IEMA Foundation Certificate Learner Notes 2021

Foundation Certificate in
Environmental Management
Learner
Notes
Contents
Introduction 7
About IEMA 7
FCIEM Learning Outcomes 8
About these Learner Notes 8
Part 1 – Why we Need to be Sustainable 9
About sustainability 9
Definition of sustainable development 9
History of sustainable development 10
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 11
Global sustainability risks 12
Key mega-trends 14
Population 14
Consumption 16
Resource consumption, scarcity and depletion 17
Resource scarcity examples – rare earth elements and lithium 18
Planetary boundaries 20
Doughnut Economics 22
Global warming and the climate crisis 23
Part 1 – Links to further resources 30
Part 2 – Environmental Principles 31
Natural cycles 31
Water cycle 31
Nitrogen cycle 33
Phosphorus cycle 35
Carbon cycle 36
Biodiversity and ecosystems 38
What is biodiversity? 38
The biodiversity crisis 38
What is an ecosystem? 39
How can organisations respond to the biodiversity crisis? 40
Example of a keystone species: Horseshoe crabs 41
Natural capital and ecosystem services 42
What is natural capital? 42
What are ecosystem services? 42
Using natural capital valuation as a tool 44
Example of natural capital valuation – Beam Parklands, Barking, London, UK 44
Part 3 – Principles of Sustainable Organisations 46
What is a sustainable organisation? 46
Example of sustainable organisation using the Five Capitals Model 47
Ethics and sustainability 47
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Contents 3

Acting unethically 48
Principles of ethical organisations 48
Equality and diversity 50
How can organisations contribute to equality? 51
The UN SDGs and organisations 52
Case study – University of Manchester and the SDGs 52
Case study – Balfour Beatty and the SDGs 53
Organisational approaches to the climate crisis including science-based targets and net-zero 54
IEMA greenhouse gas management hierarchy 54
Science-based targets 55
Net-zero and carbon neutrality 55
Carbon offsets and carbon removals 56
The Circular Economy 57
Part 4 – Pollution and Pollution Control 60
Pollution and the Source-Pathway-Receptor model 60
Common pollution types 61
Air pollution 61
Ozone layer and ozone depletion 63
Water pollution 63
Common types of water pollution 64
Eutrophication 65
Heavy metals 66
Persistent organic pollutants 67
Controls on pollution 67
Pollution control hierarchy 67
Examples of pollution control for oil 68
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) 69
Emergency response for pollution 70
Part 5 – Introduction to Policy and Legislation 72
Environmental policy and strategy 72
Environmental policy principles 73
Producer responsibility 74
Instruments for implementing policies 74
International environmental agreements 76
UN Paris Agreement on Climate Change 77
About environmental law 78
Types of environmental law 79
Sources of environmental law 80
Enforcement and penalties 81
4 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Contents

Managing compliance 86
Compliance registers 86
Staying up-to date with environmental legal requirements 86
Part 6 – Key Environmental Legislation 88
Overview 88
Climate change and energy legislation 89
Climate Change Act 2008 89
Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) 89
Energy Performance Certificates and Display Energy Certificates 90
F-Gas Legislation 90
Waste legislation 91
Waste Hierarchy 91
Duty of Care 91
The future – Circular Economy Package (UK) 93
Pollution and nuisance legislation 93
Statutory nuisance 94
Conservation legislation 95
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 95
Protected species licensing 95
Other Legislative requirements 96
Part 7 – Environmental Tools and Assessment 98
Environmental review 98
Environmental aspects 99
What are environmental aspects? 99
Assessing environmental aspects 100
Determining significance of environmental aspects 102
Life-cycle thinking and life-cycle assessment 103
Life-cycle thinking 103
Life-cycle assessment 103
Sustainable Procurement 108
What do we mean by sustainable procurement? 108
Approaches to sustainable procurement 109
ISO 20400 as an approach for sustainable procurement 111
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 111
Part 8 – Data and Reporting 114
Measuring environmental performance 114
Why measure environmental performance? 114
Types of data and indicators 114
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Contents 5

Example using energy data 115
Carbon footprinting and carbon accounting 117
What is a carbon footprint and carbon accounting? 117
Environmental and sustainability reporting 119
Sustainability reporting 119
Materiality 120
Example – Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 121
Example – UK Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting 121
Verification and assurance of sustainability reports 122
Part 9 – Environmental Management Systems 124
Environmental Management Systems 124
ISO 14001:2015 124
Role of the ISO 125
Implementation of an Environmental Management System 129
Part 10 – Environmental Auditing 130
What is an environmental audit? 130
Common audit terminology 130
Common types of environmental audits 131
What makes a good environmental auditor? 131
Carrying out an environmental audit 132
Part 11 – Improving Sustainability Performance 134
Making organisations more sustainable 134
Business case for sustainability 135
Managing change and internal communications 136
Role of colleagues in improving sustainability 136
Communication principles 136
Reframing as a tool for communicating sustainability 137
Change management principles 138
Project management for sustainability 140
IEMA resources 142
IEMA Code of Practice 142
IEMA Skills Map 143
About the IEMA Associate assessment 144
Annex IEMA Associate Standard 145
6 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Contents

Introduction
The Foundation Certificate in Environmental We hope you find this course enjoyable, thought-
Management (FCIEM) has been developed in line with provoking and informative.
the IEMA Associate Membership standard to equip
individuals with the knowledge and skills needed About IEMA
to initiate a career in environment/sustainability,
specifically focusing on environmental management. IEMA is the membership body for more than 17,500
environment and sustainability professionals worldwide.
The 11 parts that make up this course provide learners
with a solid basis to assist and support improvements We’re committed to supporting, encouraging and
in the sustainability of organisations, products and improving the confidence and performance of all these
services. professionals, helping them to enhance their profile
and recognition.
The Associate Membership standard is aimed at
persons who might be: We do this by providing resources and tools, research
• playing a supporting role in sustainability-related and knowledge sharing along with high-quality formal
projects and programmes; training and qualifications to meet the real-world needs
of members – from their first steps on the career
• collecting and collating data in an environmental or
ladder, right to the very top.
sustainability context;
• completing routine checks on legislative measures
We believe that, together, we can change perceptions
or pollution prevention measures;
and attitudes about the relevance and vital importance
• providing advice and information to others; of sustainability as a progressive force for good.
• addressing environmental/sustainability as part of a
wider role – for example facilities managers or health We add value for our members by providing the
and safety professionals; knowledge, connections and recognition necessary to
• starting a career as an environmental/sustainability lead change within organisations at all levels. We are
specialist. independent and international. We apply the combined
expertise of our members to provide evidence and
Award of the Foundation Certificate (and Associate influence decision-making, working towards our vision
Membership) follows successful completion of an of transforming the world to sustainability.
online multiple-choice exam. Successful learners are
entitled to use the suffix ‘AIEMA’. Learners will also be
provided with a certificate of completion.
The course is the equivalent of 40 guided learning

hours (GLH). Following completion, it is anticipated
that learners will be well placed to progress through
the IEMA membership levels. Further information is
available at: www.iema.net
The course materials have been designed by IEMA and

are delivered by approved providers and trainers. The
materials are updated periodically to ensure that they
remain current and in line with the course assessment.
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Introduction 7

FCIEM Learning Outcomes Learning Outcomes 1–6 make up the bulk of the
learning hours. Learning Outcomes 7–13 are included
There are 13 Learning Outcomes for this course: holistically throughout the delivery of the other
Learning Outcomes.
Core Knowledge
1. Outline the implications of global trends for the A full breakdown of the assessment criteria for each
environment, for society, for the economy and for Learning Outcome is provided in the Associate
organisations. Membership Standard.
2. Outline sustainable business/governance principles

About these Learner Notes
and their relationship with organisations, products
and services.
The FCIEM course is designed to be interactive
Technical Knowledge between participants and the trainer and between
3. Outline environmental principles and their participants.
relationship with organisations, products and
services. These Learner Notes supplement the classroom
4. Outline major policy and legislation and their materials and provide you with a solid future resource
implications for organisations, products and when preparing for the multiple-choice exam, as well
services. as supporting you in your career.
5. Outline major tools, techniques, systems
and practices used to improve sustainability Each of the 11 parts of the course are supported by one
performance. or two longer activities – which are typically between
20 minutes to 1 hour for completion. Your course tutor
6. Outline the role of innovation and other leading
will provide instructions for undertaking each of the
practices in developing sustainable products and
activities and they may modify these in places. The
services and providing sustainable solutions.
trainers may also provide you with additional resources
Knowledge of Skills during the course, and these can be added to the
7. Collect data, perform analysis and evaluate workbook.
information.
8. Research and plan to provide sustainable solutions.
9. Deliver effective communication methods and
capture feedback.
10. Engage with stakeholders.
11. Outline tools and techniques that identify
opportunities and risks.
12. Identify and propose ways to improve performance.
13. Support change and transformation to improve
sustainability.
8 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Introduction

Part 1 – Why we Need
to be Sustainable
About sustainability Definition of sustainable development
‘Sustainability’ can be defined through the 3 Pillars There are said to be more than 200 definitions of
approach: economy, environment and society, all three sustainable development; however, the most common
have to be considered for sustainability to be achieved. is known as the Brundtland Definition:
This means that sustainability is very broad, and only
Meeting the needs of the present without
focusing on one or two areas does not consider the full
compromising the ability of future
range of issues.
generations to meet their own needs.
Sustainability has been broadly applied to

