Implementation of standardised environmental management systems in Swedish local authorities: reasons, expectations and some outcomes

(Gustafsson), Sara Emilsson; Hjelm, Olof

doi:10.1016/s1462-9011(02)00090-4

Cited by 60 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The approaches followed to identify EMAS' major adoption factors were found to be quite diverse and related to different stages of the EMS implementation cycle [11]. While Abeliotis [12] and Christiansen and Kardel [13] focused on national implementation conditions, Emilsson and Hjelm [14] and Priego et al [15] developed their studies addressing issues related to specific sectors: local authorities and hotels. The studies with national scope also included the development of surveys aiming to discover the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats surrounding the adoption of EMAS, often in comparison with other standards such as ISO 14001 [16,17].…”

Section: Analysis Of Adoption Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why, How and What do Organizations Achieve with the Implementation of Environmental Management Systems?—Lessons from a Comprehensive Review on the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme

Tourais

Videira

2016

Sustainability

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Abstract:The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) was established in 1993 in the European Union as a voluntary instrument facilitating the implementation of organisational environmental policies and management of environmental aspects. We present a comprehensive literature review on EMAS research, organized according to three broad questions: Why do organisations choose EMAS? How is the scheme implemented and adapted to organisational characteristics? And what results are achieved? We have built analysis matrices to critically review 80 articles published over the past two decades and to identify the recurrent research themes addressing each question. We found that the decision to adopt EMAS is motivated by a set of internal and external factors, compounded by the potential of an organisation to combine the scheme with other EMS standards and environmental management tools. These themes are the ones most extensively covered by existing literature. To answer the question on how organisations implement and adapt to the scheme, two themes have been identified covering EMS planning and operation issues and sectoral approaches. Results show that the focus has been put on development of methods for assessing the significance of environmental aspects, implementing environmental policies and developing indicators for tracking performance and elaborating environmental statements. The development of sectoral approaches that adapt EMAS to characteristics of different economic activity sectors is also emerging as a critical research development. Finally, the themes addressing results achieved with EMAS implementation have only recently surfaced in the literature. The achievement of sustained environmental performance improvements through EMAS adoption is both contested and supported in the reviewed studies. On the other hand, improvements in the relationships with stakeholders arise as one of the most important intangible outcomes of the scheme. We conclude our review by advancing a systematic set of future research opportunities in this field.

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Section: Analysis Of Adoption Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why, How and What do Organizations Achieve with the Implementation of Environmental Management Systems?—Lessons from a Comprehensive Review on the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme

Tourais

Videira

2016

Sustainability

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“…EMS is one of the most important tools available for the purpose of making organizations more environmentally proactive and efficient and aims to encourage an organisation to control its environmental impacts and reduce such impacts continuously [2,3]. Through the establishment of an EMS, the company can demonstrate to clients and the public that they take environmental impacts seriously.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of ISO 14001 Environmental Management System on Key Environmental Performance Indicators of Selected Gold Mining Companies in Ghana

Fei‐Baffoe

Botwe-Koomson

Mensa-Bonsu

et al. 2013

Journal of Waste Management

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“…At present, there are many environmental management tools in use, such as environmental impact assessments, environmental auditing, substance flow analysis, life-cycle assessments and environmental management systems (Emilsson and Hjelm, 2002;Ramos et al, 2009). These tools provide environmental information and assist environmental management in order to make organisations more environmentally friendly (Emilsson and Hjelm, 2002).…”

Section: Ajesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These tools provide environmental information and assist environmental management in order to make organisations more environmentally friendly (Emilsson and Hjelm, 2002). Of these tools, an Environmental Management System (EMS) is one of the most commonly used in organisations worldwide (Zutshi et al, 2008;Nawrocka and Parker, 2009;Ramos et al, 2009).…”

Section: Ajesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Environmental Management Systems in Global Defence Sectors

Wang

Wen

2013

American Journal of Environmental Sciences

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Environmental management is a key element in ensuring positive environmental performance of an organization. The integration of environmental management into military activities has also become a growing concern for defence sectors internationally. At present, an Environmental Management System (EMS) is one of the most widely used environmental management tools throughout the world. Recent research and public concerns have been increasingly concentrated on EMS implementation and evaluation, examining how an EMS improves environmental performance. This study provides a literature review mainly on several areas: EMS related concepts, its application and evaluation methods in global defence sectors. It is found that there are no significant differences in the EMS adoption and implementation between different countries and defence sectors. Currently, there is no universal method for EMS evaluation. A case-by-case approach is preferred as long as evidence can be found to provide support for the evaluation of an EMS. Based on the review, relevant recommendations are discussed from aspects, such as environmental performance indicator, independent evaluation, data and information collection and environmental monitoring and reporting, that should help to ensure the EMS a helpful tool for sustainable environmental management. This review provides a general overview, identifies knowledge gaps and highlights aspects of the research regarding EMS implementation and evaluation; it is useful for strengthening the EMS operation, clarifying the relationship between the use of an EMS and environmental performance and producing operational guidelines for evaluating an EMS.

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Implementation of standardised environmental management systems in Swedish local authorities: reasons, expectations and some outcomes

Cited by 60 publications

References 11 publications

Why, How and What do Organizations Achieve with the Implementation of Environmental Management Systems?—Lessons from a Comprehensive Review on the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme

Why, How and What do Organizations Achieve with the Implementation of Environmental Management Systems?—Lessons from a Comprehensive Review on the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme

Impact of ISO 14001 Environmental Management System on Key Environmental Performance Indicators of Selected Gold Mining Companies in Ghana

A Review of Environmental Management Systems in Global Defence Sectors

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