Environmental Management Systems and Local Community Perceptions: the Case of Petrochemical Complexes Located in Ports

Abstract

Most oil refineries and factories producing basic chemical products are located in port areas, with the result that industrial complexes potentially have a strong environmental impact on their area of influence. These externalities result in a loss of welfare for citizens residing in neighbouring areas. In a context of sustainable development, companies must integrate concerns about the natural environment in their business strategy. External stakeholders, as residents, find it difficult to visualize the actions firms take to reduce their environmental impact, and the adoption of voluntary certified environmental management systems (EMSs) acts as a signal indicating the adequate environmental behaviour of these companies. These certifications enable companies to achieve the social legitimacy they need for long-term survival and competitiveness. In the context of a petrochemical industrial complex located in the port of Castellón (Spain), this paper primarily discusses whether such certificationswhich act as signals of firms' desirable environmental conducttranslate into higher trust in firms and lower risk perception by residents. Contrary to what might be expected, despite the widespread use by companies of voluntary and certified EMSs, the research findings confirm a relatively high citizen perception of risk regarding the industrial complex and a low trust in companies. On the other hand, the findings also show a low trust in the public institutions responsible for authorizing and monitoring firms' activities and for enforcing possible sanctions in non-compliance cases.in Spain with those in countries that have a higher level of environmental awareness and trust in public institutions. Finally, we stress that this is a cross-sectional analysis, which opens the way for future research to obtain the same data for different years, and to address a longitudinal analysis.

Evaluating the organizational intention to implement an Environmental Management System: evidence from the Indonesian food and beverage industry

“…The most widely recognized standard for an EMS is the ISO 14001, developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) (Prajogo, Tang, & Lai, ). The standard has gained recognition as a way of increasing the visibility of corporate environmental commitment and securing market competitiveness (López‐Navarro, Tortosa‐Edo, & Llorens‐Monzonís, ; Vílchez & Darnall, ). Since its commercialization in 1996, the adoption rate has increased exponentially, particularly in the Global North (Salim, Padfield, Mohamad, et al, ).…”

Organization and management theories in environmental management systems research: A systematic literature review

“…Besides buyer–seller relation, certification can signal companies' environmental commitment to local communities or policy makers. At this regard, López‐Navarro, Tortosa‐Edo, and Llorens‐Monzonís () analyze the role of the certification in improving the level of trust of local communities, demonstrating that the lack of trust in companies and in public institutions neutralize the signaling effect of certification. However, “signaling” still constitutes a strong motivation for adopting a certified EMS when regulatory reliefs are achievable by means of the certification.…”

“…On the other hand, 12 articles out of 55 provide an institutional-level perspective on the phenomenon. Institutional-level studies focus their attention on diverse forms of relationships, among which industry-government relationships(Rowe & Guthrie, 2010), supplier-buyer relationships(King et al, 2005) or stakeholders-industry relationships(López-Navarro et al, 2015). Among such studies, institutional, signaling, and transaction cost theories constitute the most relevant theoretical frameworks.The dichotomy between organizational-and institutional-level studies points out an opportunity for future research, that is, the lack of an individual-level perspective on EMS.…”

A holistic approach to understanding the acceptance of a community‐based renewable energy project: A pathway to sustainability for Tunisia's rural region

“…During the implementation, if the project manager acts in a trustworthy manner, the project is likely to be successful. Social trust leads to the sense that cooperation with project members carries few risks (Hardin, ; Lopez‐Navarro, Tortosa‐Edo, & Liorens‐Monzonis, ).…”