This was named after Gro Harlem Brundtland, chair
characterise improvements in areas like natural
of the World Commission on Environment and
resources overexploitation, energy use and pollution,
Development. The Global Association of Corporate
consumption of products, the direction of investments,
Sustainability Officers (GACSO) defines sustainable
citizen lifestyles, consumer purchasing behaviours,
development as:
technological developments or business/institutional
changes. Being able to meet our needs today, while ensuring
that what we leave behind for future generations
is sustainable, for people and the planet.
ECONOMY
SUSTAINABILITY
PEOPLE
ENVIRONMENT
AND SOCIETY
Figure 1 – Three pillars of sustainability
Environmental sustainability (a related term) is

responsibly interacting with the planet to preserve
natural resources and avoid harming nature, wildlife,
habitats, and avoiding changing natural systems like the
climate, ecosystems and oceans.
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 1 – Why we Need to be Sustainable 9
History of sustainable development
Sustainable development is an extremely important yet simple concept, emphasised by the reported fact that if
everyone in the world consumed as many natural resources as the average person in the UK, we would need
3 planets to support us – or if we lived the average USA lifestyle, we would need 5 planets. Despite its apparent
simplicity, sustainable development can be extremely difficult to explain or apply to everyday life, as well as knowing
when it has been achieved.
1972
The UN Conference on the Human Environment
in Stockholm: The Concept of Sustainable
Development is widely accepted to have its origins 1987
here. The Brundtland Report – the concept gained
momentum following the Brundtland Report,
Our Common Future, which suggested that
sustainable development was the solution to the
problem of environmental degradation: namely,
that human activity was having severe and negative
1992 impacts on the planet, and that patterns of growth
The UN Conference on Environment and and development would be unsustainable if they
Development (UNCED), at Rio – world leaders continued unchecked.
recognised sustainable development as a
major challenge. The summit marked the first
international attempt to draw up action plans for
moving towards a more sustainable pattern of
development. It was attended by representatives
from 178 governments, and set out ‘Agenda 21’,
which included various voluntary sustainable 2002
development goals to be achieved in the 21st
The World Summit on Sustainable Development
century.
in Johannesburg – the Summit delivered 3
key outcomes: a political declaration, the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, and a
range of partnership initiatives. Key commitments
2012 included those on consumption and production,
water and sanitation and energy.
The Rio+20 Summit – governments reaffirmed
their commitments to the previous sustainable
development agreements and targets. They also
committed to developing Sustainable Development
Goals (see opposite) building on Agenda 21 and the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.
10 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 1 – Why we Need to be Sustainable
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
At the UN Sustainable Development Summit on 25 The sustainable development goals seek to address
September 2015, world leaders adopted the ‘2030 the root causes of poverty, and the universal need for
Agenda for Sustainable Development’, which includes 17 development that works for all.
sustainable development goals (SDGs) to end poverty, fight
inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030. All 17 goals are connected to the United Nations
Development Programme’s (UNDP) strategic plan
These goals build on the Millennium Development that focuses on sustainable development, democratic
Goals set in 2000 (which had 8 anti-poverty targets governance and peace building, and climate change and
that the world initially committed to achieving by 2015). disaster resilience.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): – Figure 3.1
The 17 goals
are useful in
helping articulate
sustainability
and sustainable
development
themes. We will
come back to them
later in the course.
Figure 2 – UN Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms, everywhere. 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive safe,
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved resilient and sustainable.
nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at patterns.
all ages. 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and impacts.
promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. 14. Conserve and sustainable use of the oceans, seas
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and marine resources for sustainable development.
and girls. 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests,
water and sanitation for all. combat desertification, and halt and reverse land
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
modern energy for all. 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable sustainable development, promote access to justice
economic growth, full and productive employment for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive
and decent work for all. institutions at all levels.
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and
sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation. revitalise the global partnership for sustainable
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries. development.
Global sustainability risks
Environmental degradation – still an existential
The World Economic Forum (WEF) publishes an threat to humanity – risks intersecting with societal
annual report on global economic, financial, health, fractures to bring about severe consequences. Yet,
environmental, technological risks. This report has been with the world more attuned to risk, lessons can
prepared annually since 2003 and provides information be drawn to strengthen response and resilience.
to governments, businesses, insurance companies and WEF 2021 Global Risks Report
others on risk to the global economy.
In 2021, the top 7 global risks were:
In 2020 and 2021, 1. Infectious diseases
environmental or 2. Climate action failure
environmentally 3. Weapons of mass destruction
related risks 4. Biodiversity loss
dominated the 5. Natural resource crises
headline issues. 6. Human environmental damage
7. Livelihood crises.
RISKS EXAMPLES
INFECTIOUS DISEASES The COVID-19 pandemic uprooted the global economy
Multiple considerations for sustainability including drop in carbon emissions, improved

air quality but economic damage, large loss of life and many job losses
CLIMATE ACTION The UN and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that to stay
FAILURE within 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming (avoiding potential catastrophic impacts) global
greenhouse gas emissions have to start reducing sharply before 2030 for this to be
achieved
WEAPONS OF MASS Chemical weapons, nuclear weapons proliferation – e.g. North Korea, Iran, potential
DESTRUCTION flashpoints for nuclear war – e.g. India and Pakistan
BIODIVERSITY LOSS Globally, 1 million species are threatened with extinction (around 25% of all animal and
plant species) and 82% of all animal biomass has been lost since 1980
Failure to act would inevitably lead to catastrophic physical impacts and severe
economic harm that would require costly policy responses
NATURAL RESOURCE Shortages of key materials such as rare earths used in electronic devices or lithium
CRISES required for battery technology and other forms of energy storage
HUMAN Oil spills (accidents) into water courses and the oceans, release of plastic waste into
ENVIRONMENTAL the oceans, human inputs of fertilizers causing pollution etc
DAMAGE
LIVELIHOOD CRISES Job losses driven by climate change (e.g. due to flooding of agricultural land in low-
lying regions) or land becoming over-worked and infertile for growing crops. Impact
of recessions on employment and potential job losses due to automation and artificial
intelligence
This diagram is taken from the WEF 2021 Global Risks implications for sustainable development) is in the top
Report and sets out the impact versus likelihood of risks. right quadrant as high likelihood and high impact.
As can be seen, climate action failure (with multiple
Figure 3 – WEF Global Risks for 2021
Key mega-trends Nations’ ecological footprints
Mega-trends relate to a wide variety of large-scale COUNTRY
environmental, social and economic changes, varying

US 5.3
across the globe. Trends such as climate change,
population change, terrorism, big data, immigration, etc. UK 3.1
affect all of society; however, some trends are directly
related to the status of economic development such as France 3.0
big data and cybersecurity.

Germany 2.5
Key mega-trends include: Russia 2.4

• Increasing prosperity
but prosperous countries consume more and have Brazil 1.2
a larger ecological footprint – e.g. if the global

Mauritius 1.0
population consumed as the average US citizen – we
would need 5.3 planets China 0.8
• Urbanisation
India 0.4
(currently 55% in urban areas – projected to 68% by
2050) Malawi 0.3
• Technology
automation, artificial intelligence Figure 4 – Number of planets required to sustain
• Increasing impact and risk from climate and consumption levels for global population (adopting
biodiversity crises lifestyles of different countries)
e.g. climate migration, ecosystem collapse etc.
Population Human population growth was fairly constant until the

The United Nations (UN) Department of Economic and start of the Industrial Revolution. It took all of human
Social Affairs, Population Division states that the global history until 1800 for the population to reach 1 billion.
population was 7.9 billion on 1 July 2020. Various online
population-estimation clocks are available based on UN
data plus the current population growth rate to give a
‘live’ count.
MILESTONE (BILLIONS) YEAR ACHIEVED YEARS TO ACHIEVE ADDITIONAL 1 BILLION PEOPLE

2 1930 130
3 1959 29
4 1974 15
5 1987 13
6 1999 12
7 2011 12
8 Expected by 2024 13
9 Expected by 2038 14
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
median
00% prediction interval
05% prediction interval
Population (billion)
observed
+/- 0.5 child
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 2080 2090 2100
Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2015)
World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision. http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/
Figure 5 – Global population growth projections from the United Nations
FACTS
In 1970, there were roughly half as many people as Global population doubled from 3 billion to 6 billion
there are today. Due to reducing growth rates, it will between 1959 and 1999. It is estimated that it will take
take another 200 years to double again. a further 39 years for the population to increase by
another 50%, to 9 billion by 2038.
The UN predicts that world population will reach 10 An estimated 106 billion ‘modern’ humans have been
billion by 2056. born (over 50,000 years), meaning that 6% of all the
people who have ever lived are alive today.
Currently, the global human population is growing at particularly as advances in medicine mean that we are
1.13% per year, which results in an average population living longer. This could result in a deficit in the number
increase of approximately 80 million per year (Source: of people of working age and an increasingly less-
UN). The annual growth rate peaked in 1963 (2.19%): productive, ageing population, resulting in higher costs
this is estimated to reduce to 1% by 2020, and to be less and less tax income.
than 0.5% by 2050. The growth rate in China is currently
0.52%. The countries with the highest growth rates are For example, the UK population was 64 million in June
predominantly in the Middle East and include Oman, 2014, and is set to rise to 70 million by 2027; however,
Kuwait and Qatar. This sees a move away from sub- the ‘over-80s’ age group is the fastest growing.
Saharan Africa, albeit many of these countries still make There are many reasons for population growth,
up the top 20. including:
• limited access to family planning services and
The impact of a slowing growth rate should be education about contraception;
positive; however, it could have significant implications,
• cultural reasons – it is important to have a large economically active people to support an elderly
family, and/or contraception may not be culturally or population. This results in increasing pressure on
religiously acceptable; resources, and paradoxically, may result in more
• children are seen as a valuable source of income for countries adopting pro-natalist policies and offering
a family and society; in addition, they can help to care incentives.
for other children and elderly family members;
Consumption
• high infant mortality means that many children are
Globalisation has resulted in the growth of middle
needed to ensure that some survive;
classes, resulting in improved quality of life, although
• humans are living longer.
paradoxically this can become a problem in an
interconnected global economy where quality of life
Different countries face varying problems when faced
expectation is rising, particularly if economic growth is
with managing population change. Less Economically
stagnating.
Developed Countries (LEDC) have to manage rapid
population growth, while some More Economically
The global middle classes are estimated to grow from
Developed Countries (MEDC) such as Japan have
2 billion to 4.5 billion by 2030 as a result of economic
to manage slow or negative growth and an ageing
growth and development of technology allowing us to
population.
access more resources and improved medical care. This
increase in wealth has resulted in an increased demand
Changes in the structure of the population, coupled
and desire for goods, many of which require finite
with an increase in life expectancy, lead to fewer
resources such as fossil fuels and rare earth elements.
People with Income between US$6,000 and US$30,000 in Millions of People

4,500
4,000
3,500 World
3,000
World excl.
China and India
2,500 China
2,000
India
1,500
1,000
0
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050
Figure 6 – Growth of population in middle income bracket and projections to 2050
New markets: a pivot to the Asia-Pacific market
Another consequence of globalisation is a growth in ‘major economies’. They have global economic
emerging economies, resulting in new markets being and political power. So, at what point are these
a pivot to the Asia-Pacific region. The International countries no longer ‘less developed’, and when
Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that, in 2000, the should they be regarded the same as ‘more
area accounted for less than 30% of global output, developed’ nations? Despite now committing to
but by 2014 this had risen to almost 40%, as well as greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reductions, the
accounting for two-thirds of global growth. BASIC group argues that ‘developed’ countries
continue to have much higher per capita
The real conflict is in the roles and responsibilities emissions, and that they still have a long way to
of the emerging powers (newly industrialised go to achieve reasonable living standards and
countries) – Brazil, South Africa, India and China eradicate poverty, thus emissions should be able to
(known as the BASIC group). The BASIC countries continue to grow.
can be classed as ‘developing’, ‘major emitters’ and
Resource consumption, scarcity and depletion consumption between 1900 and 2000 outstripped
With an estimated population of more than 8 billion population growth by a rate of 3.75.
by 2030, we will need 50% more energy, 40% more
water and 34% more food (Source: National Intelligence As can be seen in this chart – one of the key impacts of
Council). This is a combination of a greater number this will be increased energy consumption – including
of people and more intense resource consumption. the projected growth in fossil fuel consumption which is
The intensity of resource use between 1900 and 2000 at odds with the global need to reduce greenhouse gas
increased by a factor of 12 for fossil fuels, and a factor emissions.
of 8 for all resources overall. The intensity of resource
Figure 7 – Projected growth in global energy consumption
Many of the resources we use are non-renewable or Resource scarcity examples – rare earth elements and
finite (e.g. fossil fuels). Research suggests that reserves lithium
of oil and gas will have diminished by 2042; coal will be Of immediate concern are rare earth elements (or
available up to 2114 with a large proportion ‘un-burnable’ rare earth metals) called such because of their sparse
due to climate change pressures. distribution and efforts required for extraction and
processing. These include 17 chemical elements, the 15
One solution to scarcity is the recycling and recovery lanthanides as well as scandium and yttrium.
of materials. Electrical and electronic items contain a
variety of metals which are valuable and finite including
tin, copper and rare earth elements. The number of
electrical items globally is expanding rapidly due to
economic growth plus many of them from computers
to refrigerators are designed to have a relatively short
lifespan.
Where recycling is carried out under controlled

conditions with attention paid to health and safety of
workers and control of pollution – this has a significant
Figure 9 – Mining for rare earth elements, Kalimantan
positive impact on resource scarcity. rainforest, Indonesia
Rare earth elements are used in a wide range of

