, Rio De Janeiro

Public awareness and action:› Surge in foundation of green NGOs

in the late 19th century› Green consumerism

› Green political parties↑ scrutiny↑ demand




Organisations need to follow a new approach

› A sustainable development approach› Produce higher levels of output using lower levels of

input, while generating less waste› A palette of environmental management tools› Tighter legislative controls› Increasing pressure from stakeholders

regarding environmental performance

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EmployeesCustomersSuppliersOwnersDistributorsCommunity




Led by an Environmental ManagerThe role of the Environmental Manager:1. Understand the pressures, risks and opportunities that

environmental issues pose now, in the short-term and the long-term

2. Understand the nature of the issues on the organisation and the environment

3. Develop response strategies based on the impacts, resources, organisational strategy

4. Implement, maintain and develop the strategies over time

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Understanding such environmental pressures requires three components

› Access to expertise on the environmental pressures on the business

› A safe way to talk to stakeholders about the environmental performance of the organisation, without risk of public criticism

› Integration of the identification and analysis of the impact on environmental issues with the core strategic business function

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Access to expertise, stakeholder dialogue and integration

Access to expertise› Senior management is generally

very under skilled in this regard› Environmental issues reach all

areas of business, and it is therefore difficult to place them in an organisational structure and allocate controls, authorities and responsibilities

› Usually, issues are handed to communicators or campaigners, who encourage but not order

Stakeholder dialogue› Raw data from stakeholders

interested in the organisation’s environmental performance

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Integration› Organisations are increasingly

reviewing environmental and social issues to incorporate into their risk assessments and core strategies

Integration difficult due to under skilled management!




Environmental Managers can adopt these general response strategies

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Respond to direct impacts of environmental change

› Assessing risks to property and operations› Insurance and contingencies

Legal compliance

Operational improvements to minimise costs

› Raw materials, energy, water, paper, etc.

Integrated environmental management procedures

› Should integrate into normal procedures› Environmental audit› Environmental Management Systems




Environmental Managers can adopt these general response strategies

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Communication strategies› Internal› External

Suppliers› Supply chain› Life cycle

Products and services

› Life cycle impacts› Environmental footprints of products› Eco-design› Eco-labels› Eco-market niche positioning




REFERENCES

Brady, 2005 Environmental Management in Organisations: The IEMA HandbookUnit 1 Course Material, Environmental Auditing and Environmental Management Systems 2011, SOAS CEDEP

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http://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Management-Organizations-Iema-Handbook/dp/1853839779



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