Flexible interpretations of EMSand the need for a standards reform - the case of ISO 14001 revisited

Greening of Industry, 15-17 June 2007

Wilfred Laurier University, WaterlooUlrik Jørgensen, Prof.IPL / Innovation and Sustainability, Technical University of Denmarkand Michael Søgaard Jørgensen, IPL, Kaare Hendriksen, DANAK,Stig Hirsbak, Hirsbak Cons., Nils Thorsen, Ernest & Young Denmark

Background

• studies of EMS in Danish industries as supplement to environmental regulation

• the ISO 14001 concept and institutional history• company/institution studies in Thailand/Malaysia

searching for the standard as a travelling concept• other studies of the standards implementation• renewed in the audit society and the legitimation

and trust problem• working group including the third party levels

The success of EMS

• the ISO 14001 standard: success in several ways• sells as well as the quality standards• has made management systems obdurate• growing numbers of companies in Europe, Japan,

South East Asia and now China are certified• viewed as demonstrating environmental concerns• the irony: less popular in the US for its demand of

audits and policies

Origins of EMS

• British flaw in environmental regulation made government and industry focus on self-regulation

• management accounting system copied from the quality standards

• antagonistic responses and limitations in outreach of command & control policies of northern Europe

• demand for beyond compliance policies in industry• need for management support for company internal

competence building on environmental issues

Self-regulation or complement

• at the genesis of EMS several stakeholders were present and put their spells on the system

• the tension between self-regulation and beyond compliance was part of this

• e.g. at GIN in Heidelberg German consultants attacked strict environmental regulations

• compromise between environmentalists and business

• accounting system embedded in a regulatory context and with implicit environmental objects

Negotiated design

• comprising of environmental consultants, industries environmental professionals and researchers

• forming a rather homogeneous group concerning knowledge and experiences

• continued discussion on the relation between accounting system and performance

• reference points: legal requirements, suppliers, environmental aspects, significance, and risks

• building a market for certifying companies and accreditation bodies as ‘independent’ third parties

What is the ‘angel’ guarding?

• ISO 14001 certificates and alike as a documentation of their performance and reliability

• it works as a translation device and a boundary object between internal practices and stakeholders

• differences in interpretations become crucial, as they may have short term and long impacts on the building of trust

• the certificate is expected to demonstrate serious engagements in environmental improvements while it documents the existence of an accounting system

Critical elements

• ISO 14000 a series including performance elements, but only 14001 appears in most audits

• several interpretations of legal requirements: laws, circulars, standards, permits, ‘good intentions’

• environmental aspects has a certain common sense element, but the objects are not documented

• choice of significance and policy is completely left to the certifying body and the company

• continuous improvements stays as a good idea• conformity assessments, inconsistency, site limits

Translations of EMS

• BS 7750 was an improvement in relation to both low environmental priorities in policy and to the need for business and management involvement

• but the context was deregulation and self-control• ISO 14001 was created by professionals and

businesses in northern Europe to introduce beyond compliance policies

• the context was knowledge and objects maintained by networks of professionals building coherence

• EMS is spread to countries lacking these elements

Performance and trust

• shift: internal quality checks on environmental policy implementation – external communication to stakeholders

• easily obtained in relation to product quality specifications but less obvious for ‘hidden’ environmental qualities

• the obdurate state of EMS and its basis as an accounting systems creates institutional stability

• customers cannot rely on the certificate but install own performance standards as does governments

The ‘jump’ to a next level?

• ‘social responsibility’ and ‘sustainability’ are on the agenda for companies and standards organisations

• ISO is working with a 26000 series on SR including changes in their organisation involving stakeholders to build legitimacy

• back mirror demonstration of a perceptive change from ‘objective’ accounting to ‘trust building’

• but the scary part is the reference to the success of the accounting basis of EMS and quality standards

Elements of a reform

• strict definition of legal requirements to be accounted for

• specification of demands from customers to be included in audits

• significant aspects as mandatory part of a companies environmental policy

• strengthening quality of auditors environmental and performance competences

• disclosure of performance data based on sector standards

The rise and fall of EMS?

• in food and electronics customers are establishing their own standards and audit systems

• an ISO 14001 certificate may at best be the entry level, but even not mandatory

• the travelling of EMS has without doubts an impact event on companies environmental performance

• but the translations are serious• growing mistrust in the certificates, the companies

carrying them, and the third party institutions and consultants