Unfortunately, a lot of the world’s ‘E-waste’
electrical and electronic devices, from mobile phones
is subject to export to locations where these
and computers to solar panels, hybrid cars, and in
controls are not in place and recycling processes
military and medical applications. An estimated 95% of
cause contamination of soil and water with heavy
these elements are produced by China, despite having
metals such as lead, arsenic and mercury, and
20% to 30% of rare earth element global reserves. In
subject local populations to a wide range of toxic
addition to these elements, many other important
pollutants. The world’s biggest E-waste receiver is
elements such as gold, platinum and silver are used in
in Ghana, at Agbogbloshie, where reprocessing of
electrical and electronic equipment manufacturing. As
waste and recovery of metals causes significant
well as being scarce, their extraction frequently causes
environmental and human health harm.
environmental harm including pollution of air and water
and destruction of habitat.
Figure 8 – Burning of electrical cables to recover

copper – Agbogbloshie, Ghana
Lithium extraction inevitably harms the soil and causes
air contamination. In South America, the biggest
problem is water. The continent’s Lithium Triangle,
which covers parts of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, holds
more than half the world’s supply of the metal beneath
its otherworldly salt flats. It’s also one of the driest
places on Earth. That’s a real issue, because to extract
lithium, miners start by drilling a hole in the salt flats and
pumping salty, mineral-rich brine to the surface.
It’s a relatively cheap and effective process, but it uses a

lot of water – approximately 500,000 gallons per tonne
of lithium. In Chile’s Salar de Atacama, mining activities
consumed 65 per cent of the region’s water. That is
having a big impact on local farmers – who grow quinoa
Figure 10 – Lithium demand is dominated by electrical
vehicles and herd llamas – in an area where some communities
already have to get water driven in from elsewhere.
Another example is lithium, which is a key component
of batteries used in electric vehicles and storage systems
There’s also the potential – as occurred in Tibet – for
for renewable energy. Global demand for lithium is
toxic chemicals to leak from the evaporation pools into
soaring with electric vehicles being the key driver for
the water supply. These include chemicals, including
this. One problem is that lithium is only available in
hydrochloric acid, which are used in the processing of
economically extractable quantities in a small number
lithium into a form that can be sold, as well as those
of locations globally – including parts of Chile, Bolivia,
waste products that are filtered out of the brine at each
Argentina, Australia and China.
stage.
Solutions include resource efficiency, circular economy

(discussed in Part 3) and producer responsibility
(discussed in Part 4).
Figure 11 – Lithium mining in Bolivia
Planetary boundaries • novel entities
• stratospheric ozone depletion
The concept of ‘environmental limits’ and ‘planetary • biogeochemical flows (nitrogen and phosphorus
boundaries’ was established by the Stockholm Resilience cycles)
Centre in 2009 (updated in 2015) to define a ‘safe
• atmospheric aerosol loading
operating space for humanity’, as a pre-condition of
sustainable development. • freshwater use
• land system change
Scientists at the Stockholm Resilience Centre identified • biosphere integrity
9 Earth system processes which have boundaries:
• climate change Living within these limits is a pre-condition of
• ocean acidification environmental sustainability.
How Planetary Boundaries have Changed since 1950

Climate change
Biosphere Generic
diversity Novel entities
integrity
Functional
diversity
?
?
Land system Stratosphere
change ozone depletion
?
Freshwater Atmospheric
use aerosol loading
Phosphorus
Beyond zone of uncertainty (high risk)
Nitrogen In zone of uncertainty (increasing risk)
Biogeochemical Ocean Below boundary (safe)
flows acidification ? Boundary not yet quantified
Figure 12 – Planetary boundaries
Earth system Boundary Current
Control variable
processes value value
Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations (ppm) 350 >400

1. Climate
change* Increase of top-of-atmosphere radioactive forcing (Wm2) relative
+1.0 +2.3
to pre-industrial levels (1750)
2. Change
Biodiversity loss and extinction rate (no. of species per million
in biosphere 10 100-1000
per year)
integrity*
3. Stratospheric
Stratospheric ozone concentration (Dobson units) 290 200
ozone depletion
4. Ocean Global mean saturation state of aragonite in surface seawater

2.65 2.90
acidification (omega units)
5. Phosphorus flow from freshwater systems to oceans (millions of

11 22
Biogeochemical tonnes per year)
/ biochemical Nitrogen fixation (industrial and biological) (millions of tonnes
flows 62 150
per year)
6. Land
Area of forested land as a percentage of original forest cover 75 62
conversion
7. Freshwater use Global human consumption of water (km3/yr) 4,000 2,600
8. Atmospheric Overall particulate concentration in the atmosphere, on a

? ?
aerosol loading regional basis
9. Introduction of Concentration of organic pollutants, radioactive materials, nano-

? ?
novel entities materials and micro-plastics in the environment
*Known as ‘core boundaries’. Significantly altering either of these would drive the Earth system in a new state.
As of that published in Science by Steffen et al (2015), 4 of the boundaries have been exceeded.
What this means is that humans are causing irreversible A real-world example of this is the death of coral
changes to the systems which support life on Earth. reefs. Interacting natural systems typically self-regulate
Crossing these boundaries could generate abrupt until external pressures like changes in ocean acidity,
or irreversible environmental changes. Respecting temperature, eutrophication from fertilizer run off
the boundaries reduces the risks to human society. etc. lead to irreversible change. The damage to North
However, because of human activities, some of these Atlantic cod fisheries and the loss of Arctic Sea ice are
dangerous boundaries have already been crossed, while other examples.
others are in imminent danger of being crossed.
Doughnut Economics environmentally safe and socially responsible space in
which inclusive and sustainable economic development
In the run up to the United Nations 2015 World takes place.
Conference on Sustainable Development, Kate
Raworth of Oxfam introduced the notion of Doughnut As we have discussed, sustainable development includes
Economics. an imperative to eradicate people living in poverty.
Environmental and social issues closely link and entwine
Doughnut Economics develops the concept of living together. This includes recognising that natural systems
within planetary boundaries and blends it with social and have critical natural thresholds or gradients of increasing
economic objectives. risk – such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and land
use change – which must not be crossed if the Earth is
to remain in its current stable state.
climate change
fre
ge ENV
IRONMENTAL CEILI sh
an NG wa
ch te
r
“At the centre of the image is a space of critical
se
just space for h
us
human deprivations – such as hunger, illiteracy,

u
nd
d
um
lan
e a
af poverty, and voicelessness. The first priority must
FOUNDAT
CIAL ION
SO
an
es
water
ph
be to ensure that all people are free from such

ity
food
nitr orus cycles
osp
th
loss
income
ogen
h
deprivations and are empowered with the rights and

biodiversity
health
and
education resources needed to provide a social foundation for

gender
equality
resilience leading lives of dignity, opportunity and fulfilment.”
social Kate Raworth
equity
ocea
voice
T
IN
ion
EN
na
energy
CL
jobs
PM
let
The datasets on planetary boundaries and the social

U
ci
V
SI
LO
ep
E
VE
i
AN
fic
d
DE floor aspects from Doughnut Economics can be

e
D
at
on
SU C
MI
io
S TA
INABLE ECONO
oz
ch combined to give an overall picture of global sustainable

em
ing os
ol
ica
l po
llutio
development.
load c aer n
heri
atmosp
Figure 13 – Doughnut Economics concept
The social foundation forms an inner boundary, in

which lie many dimensions of human deprivation.
The environmental ceiling forms an outer boundary,
beyond which are many dimensions of environmental
degradation. Between the two boundaries lies an
area – shaped like a doughnut – which represent an
Figure 14 – Planetary boundaries and social floor data

combined
Global warming and the climate crisis
The following are • The science and causes of climate change • Global emissions
included in this
Learner Note: • Impacts/consequences of climate change • Case study – UK response
• Global action
The science and causes of climate change

Climate change is a complex science and causes much confusion. Here are a few simple definitions to distinguish
between the key terms used.
The greenhouse effect is the heating of the surface of the Earth due to the presence of an
atmosphere containing greenhouse gases (GHG) (carbon dioxide, water vapour, methane,
nitrous oxide, hydrochlorofluorocarbons [HCFCs]) that absorb and emit long-wave (heat)
radiation. Without the effect, the Earth’s average temperature would be −19oC, rather than 15oC,
and the effect is natural. However, human activity is exacerbating the effect, causing global
warming by increasing the amount of GHG in the atmosphere.
Global warming is the process by which the average surface temperature on the Earth
increases. This is caused primarily by an increase in the amount of GHG in our atmosphere.
Global temperatures increased by 0.85 degrees between 1880 and 2010. (Source: IPCC)
Climate change is a change in the long-term distribution and severity of weather patterns
caused by changes in global temperature.
The Greenhouse Effect
Some solar radiation is

reflected by the Earth
and the atmosphere SUN
Solar radiation
passes through the
clear atmosphere
Most radiation is
absorbed by the Earth’s ATMOSPHERE
surface and warms it
EARTH Some infrared radiation is

absorbed and re-emitted
by the greenhouse gases.
The effect of this is to
Infrared radiation warm the surface and
is emitted from the lower the atmosphere
Earth’s surface
Source: adapted from Global Greenhouse Warming
www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/effect-green-house.html
Our atmosphere Greenhouse gases
More than 99% of the atmosphere is made up of GHG have varying global warming potentials (GWP), a
nitrogen, oxygen and argon, and the levels of these measure used to compare the emissions from various
atmospheric gases have been stable for millennia. The GHG. This means that we need to consider the types
remaining constituents of the atmosphere are termed and amounts of GHG in our atmosphere. If measured
‘variable trace gases’ and these are dominated by over 100 years and CO2 is worth 1, then methane is
GHG. GHG are capable of absorbing and re-emitting approximately 28 times more powerful than CO2, nitrous
wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation (i.e. the same oxide is approximately 280 times more powerful, and a
heat energy that radiates from fire). perfluorinated compound known as sulphur hexafluoride
(SF6) used in industry is approximately 22,800 times
more powerful than CO2.
Figure 15 – Climate Stripes – University of Reading – Nineteen of the 20 warmest years all have occurred since
2001, with the exception of 1998
GREENHOUSE GAS POTENCY AVERAGE RESIDENCE TIME

(GLOBAL WARMING IN THE ATMOSPHERE
POTENTIAL GWP)
Carbon dioxide (CO2) 1 Highly variable*
Methane (CH4) 28 12 years
Nitrous oxide (N2O) 290 114 years
Fluorinated gases (F-gases) 100s – 1000s Between 10 and 1000s of years
Figure 16 – Concentration of carbon

dioxide in the atmosphere
Causes of climate change When measuring future climate, we also
Climate change is both natural, including variations need to consider the following:
in solar output, the Earth’s orbit, volcanic eruptions • Future population increases and rises in the
and the natural carbon cycle, and man-made. global middle class – the increasing intensity of
About 80% of human CO2 emissions during the resource use magnifies this.
1990s resulted from burning fossil fuels and cement
• The finite capacity of the biosphere to absorb
production, with the remaining 20% from land-use
CO2 means that it will not always be there to act
change (primarily deforestation). Almost 45% of these
as a buffer. This can result in positive feedback
emissions have remained in the atmosphere. Oceans
mechanisms.
have taken up 30%, and terrestrial ecosystems have
taken up the rest through growth of replacement • Lag effects – emissions realised today will cause
vegetation on cleared land, changes to land warming in 20 to 30 years.
management practices, and the fertilising effects of • We are adding to the CO2 already in the
increased CO2 and nitrogen depositions. atmosphere – reducing emissions is not taking
CO2 out.
Climate change by numbers

Impacts and consequences of climate
• 1.1 degrees of global warming since the pre-
change
industrial period.
The impacts of climate change are usually felt locally
• Scientists are 95% sure that at least half of and are unevenly distributed. Impacts include, but
global warming is caused by humans – a halving are not limited to:
or doubling of CO2 can cause a 4° change.
Temperature rises are proportional to CO2.
• warming of the climate system, resulting in an
• 1 trillion tonnes – this is the amount of carbon increase in the incidence of heatwaves and/or
we can use and potentially keep below 2 degrees stress;
of warming: a ‘world carbon budget’. We have
• snow and ice diminishing, resulting in sea level
already used half a trillion, and are projected to
rises, land loss and flooding;
use the other half within 30 years.
• more severe weather and pattern changes,
(Source: IPCC)
causing damage to property and crops, cyclones,
mudslides and forest fires;
• increasing ocean acidity, resulting in damage to
sensitive habitats and species;
• changes in vegetation zones, resulting in
desertification and reduced crop yields;
• changes in the distribution of disease vectors –
increasing the spread and/or incidence of disease
and epidemics;
• change to natural systems, loss of biodiversity and
ecosystems.
Global action
1988
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) was created. It was set up by the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to
prepare, based on available scientific information,
assessments on all aspects of climate change and
its impacts, with a view to formulating realistic
response strategies.
1992
A key development behind climate change policy
was the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international
treaty negotiated at the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro in 1992. A key objective was to ‘stabilise
GHG concentrations in the atmosphere to a level
that would prevent dangerous human interference
Other commitments of the with the global climate system’. The treaty sets
UNFCCC include: out a broad framework of objectives, guiding
principles and commitments for participating
• publishing GHG inventories; countries to tackle climate change at a global
• implementing measures to mitigate and adapt level. It did not set any binding targets or establish
to climate change; enforcement mechanisms, but set the way for
future mechanisms (see reference to ‘1997 Kyoto
• promoting and cooperating in the development,
Protocol’) opposite.
application, diffusion of mitigation or adaptation
technologies;
It was agreed that parties should protect the
• promoting sustainable development; climate system for the benefit of present and future
generations, on the basis of respective capabilities
• taking care to minimise the adverse
and responsibilities; developed parties being
socio-economic or environmental effects that
responsible for the majority of GHG emissions
responding to climate change might
should take the lead in combating climate change.
bring about;
• promoting and cooperating in relevant scientific It was also agreed that, from 1995, the parties to the
research and technology; agreement should meet annually in Conferences
of the Parties (CoP) to discuss progress and action
• promoting and cooperating in education,
required to tackle climate change.
training and public awareness.
1997: Kyoto Protocol
(CoP 3, 1997)
• Developed (industrialised) countries were set
a target of reducing GHG emissions by 5.2%
between 2005 and 2012 – targets varied by
country (e.g. EU: 8%, UK: 12.5%). Developing
countries were not set targets. The USA did not
sign up.
• Targets covered all GHGs, not just CO2.
• Targets were legally binding – failure to comply

would incur penalties.
The Protocol ‘operationalises’ the UNFCCC, but

due to complex ratification processes it only
entered into force in February 2005. The Protocol
committed industrialised countries to stabilise
GHG based on the principles of the Convention.
Developed countries insisted on a number of
‘flexibility mechanisms’ to allow them to meet their
targets in the most economically effective way. 2015: Paris Agreement (CoP
21)
• This was signed in April 2016 and deals with
GHG emission mitigation, adaptation and
finance from 2020; it also adopts a pledge and
review system discussed in earlier meetings and
championed by the USA and China.
• A commitment to keep global warming to

below 2°C; discussions suggested that a new
limit of 1.5°C should be established.
• The Agreement was signed by 177 UNFCCC

members, 15 of which ratified it. Importantly,
the USA and China, which jointly represent 40%
of global emissions, confirmed that they will
sign the Agreement.
Methods to tackle climate change Carbon markets
Mitigation – reduce the magnitude of Carbon markets put a commodity value on GHG
climate change emissions – emissions trading, carbon taxes and
voluntary offset have become strategies because they
This means decarbonising economies using cleaner claim to deliver economically efficient reductions in
energy sources, such as renewables, reducing reliance GHG emissions. The EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU
on fossil fuels, building a smart electrical grid, investing ETS) is a mandatory multi-sector, multi-country cap-
in carbon capture and storage/utilisation (CCS) and and-trade scheme that is the EU’s primary instrument
potentially other technologies that remove GHG from for regulating carbon emissions from large energy and
the atmosphere (i.e. sequestration). industrial installations. Large emitters of carbon are given
a specific ‘allowance’; if they exceed that allowance, they
Adaptation – adapt to the consequences of need to buy carbon credits from those who may have
a changing climate and limit vulnerability not used their allowance.
This means preparing to live with the effects of climate The nature of the scheme incentivises companies
change, some of which are underway or inevitable. financially to reduce their emissions, and assists member
Adaptation is both a technical and a political challenge. countries in meeting their emission reduction targets.
Technical adaptation means transforming our
relationship with nature as nature transforms. Examples As well as mandatory schemes, carbon is traded
include: voluntarily, whereby credits are allocated to projects
• building seawalls around vulnerable coastal cities; that are carbon ‘positive’, thus allowing businesses,
• giving land back to mangroves and salt marshes, so countries and individuals to purchase carbon credits and
they can act to break tidal surges during storms; offset their emissions.
• opening wildlife migration corridors, so that species

can move as the climate warms; and
• developing more sustainable forms of agriculture that
can function, even as weather patterns vary wildly.
Figure 17 – Projections for global temperature rise under different scenarios
Part 1 – Links to further resources
World Economic Forum Global Risks Report
www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-risks-report-2021
Doughnut Economics Action Lab

doughnuteconomics.org/
Population Statistics
www.worldometers.info
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division

www.un.org/development/desa/pd
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

www.ipcc.ch
International Energy Agency

www.iea.org
The Keeling Curve (CO2 concentration in the atmosphere)

scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/keelingcurve/
Climate Stripes
showyourstripes.info/
UK Met Office Climate Guide

www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate-guide
Stockholm Resilience Centre

www.stockholmresilience.org
Science paper on Planetary Boundaries

science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/1259855
Let the Environment Guide Our Development – TED talk

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgqtrlixYR4&t=686s
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

sdgs.un.org/goals
United Nations Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform

sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?menu=122
Part 2 – Environmental
Principles
Natural cycles
The natural cycles provide support systems for life on Earth, e.g. plant nutrients, fresh water, carbon dioxide
sequestration. They are subject to human intervention and linked to a range of environmental problems. They are
also interlinked and interdependent –, e.g. burning of fossil fuels (carbon cycle) releases nitrogen dioxide (nitrogen
cycle), and heavy rainfall (water cycle) results in run-off of soil nutrients and artificial fertilizers into rivers (nitrogen and
phosphorus cycles).
The water cycle
What is water?
Water (H20) is critical for life: without it, life could not exist. It appears in many different phases, including as a solid,
liquid or gas. Approximately 71% of the surface of the Earth is covered with water. Most water is stored in oceans,
and thus is saline (97%). Of all the water on Earth, there is only a very small percentage from streams, rivers, lakes and
groundwater (<1%) that is available to us. This makes it an important resource to conserve.
THE WATER
CYCLE
Transport
Condensation
Precipitation
Transpiration
Evaporation
Surface Run-off
Infiltration into
Ground Water
Ground Waterflow
Plant Uptake
Source: Enchanted Learning

www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/9s.html
The water or water cycle describes the continuous movement of

water on, above and below the surface of the Earth.
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 2 – Environmental Principles 31

It includes water being transferred from one reservoir Human impacts
to another (ice, fresh, saline and atmospheric water)
Humans affect the water cycle in several ways.
through the physical processes of evaporation and
transpiration, condensation, precipitation and • We trap large amounts of water behind dams – we
infiltration. The cycle involves the exchange of have trapped so much that we have even altered the
energy, which leads to temperature changes (through speed at which the Earth spins. Some of this water is
evaporation and condensation). used to generate hydroelectricity.
• Through urbanisation and the production of

Water cycles via the following process: ‘hardscapes’ (e.g. pavements and roads), water is not
being absorbed into the ground, increasing run-off
• Energy from the sun heats the surface of the Earth,
and the risk of flooding. This run-off is polluted and
which results in water evaporating from oceans,
heated, and is having a negative influence on aquatic
rivers and lakes, etc. (reservoirs) or is transpired from
environments.
vegetation.
• We transport water to arid areas for irrigation –
• The warm, moist air rises because it is less dense.
removing water from its natural source, often causing
• Condensation then occurs when water vapour is leaching and run-off where it is used.
turned back into water droplets as it cools down, and
• Deforestation – this can affect the weather in another
results in cloud formation.
area because if trees are cut down, there is less water
• Precipitation occurs when water molecules get bigger evaporating into the atmosphere. At a local level, land
and heavier and fall as rain, snow and sleet. becomes drier and less stable. When it does rain,
• When precipitation reaches the surface, some falls instead of water being soaked up, there is increased
directly into the sea (ready to start the cycle again), run-off and leaching. Areas can become more prone
while other water falls on land. to both drought and flooding.
• Some water is intercepted by vegetation, with some • Increasing the Earth’s temperature via an enhanced
slowly reaching the ground and infiltrating through Greenhouse Effect results in an increase in
the soil, or to deep underground. Some water will evaporation, which will impact on other processes in
evaporate from the surface of leaves or be taken the water cycle that adversely affect the climate.
up by plant roots, and some eventually will return
to the air as water vapour through the process of
transpiration. This slows down or prevents some
water flowing back to rivers, oceans and seas.
32 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 2 – Environmental Principles

The nitrogen cycle Where do we find nitrogen?
What is nitrogen? Nitrogen is plentiful in the atmosphere (78%), and may

enter the soil via plant material and animal waste. Most
Nitrogen (N2) is an element that is essential for the plants cannot make use of atmospheric nitrogen, and
formation of amino acids to make proteins (the may only access nitrogen in the form of nitrates. Other
‘building blocks of life’), genetic material and chlorophyll plants (legumes) have a symbiotic relationship with
molecules which are essential for photosynthesis and nitrogen-fixing bacteria that make atmospheric nitrogen
tissue growth. available to the plant. Some plants can make direct use
of ammonia (e.g. some conifer species), but most plants
can only make use of nitrogen as nitrates taken up by
the roots.
NITROGEN
The nitrogen cycle is
the process by which
nitrogen is converted
between its various
chemical forms. This
N2 CYCLE
transformation can be
carried out through
both biological and
physical processes.
Important processes
DEN
N
in the nitrogen cycle

NITROGEN FIXATIO
ITRIF
include fixation,
ammonification,
ICATION
nitrification and
denitrification.
Nitrogen is extremely AMMONIFICATION

ASSIMILATION
inert and thus unreactive,

so breaking the bonds
NH4 Denitrification
apart (in a process called
NO2 bacteria
fixation) requires a lot Nitrogen-
of energy, and thus a fixing
bacteria NITRIFICATION NO3
primary reason why the NH3
cycle is important. This
process takes place
in the atmosphere, in
Nitrifying
microbial bacteria or bacteria
with the help of industry.
Atmospheric fixation is probably the most exciting of the Source: Physical Geography
three processes. It occurs when the enormous energy of www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/9s.html

lightning breaks apart the nitrogen molecules, allowing Human impacts
them to bond with oxygen in the air, forming nitrogen
oxides. These chemicals dissolve easily into rain that is Human activity affects the nitrogen cycle through:
then carried down to the Earth. • the combustion of fossil fuel;
• the use of artificial fertilizers (e.g. nitrates); and
In nitrogen fixation, nitrogen-fixing bacteria such as • nitrogen compounds in waste water (e.g. urea).
cyanobacteria convert the atmospheric nitrogen (N2)
into ammonia (NH3). The plants then use the ammonia The enrichment of water can result in eutrophication,
stored in the bacteria to synthesise amino acids for which is the ecosystem’s response to the addition of
proteins and genetic materials such as DNA. Other artificial or natural nutrients (sewage, fertiliser, detergents,
organisms treat plants as a source of nitrogen. They can etc.). Eutrophication promotes excessive algal growth:
gain nitrogen directly or indirectly from the plants for when algae dies, the microbes that break down the
growth and development. algae deplete the water of oxygen. Such eutrophication
also may give rise to toxic algal blooms, and can
Decomposers (detritivores), mainly bacteria and fungi, devastate aquatic ecosystems.
decompose nitrogenous waste and the remains of
organisms back to ammonia (NH3) – this process is
called ammonification. Ammonia also can be produced
industrially from nitrogen and hydrogen, and is used in
fertilisers. This has increased the amount of ammonia in
the environment and altered the nitrogen cycle.
Some bacteria can convert ammonium to nitrite (NO2),

and some bacteria can further convert the nitrite to
nitrate (NO3). The formation of nitrites and nitrate is
called nitrification. Both nitrites and nitrates can be
taken up by plants and used by other higher organisms.
Denitrifying bacteria can convert nitrate to N2O and
then to N2 which is released into the atmosphere,
completing the cycle.

The phosphorous cycle
PHOSPHOROUS
Precipitation
CYCLE
Geological uplift
Animals
Vegetation
Release of Phosphate
through weathering and
erosion processes
Sedimentation
Run-off
Phosphate in
Phosphate in soil
solution
Decomposition
Source: Science Learning Hub

www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/961-the-phosphorus-cycle
The phosphorus cycle is a biogeochemical process • Within the soil, organic forms of phosphate can be
where phosphorus is stored and transferred between the made available to plants by bacteria that break down
lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. It is probably the organic matter to inorganic forms of phosphorus. This
least well known of the natural cycles, but it is important process is known as mineralisation.
because low levels of phosphorus in plants reduces
• Phosphorus in soil can end up in waterways and
growth and slows microbial activity.
eventually oceans where, over time, it is incorporated
into sediments.
Phosphorus moves in a cycle through rocks, water,
soil and sediments and organisms in the following NB: The atmosphere is not important in the phosphorus cycle
steps: (phosphorus-containing substances are usually solid).
• Over time, rainfall weathers rocks, which results in the Human impacts
release of phosphate ions and other minerals. This
inorganic (non-living) phosphate is then distributed in Humans have altered the cycle by mining phosphorus,
soils and water. converting it to fertiliser, and transporting it and other
products around the globe where it is added to the
• Plants take up inorganic phosphate from the soil. The
food chain and eventually lost as effluent, particularly if
plants may then be consumed by animals. Once in
overused or used carelessly.
the plant or animal, the phosphate is incorporated
into organic (living) molecules such as DNA. When This results in increased amounts of phosphorus as a
the plant or animal dies, it decays, and the organic pollutant in bodies of water, resulting in eutrophication
phosphate is returned to the soil. (as per the nitrogen cycle).

The carbon cycle
What is carbon?
Carbon (C) is an element that is present in all living organisms. The carbon cycle describes how carbon is
exchanged, primarily by being exchanged among the lithosphere (the solid, rocky crust covering the planet),
biosphere (‘zone of life’), hydrosphere (all water on or near the Earth) and atmosphere (the body of air surrounding
the planet).
The cycle is important because it is key to allowing the Earth to sustain life.
CARBON
CYCLE
Atmosphere 750
CO2
5.5
121.3
0.5
1.6 Fossil Fuels &
60 Cement Production
60
Vegetation 610 4,000
Rivers 92
50 Surface Ocean 1,020

Marine Biolo 3 Storage in GtC
40 91.6 100
Fluxes in GtC/yr
6 4 Deep Ocean 38,100
Dissolved Organic
Carbon <700 6
Sediments 150
Source: NASA Earth Observatory (2004)

www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/researchernews/rn_carboncycle.html
Where do we find carbon?
The diagram above shows the various sinks and transfers Ocean surfaces hold more than 1,000 GtC and,
of carbon. The black numbers in the diagram indicate importantly, fossil fuels account for 4,000 GtC. Coal,
how much carbon is stored in various reservoirs, in oil and natural gas were generally formed between
billions of tons (‘GtC’ = GigaTons of carbon). The purple 350 and 50 million years ago via the action of heat and
numbers indicate how much carbon moves between pressure on organic matter. Typically, oil and gas are
reservoirs each year. formed from the organic remains of marine organisms
(e.g. plankton), while coal is formed in non-marine
Most carbon is stored in the deep oceans, albeit with settings from the remains of land vegetation.
limited exchange. The atmosphere holds 750 GtC,
vegetation holds 610 GtC, with soils holding more Until recently (prior to the Industrial Revolution), the
than both these combined (1,580 GtC) – which is why flow of carbon stored in fossil fuels to the atmosphere
there is such an emphasis on preserving those soils that was minuscule – fossil fuel storage represented
hold a lot of carbon, such as peat. a dead end for carbon. When a hydrocarbon fuel
NB. The sediments do not include the approximately 70 million GtC of carbon in rocks.

burns completely in oxygen, the air combines with • The dead organisms are eaten by decomposers
the hydrogen to form water, and with the carbon to and the carbon in their bodies is returned to the
form carbon dioxide. Although the proportion in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. In some conditions,
atmosphere is small, it has a big impact and plays decomposition will result via the application of heat
an important role. If the 4,000 GtC in fossil fuels and pressure in the eventual formation of fossil fuels,
were released to the atmosphere, there would be although this process takes millions of years.
catastrophic climatic consequences.
• In the surface level of our oceans, marine animals will
convert some of the carbon in their diet to calcium
Carbon flows through the atmosphere, living things, the carbonate, which is used to make their shells. Over
lithosphere and the oceans. The carbon cycle is made time, the shells of dead organisms collect on the
up of several two-way processes – the movement of seabed and form limestone. Due to Earth movements,
carbon between the oceans and the atmosphere, and this limestone eventually may become exposed to the
the movement of carbon between the land (vegetation) air, where it is weathered and the carbon is released
and the atmosphere – taken up by photosynthesis back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Volcanic
and released by respiration. However, human impacts action also may release carbon dioxide.
caused predominantly by fossil fuel use and cement
production are unbalancing the system.
Human impacts
Broadly speaking, the cycle works as follows: Human activity affects the carbon cycle by emitting
additional carbon into the atmosphere and oceans,
• Carbon enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide
and changing land use practices. This results in impacts
from respiration and combustion of fossil fuels.
such as:
• Carbon dioxide is absorbed by producers (vegetation)
• Climate change – additional carbon is transferred
to make carbohydrates in photosynthesis (light energy
to the atmosphere, resulting in an increase in the
is captured by chlorophyll in plants, which turns CO2
occurrence of severe weather, such as heatwaves
and water into glucose and starch that allow vegetation
and powerful storms.
to grow).
• Ocean acidification – additional carbon is transferred
• Animals feed on the vegetation passing the carbon
to the oceans, resulting in damage to sensitive
compounds along the food chain. Most of the carbon
habitats and species.
they consume is exhaled as carbon dioxide formed
during respiration. The animals and plants eventually See Learner Note 2 for more information on climate change.
die.
Figure 18 – Carbon dioxide in the

atmosphere and temperature are
closely linked – Source: NOAA
(based on data from Jouzel et al.
2007; Lüthi et al. 2008), updated
with NOAA CO2 data: www.esrl.
noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/
global.html

Biodiversity and ecosystems The biodiversity crisis
Current extinction rates are estimated to be 1,000 times
What is biodiversity? the background rates. It has been argued that the Earth
Biodiversity refers to the variety of life. The UN is currently in its sixth ‘Mass Extinction Episode’, with
Convention on Biological Diversity provides the the previous one being extinction of the dinosaurs 65
following definition: million years ago.
’Biological diversity’ means the variability among Globally, 1 million species are threatened
living organisms from all sources including, with extinction (around 25% of all animal
interalia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic and plant species) and 82% of all animal
ecosystems and the ecological complexes of biomass has been lost since 1980.
which they are a part; this includes diversity within 2019 United Nations Ecosystems Report
species, between species and of ecosystems.
In the UK almost half of the birds, half of
There are 3 principal types of biodiversity – all of which the fungi and a quarter of the country’s
are vital for humans and the natural environment: mammals are at risk of extinction.
2019 UK State of Nature Report
• Genetic diversity
Genetic differences within a single population and It is highly likely that there are species going extinct
amongst geographically separate populations. A high that we are not even aware of and have not had
genetic diversity increases the likelihood of species the opportunity to assess their contribution to the
survival. functioning of ecosystems, or even the services that
they might provide.
• Species diversity
All the different species on our planet.
• Ecosystem diversity The five principal drivers for the decline in
The variety of interactions within and among Earth’s biodiversity are:
different ecosystems. • overexploitation
• habitat loss/degradation
Biodiversity is vital for humans because so much of
• climate change
what we require comes from nature – such as fuel,
food, medicines and other ‘ecosystem services’. These • pollution
are discussed later in this section. • invasive species and disease.
There are estimated to be 8.7 million species (give To address increasing global concerns about the
or take 1.3 million and excluding bacteria) on Earth decline in biodiversity, an international treaty, the
(Source: UNEP). United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UN-
CBD), was adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992.
It established 3 main objectives:
• to conserve biological diversity;
• to use its components sustainably; and
• to share fairly and equitably the benefits arising from
the use of genetic resources.

The world is facing three major crises today: What is an ecosystem?
the loss of biodiversity, climate change and The interactions between plants, animals and the
the pandemic. They are all interrelated, with environment in which they co-exist are fundamental
many of the same causes and solutions. to human existence. The balance of species in an
Biologist Cristián Samper, Wildlife ecosystem depends on the natural features of the
Conservation Society of New York environment such as the nutrient status, climatic
conditions, water and light, as well as the relationship
The human encroachment on wild areas and with other organisms including predators and agents of
activities such as the harvesting of wild animals and disease.
deforestation have been linked to zoonotic diseases
(which ‘jump’ from animal to humans) and the risk of An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal
future pandemics. and micro-organism communities and the non-living
environment interacting as a functional unit
The solutions for climate change and biodiversity loss UK Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005
are interlinked – reforestation and re-wilding projects
are valuable tools in helping to bring back high levels of
biodiversity and in fighting the climate crisis, because
trees and other vegetation act as a ‘carbon sink’.
Action on these issues results in a healthier natural
environment as well as increased prosperity for all.
Ecosystem
Biotic (living) components Antibiotic (non-living) components

Minerals
Soil
Rainfall
Producers Consumers Decomposers Wind
e.g. Green plants e.g. Animals – eat e.g. Bacteria Temperature
plants (primary fungi pH
consumers) or other Light level
animals (secondary or
tertiary consumers)

The interdependency between species, described as How can organisations respond to the biodiversity
a food chain or food web, describes the relationship crisis?
between plants and animals according to which Maintaining biodiversity is important because human
organism feeds on which to obtain energy for life. survival depends on it to support life on our planet, and
Plants are the primary producers, using carbon dioxide because of the services it provides. However, humans
from the atmosphere together with the sun’s energy are directly (e.g. harvesting) or indirectly (e.g. climate
to produce carbohydrates needed for growth. At the change, pollution) responsible for reducing biodiversity,
next stage, herbivores consume plants to provide and for placing many other species at risk.
growth and energy. Herbivores are predated by primary
predators which, in turn, are consumed by secondary • If they own or control land – look at potential
predators. opportunities to contribute to national/local
biodiversity plans.
Certain species have a disproportionately large impact
• Consult with specialist ecological advice when
in comparison to their numbers and are critical for
needed.
the persistence of a community or ecosystem. These
• Review and understand impacts in supply chains and
species are known as ‘keystone species’, like the
mitigate these – for example timber procurement
keystone present in the middle of an arch.
using product labels such as FSC or avoiding food
sourcing or cotton procurement which uses harmful
Bees are a very good example of a keystone species.
pesticides.
They play a crucial role in pollinating wild plants and
agricultural crops, ensuring the continued reproduction • Invest in reforestation/re-wilding projects/
and survival not only of plants, but also of the other conservation.
organisms that depend on those plants for survival • Be aware in construction projects of legal controls
(including humans). In the UK, bees are thought to be on protected animal and plant species (covered in
responsible for the pollination of approximately £200 Part 5 of this course).
million pounds of food crops (Defra, 2009). Other
keystone species include predators such as lions and
jaguars, and ecosystem engineers such as beavers.

Example of a keystone species: horseshoe crabs
The horseshoe crab (family Limulidae) is an organism fishing industries. horseshoe crabs are also used
that is depended upon by many other organisms, by the biomedical industry as their blood contains
making it a keystone species. a unique chemical that detects infection. Blood
from the crabs is used to test intravenous drugs and
medications to ensure their safety in human patients.
horseshoe crabs are losing their habitat to coastal

development. This means they have nowhere to
lay their eggs. This has led to the disappearance of
shorebirds and migratory birds, such as the red knot.
Red knot populations have decreased by 70% in the

last 5 years. They are now at a critical number – one
disaster could cause their extinction. This has also
had an impact on ecosystems in both Chile and the
Figure 19 – Horseshoe crab Arctic where the red knot serves as food for other
predatory animals such as foxes.
Over 30 species of shorebirds and migratory birds,
such as the Red Knot, the sanderling, the ruddy From a human viewpoint – losing the crabs means
turnstone and the semi-palmated sandpiper, use losing an important biomedical product because
horseshoe crab eggs as an important part of their intravenous drugs will have to be tested in other,
diet. The high-protein content of the eggs provides slower, less-
fuel for their long migratory journeys. effective ways
which hurt
Many species of fish, such as the bass, also depend
human health.
on horseshoe crab eggs and newly hatched
horseshoe crabs for their diet. The reduction
in crabs also
The red knot (calidris canutus)is a medium sized
results in loss
shorebird, which breeds in the sub-arctic, has one of
of bait for
the longest migrations in the world – approx. 9,300
fisherman and
miles. Horseshoe crab eggs are vital food for this
potential loss
journey – one key stop-over is Delaware Bay (US
of incomes and
Atlantic Coast).
livelihoods.
Approximately 75% of the horseshoe crabs in
Delaware Bay have disappeared since the early 1990s.
They are used largely as bait for the eel and conk
Figure 21 – Red
knot migration
route – one of
the longest in
Figure 20 – Red knot the world

Natural capital and ecosystem services
What is natural capital?

Natural capital is the stock of renewable and non-renewable natural resources (e.g. plants, animals, air, water, soils,
minerals) that combine to yield a flow of benefits to people.
Stocks Flows Value

Natural capital Services Benefits to business and society
Biodiversity
Source: Natural Capital Coalition

goo.gl/JNRpcb
What are ecosystem services?

The term ‘ecosystem services’ was created to define ‘the benefits people obtain from ecosystems and stocks of
natural capital.
This diagram shows the ecosystem services relating to cutting down trees vs maintaining them in place:
Figure 28 – Ecosystem services – wood vs trees

Provisioning services are the products obtained from Cultural services are the non-material benefits
ecosystems and include food, timber and medicines. obtained from ecosystems through recreation,
• Food – via plants, animals and microbes aesthetic experience and spiritual enrichment.
• Freshwater – for drinking and cleaning and a range • Recreation – water sports, walking, climbing
of industrial processes, including a source of energy • Ecotourism
• Fibre – wood, jute, cotton, hemp, silk and wool • Educational benefits – developed by different
• Fuel – wood, dung and other biological materials cultures
serve as sources of energy • Aesthetic and social experiences – parks, housing
• Genetic resources – genes and genetic information locations, scenic drives, community cultures
used for animal and plant breeding and • Spiritual enrichment – many religions attach
biotechnology spiritual and religious values to ecosystems or their
• Ornamental resources – animal and plant products components
such as skins, shells, flowers • Inspiration – for art, folklore, architecture etc
• Medicines, pharmaceuticals and biochemicals. • Reflection – a ‘sense of place’.
Regulating services are the benefits obtained from the Supporting services are the ecosystem services which
regulation of ecosystem processes, for example, pest form the foundation for all other ecosystem services,
and disease control, purification of water and air. such as nutrient recycling and soil formation.
• Air quality • Soil formation – many provisioning services depend
• Climate – by local and global influence: locally, on soil fertility; the rate of soil formation influences
changes in land cover can affect temperature and human well-being in many ways
precipitation; and globally, ecosystems sequester or • Photosynthesis – producing oxygen necessary for
emit greenhouse gases (GHG) most living organisms
• Disease – controlling the abundance of human • Primary production – the accumulation of energy
pathogens such as cholera, and disease vectors such and nutrients by organisms
as mosquitoes; and pest regulation – the prevalence • Nutrient cycling – approximately 20 nutrients
of crop and livestock pests and diseases essential for life, including nitrogen and phosphorus,
• Regulation of natural hazards – coastal ecosystems cycle through ecosystems and are maintained
such as mangroves and coral reefs reduce the at different concentrations in different parts of
damage caused by storms; and erosion protection ecosystems
– vegetative cover helps retain soil and prevent • Water cycling – water cycles through ecosystems
landslides and is essential for living organisms.
• Pollination – the distribution, abundance and
effectiveness of pollinators Well-functioning ecosystem services are dependent on
• Water purification and treatment – ecosystems biodiversity, although the relationship can be complex,
filter out and decompose organic wastes and can and in many cases not completely understood. While
assimilate and detoxify compounds through water it is possible to demonstrate that ecosystem services
and soil processes. are sensitive to changes in biodiversity, there may not
be sufficient information with which to describe that
relationship.

Using natural capital valuation as a tool One of the principal reasons for the current trend in
All organisations interact with nature in some way biodiversity loss is that the value to humans from nature
and use resources such as raw materials, but these is not valued properly.
interactions are rarely reflected in the market value of
that organisation. They remain ‘externalities’; issues Valuation of natural capital can lead to better decision-
which do not have internal consequences for the making – some organisations are increasingly
organisation. Some examples include – horseshoe appreciative of the contribution natural capital makes to
crabs, killing pollinating insects from pesticide use, their operations and the need for transparency to the
deforestation etc which have ‘real-world’ economic purchasers of goods and services.
impacts.
Natural capital
Stocks of natural Flows of services Natural capital maintenance
assets What does it benefits What does it cost
What do we have? produce? What is that worth? to maintain those
benefits?
Example of natural capital valuation – Beam Parklands, Barking, London, UK
A tool called Corporate Natural Capital Accounting (e.g. health) and £591,000 per year flood risk
(CNCA) was used to determine the economic value reduction benefits being that the land is adjacent to
of this park and open space in East London. the River Roding, which has been subject to flooding
in the past.
Traditional financial accounting portrays Beam
Parklands as a liability rather than an asset with The net benefit is £1.3 million per year, which
£98,000 per year maintenance costs. The CNCA illustrates the benefits of retaining and managing
tool demonstrates significant natural capital value similar sites.
including £770,000 per year in community benefits
Figure 23 – Beam Parklands, Barking, London

About the carbon cycle:
oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/carbon-cycle
About the nitrogen cycle:

www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/the-nitrogen-cycle-processes-players-and-human-15644632/
About the phosphorus cycle:

www.lenntech.com/phosphorus-cycle.htm
About the water cycle:

www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/how-weather-works/water-cycle
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report (2005)

www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.html
National Wildlife Federation resources on horseshoe crabs

www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife Guide/Invertebrates/Horseshoe-Crab
UK National Ecosystem Assessment

uknea.unep-wcmc.org
Payments for Ecosystem Services: Best Practice Guide

www.gov.uk/government/publications/payments-for-ecosystem-services-pes-best-practice-guide
The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity

www.teebweb.org
About natural capital (from the Natural Capital Forum)

naturalcapitalforum.com/about
Ecosystems Knowledge Network about Natural Capital Accounting

ecosystemsknowledge.net/resources/themes/accounting

Part 3 – Principles of
Sustainable Organisations
What is a sustainable organisation?
Sustainability is talked about a great deal in modern-day The IEMA report, Beyond the Perfect Storm (2016),
businesses and institutions, with companies seeking defines corporate sustainability as:
to assure their customers and stakeholders that they A cross disciplinary, corporate values-based
engage in responsible business practices. The terms approach to identifying and responding to the
‘corporate sustainability’, ‘sustainable business’ and critical social, environmental and economic risks,
‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ are used frequently opportunities and dependencies faced by the
and interchangeably – and often with different organisation and its stakeholders – now and in the
interpretations of what they mean. future. It is likely the organisation would reference
sustainability in its mainstream organisation’s strategy
and in its governance, values and principles.
Corporate sustainability is an organisations delivery of

long-term value in financial, environmental, social and
ethical terms.
Figure 24 – Components of a sustainable organisation
46 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 3 – Principles of Sustainable Organisations
Example of sustainable organisation using the Five
Capitals Model
The Five Capitals Model has been promoted by Manufactured
the think tank Forum for the Future. It articulates Capital
sustainable development in terms of capitals (the ability
to provide something) and can be a useful approach Financial
for understanding and articulating what sustainability Capital
means for organisations.
al
So
pit
cia
Ca
Ca n
l
It is useful to differentiate between 5 kinds of capital: pit
al ma
Hu
financial, natural, produced, human and social. All are
‘stocks’ that have the capacity to produce flows of
economically desirable outputs. Natural
Capital
• Natural Capital – Natural capital is the stock of
renewable and non-renewable natural resources
Ethics and sustainability
(e.g. plants, animals, air, water, soils, minerals) that
When most people think of ethics, they think of rules
combine to yield a flow of benefits to people.
that distinguish between right and wrong, or a code
• Social Capital – the networks of relationships among of professional conduct: for example, the Hippocratic
people who live and work in a particular organisation Oath in medicine.
or society, enabling it to function effectively.
• Human Capital – the skills, knowledge and Ethics are ‘norms for conduct’ that distinguish between
experience possessed by an individual or population, acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Most
viewed in terms of their value or cost to an societies use laws to enforce widely accepted ethical
organisation or country. (moral) standards; however, ethics and the law are
• Manufactured Capital – comprises material goods not the same. An action may be legal and unethical,
or fixed assets which contribute to the production or illegal and ethical: for example, protesting about
process rather than being the output itself –, e.g. environmental issues and resisting police advice to
tools, machines and buildings. move on is illegal but not unethical, based on personal
values.
• Financial Capital – refers to assets needed by a
company to provide goods or services, as measured
The business of business…. is business. The only one
in terms of monetary value.
responsibility of organisations towards society is the
maximization of profits to the shareholders within the
The sustainability of an organisation is more than
legal framework and ethical custom of the country.
how much profit it makes – paying attention to all the
Milton Friedman – Economist 1975
different types of capital make it more likely to have
longevity and to have a positive impact on environment
and society. We cannot ask others to do what
we have not done ourselves.
Christiana Figueres – Executive Secretary, UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 3 – Principles of Sustainable Organisations 47
The business case for establishing and maintaining Principles of ethical organisations
business ethics is well established by the costs and Ethical organisations are based on the principle of
impacts associated with high-profile cases of corporate fairness:
misconduct (such as the 2008 global financial crisis), • stakeholders are treated equitably, without any
which cross ethical boundaries and often circumvent discrimination;
or break laws.
• the benefits to the stakeholders are given priority;
• clear communication and transparency on
Acting unethically
organisational activities;
There are unfortunately multiple examples of poor
business ethics (including where these verge into non- • compliance with applicable laws.
compliance with the law).
The successful application of business ethics develops
Case study: Volkswagen trust (among suppliers, customers and employees),
which leads to predictability and efficiency and can
The US Environmental Protection Agency found improve public image, foster customer loyalty, enhance
that many VW cars had a ‘defeat device’ or software financial investment, limit legal action and increase
installed in diesel engines that could detect profits.
when the cars were being tested, changing the
performance accordingly to improve results. Most of the benefits received from business ethics are
the goals of corporate governance.
The programming caused the vehicles’ nitrogen
oxide (NOx) output to meet the US standards
Corporate governance is ‘about how companies
during regulatory testing, but they would emit up to
are directed and controlled. Good governance is
40 times more NOx in real-world driving, VW was
an essential ingredient in corporate success and
caught violating legally binding commitments.
sustainable economic growth’ (Simon Deakin, Robert
‘Dieselgate’, as the scandal was called, was a punch Monks Professor of Corporate Governance, University
to VW's reputation. The needed corrections were of Cambridge). It is a framework of rules and practices
deemed undesirable, and the financial incentives that ensures accountability, fairness and transparency
and temptation to cheat proved too great. in a company’s relationship with stakeholders (e.g.
employees, customers and community).
‘The purpose of corporate governance is to help

build an environment of trust, transparency and
accountability necessary for fostering long-term
investment, financial stability and business integrity,
thereby supporting stronger growth and more inclusive
societies.’ (Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General)
Governance principles Integrity
Governance principles seek to provide a framework This is about representing shareholder interests:
for embedding appropriate behaviours in everyday individuals are required to exercise honesty,
decision-making, and can be challenging, thought- selflessness, objectivity and the highest standards
provoking and continuously evolving. of professionalism. Within BS8900-1 this includes
encouraging diversity while avoiding bribery, abuse,
The following are fundamental governance principles. oppression and corruption. All actions should be
unbiased and comply with relevant rights, legal
Accountability obligations and regulations.
This is the process by which an organisation and
employees are responsible for their actions and Stewardship
decisions. An organisation should present a fair, This is a difficult term to define and is context-specific.
balanced and understandable assessment of the In business, stewardship can refer to the organisation’s
organisation’s position and prospects (Financial responsibilities to understand their environment
Reporting Council, 2012). impacts, which can help to integrate sustainable
practices. Within BS8900-1 this requires organisations
Equality to consider how any action affects quality of life
This requires equal treatment (i.e. not discriminating) in and/or whether any action may lead to irreversible
employment and when accessing services regardless environmental or societal change or loss, and how
of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, marriage impacts will be monitored and managed.
or civil partnership status, race, religion or belief and
sexual orientation. Equality should ensure equal access Transparency
to opportunities without discriminating on the grounds This helps to ensure that all stakeholders have
named above. It is not about giving everyone the same. confidence in decision-making and management
Sometimes this is called equity, whereby support is processes. BS8900-1 states that transparency is
given to those who need it most, while being mindful required to make certain that relevant and reliable
of it not becoming a future crutch. An organisation information is available in an accessible, low-cost and
could develop equal opportunities and diversity policies comparable way. This includes dealing with reasonable
and procedures to help achieve equality. views and requests for information, ensuring that
significant interests, influences or beneficiaries are
Inclusivity recorded, communicated and managed, with decision-
This requires including the full range of stakeholders making being identified and the reasons for decisions
in decision-making and not disadvantaging any group. recorded and communicated.
Inclusivity is included within BS8900-1 and stresses the
importance of identifying those who could affect, or
be affected by, an organisation’s decisions and actions
as well as allowing stakeholders to contribute their
views and helping them to understand the reasons
for decisions. A common method of demonstrating
inclusivity is through consultation.
Equality and diversity Equality recognises that, historically, certain groups
of people with protected characteristics such as race,
A society that is fair and equal improves value for all, for disability, sex and sexual orientation have experienced
example: discrimination.
• liveability – enhanced social connection and
participation within communities; Within organisations and further afield – tackling
inequality results in a multitude of benefits including
• productivity – equal opportunity allows people to
helping to achieve environmental sustainability. For
better contribute socially and economically to their
example:
community;
• Although high-income countries have been
• safety – an equal and fair society is likely to be
responsible for the majority of greenhouse
safer by reducing entrenched social and economic
gas emissions to date, climate change
disadvantage.
disproportionately affects already vulnerable
communities.
Equality is about ensuring that every individual has an
equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and • Organisations with clear accountability mechanisms
talents. can support capacity in other, poorer counties
to adequately regulate and protect the natural
It is also the belief that no one should have poorer life environment.
chances because of the way they were born, where
they come from, what they believe, or whether they Within organisations – there are a number of legal
have a disability. drivers with regards to equality including the UK
Equality Act 2010 – it is illegal to discriminate against a
number of ‘protected characteristics’:
Marriage and Sexual

Sex Age
civil partnership Orientation
Pregnancy and Religion and Gender

Race Disability
maternity belief reassignment
Figure 25 – Protected characteristics under the UK Equality Act 2010
There are also legal requirements around reporting • appointing diversity champions across the
of differential pay between women and men (gender organisation at all levels to reinforce the
pay-gap) and in a number of jurisdictions around the commitment to inclusion;
world (including in Scotland) there is legislation or • if resources allow, employ a dedicated resource for
proposed legislation to increase the number of women organising events and overseeing initiatives to raise
on executive boards of organisations. awareness and engage others.
Many sectors, professions and the organisations which

Case study: Diverse Sustainability Initiative
make them up suffer from entrenched or structural
inequality. For example – this has recently been bought The UK environment and sustainability sector has
to the surface by the global Black Lives Matter protests, a racial diversity problem. A 2017 report by think
amongst others, which has forced many organisations tank The Policy Exchange, using ONS data, ranked
to better address racial inequality. ‘environment professionals’ as the second least
diverse profession in the UK (after farming), with
How can organisations contribute to equality? just 3.1% of staff working in the sector being from
Embracing diversity at work helps create an inclusive minority race groups, compared to 19.9% of the
culture. It encourages staff loyalty and shows general UK workforce.
commitment to good business ethics.
The Diverse
Sustainability
Creating an inclusive culture involves everyone, but
Initiative
a vital ingredient is that senior management provide
is a new
leadership, showing and demonstrating why it is
collaborative
good for the organisation and its business. Their
programme
management style and the language they use should
of work with the vision to transform diversity within
reflect this commitment. An open communications
the sustainability profession and wider environment
policy can encourage employees to identify issues,
sector. It is coordinated and managed by several
make suggestions for improvements and receive
partners and seeks to involve both anyone
feedback.
who works as an environment or sustainability
professional and all professionals, regardless of
Some key tasks:
discipline, who work within the environment sector.
• develop HR policies that reinforce and promote
equality; The purpose of the Diverse Sustainability Initiative is
• identify training opportunities for staff to promote to improve diversity through education, connection
awareness of inequality and the protected and transparency to support current professionals
characteristics; and increase appeal and access for future and
potential professionals. This journey starts with
• develop clear, objective criteria to enable
racial diversity before expanding into LGBT, gender
recruitment decisions to be based on merit;
and physical ability.
• challenge suppliers and partners to develop their
own policies and activity.
The UN SDGs and organisations
The 17 SDGs provide a shared blueprint for peace and Organisations all over the world are using them as an
prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the easily understood and communicable framework and
future as well as an approach for organisations and adopting their own objectives and targets aligned with
governments to frame sustainability issues. the themes of the SDGs.
Case study – University of Manchester and the SDGs
The higher education sector collaborates through a global initiative called the
SDG Accord where institutions adopt the SDGs, report progress against them and
make a public commitment.
The University of Manchester has embraced the SDGs through a number of

different mechanisms including:
• research – linking publications to SDGs
• teaching – building SDGs into curricula
• public engagement with local communities
• campus operations – SDGs in policies (from human resources to energy management).
They report annually on their progress against each of the SDGs – linking them to academic research, industry
collaboration, campus management and others.
Figure 26 – Extract from University of Manchester 2019 Sustainability Report
Case study – Balfour Beatty and the SDGs
The large construction contractor Balfour Beatty has adopted and reports against the SDGs. One way in which
they use the SDGs is to identify options for social value (social value is the quantification – usually financial –
of an organisation’s impact on society).
Social value can include a range of outcomes, such as leaving a skills legacy by employing locally and
creating sustainable apprenticeships in the area around the scheme, and boosting local small, medium and
micro businesses and social enterprise by ensuring they form a core part of the supply chain and that a high
proportion of the project spend goes to local suppliers. Reducing air pollution, maximising green space and
ensuring the value of materials is optimised through a circular economy.
Balfour Beatty – Shared Value – helping local authorities unlock social value, 2018
Balfour Beatty has committed to generating £3 billion in social value by 2030 and positively impact more than
1 million people.
Figure 27 – Extract on social value from

Balfour Beatty Sustainability Strategy –
Building New Futures
Organisational approaches to the climate
crisis including science based targets and Companies that don’t adapt to climate change will
net-zero go bankrupt without question.
Mark Carney, Ex Bank of England Governor, 2019
The UN Paris Agreement aims to achieve a global
balance between anthropogenic (human-induced) There are a variety of approaches taken by
emissions and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases organisations including the adoption of science-based
in the second half of this century. The status of this targets (described opposite) where commitments are
‘balance’ is sometimes referred to as achieving net- aligned with the Paris Agreement as well as a variety of
zero global greenhouse gas emissions. It has also been organisational net-zero commitments, commitments to
referred to as a planetary-level carbon neutrality. carbon neutrality and the frequently controversial use
of carbon offsets and carbon removals.
The organisational drivers for carbon reduction
are evolving, still including legal compliance and Part 8 of this course (environmental data and reporting)
performance improvement, but also ‘sustainability’ has will discuss carbon footprinting in more detail.
been broadly applied to characterise improvements
in areas like natural resources overexploitation, IEMA greenhouse gas management hierarchy
manufacturing operations (its energy use and polluting IEMA’s GHG management hierarchy provides a
subproducts), the linear consumption of products, the framework to help the scoping and strategic planning
direction of investments, citizen lifestyle, consumer of energy and carbon (GHG).
purchasing behaviours, technological developments or
business and general institutional changes. Working through the hierarchy, priority is placed on
now an increasing prominence on values and seeking to eliminate carbon emissions, followed by
reputation. carbon and energy reduction and then by substitution
measures such as on-site renewable energy.
The following statistics are from the IEMA Climate Compensation measures are then considered and
Change Practice survey in November 2019 and indicate utilised, including carbon offsetting.
the 3 top-rated drivers in rank order (positions from
similar research in 2010 are in brackets):
1. Reputation of the organisation or brand (4th in 2010)
2. Compliance with legislation (3rd in 2010)
3. Cost savings and financial efficiency (identified as top
driver in 2010).
Science Based Targets are calculated and for certain sectors the SBTi provide
Science-based targets an approval and verification service together with a
provide a clearly defined forum for public commitment.
pathway for companies
to reduce greenhouse Net-zero and carbon neutrality
gas (GHG) emissions, Net-zero refers to the balance between the amount of
helping prevent the greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed
worst impacts of climate change and future-proof from the atmosphere. We reach net-zero when the
business growth. amount we add is no more than the amount taken
away
Targets are considered ‘science-based’ if they are in line
with what the latest climate science deems necessary While a growing number of companies are committing
to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement – limiting to net-zero, there is currently no science-based
global warming to well-below 2°C above pre-industrial methodology available for setting or approving
levels and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. corporate net-zero targets. Although at the time of
writing the SBTi were consulting on an organisational
The Science Based Targets Initiative is a partnership definition as follows:
between Carbon Disclosure Project, the United Nations
Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and
the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).
There are a number of different ways in which these
There are 3 key elements to the definition of a net-zero sustainable management of working lands constitute a
emissions company: mix of emission reductions and carbon removals.
• The company will set and pursue an ambitious 1.5°C
aligned science-based target for its full value chain Emission reductions generally relate to projects
emissions. that reduce carbon emissions by taking a specified
action compared to a reference scenario, whereas
• The boundary must be global scopes 1, 2 and 3 for
greenhouse gas removals take greenhouse gases from
the organisation.
the atmosphere and permanently sequester them.
• Any remaining hard-to-decarbonise emissions can
be compensated with certified greenhouse gas
For example, reductions could be used to account
removals (GGR). These should be restricted to only
for replacing kerosene cook-stoves with solar stoves,
certified methods.
as it avoids emissions that would have taken place if
Source: Science Based Target Initiative – Net-zero
the cook-stoves had not been replaced, and carbon
Consultation
removals could be used to account for afforestation, as
this removes carbon emissions from the atmosphere by
‘Net-zero’ and ‘carbon neutral’ are two terms which
converting it into organic matter.
are often used interchangeably, although there are
differences between them.
This area has been beset with controversy since there
are a wide variety of schemes, largely unregulated
Carbon neutrality is defined by an internationally
which vary in quality and some of them have very
recognised standard – PAS 2060 Specification for the
questionable greenhouse gas benefits. There are a
demonstration of carbon neutrality – which sets out
number of verification and certification schemes which
requirements for the quantification, reduction and
attempt to address this.
offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions.
Carbon offsets can be used to achieve the standard

In this standard, the definition of a carbon-neutral
PAS 2060 – Carbon Neutrality. To achieve net-zero,
footprint is a ‘condition in which during a specified
any remaining emissions should be balanced with an
period there has been no net increase in the global
appropriate amount of carbon removals using certified
emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere as a
greenhouse gas removals.
result of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with
the subject during the same period’.
Possible greenhouse gas removal options include large-
scale afforestation and bioenergy with carbon capture
Carbon offsets
and storage.
Many types of offsets exist, but they fall into two broad
groups – emission reductions and carbon removals.
Examples of emission reduction offsets include

reducing or capturing emissions of harmful, long-lived
pollutants and avoiding deforestation. Examples of
carbon removal offsets include nature-based solutions
such as the restoration of peatlands, coastal habitats,
and native forests, and technology-based solutions
such as direct carbon capture or mineralising CO2
into building materials. Many projects promoting the
A ‘circular’ approach seeks to:
• design out waste and pollution – Products are
designed so that they can be readily disassembled
and re-used at end of life;
• maintain value (of products and materials) by
designing for repair or remanufacture to extend
lifecycle(s). Products last longer and are designed to
do so;
• regenerate natural systems, i.e. through composting
and anaerobic digestion;
• develop new/alternative organisation models, e.g.
organisations move away from selling products to
selling the service of that product.
Circular thinking can be applied to organisations’

processes and products to identify new market
The Circular Economy
opportunities and reduce waste costs such as
swapping disposable packaging for reusable returnable
A Circular Economy is an alternative to a traditional
packaging. Another example could be enabling and
linear economy (make, use, dispose) in which we keep
facilitating reuse by modifying the service offering from
resources in use for as long as possible, extract the
‘sale’ to ‘hire’.
maximum value from them whilst in use, then recover
and regenerate products and materials at the end of
each service life. This presents an obvious solution to
the problem of resource scarcity.
Case study – EGG Lighting
EGG lighting is a technology company based in Scotland that specialises in identifying, developing and
installing energy-saving solutions for businesses.
LED systems represented a huge leap forward from the old fluorescent-style
lights historically used in most commercial and industrial buildings, LED systems
themselves have also been improving at a rapid rate. In just 3 years, 50% savings
in running costs are now possible when comparing original LEDs with the latest-
generation models.
While upgrading LEDs to the latest models may make good economic sense, it also unfortunately means
generating a considerable amount of waste. Only 5% of the light fitting actually needs to be replaced. This
means that 95% of the remaining material is being discarded unnecessarily.
EGG lighting designed a new kind of light fitting where only the LED and driver parts needed to be replaced.
This allows the light fitting to be upgraded to the latest LED technology as it became available, without having
to replace the whole unit.
Zero Waste Scotland’s Circular Economy team helped EGG Lighting develop a ‘lighting as a service’ model,
under which customers pay to receive a lighting service rather than owning the fitting and bulbs. This was
based on modelling a range of data from typical customers, considering all aspects including service delivery
and material costs. The model calculates contract rates, forecasts expenditure and contains data for marketing
the service to EGG’s target customers. For EGG, it provides for a steady, long-term income flow and ongoing
relationship with customers, while the customer has access to the latest LED technology at an affordable cost.
‘I think the success of the circular economy will rely a lot on developing service models such as ours. The
idea of light as a service is a game-changer. It will be fascinating to see what else follows. Ultimately, it’s
all about design though. When more organisations start to design products like ours with a modular and
upgrade mindset, then the circular economy will really take off.’
Brian O’Reilly – Owner of EGG Lighting
Manchester University and the SDGs
www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/social-responsibility/sdgs/
Higher Education Sustainable Development Accord

www.sdgaccord.org
United Nations Global Compact

www.unglobalcompact.org/
United Nations Compass – a guide for business action to advance the SDGs
sdgcompass.org/
Balfour Beatty sustainability strategy

www.balfourbeatty.com/media/318683/balfour-beatty-building-new-futures-sustainability-strategy.pdf
IEMA Pathways to Net-zero – Using the IEMA GHG Management Hierarchy

www.iema.net/document-download/51806
Science Based Targets Initiative

sciencebasedtargets.org/
LSE Grantham Institute – What is Net-zero?

www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/news/what-is-net-zero/
SBTi and Net-zero

sciencebasedtargets.org/net-zero
Diverse Sustainability Initiative

www.diversesustainability.net/
PAS 2060 Carbon Neutrality

www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/PAS-2060-Carbon-Neutrality/
What is the concept of the Circular Economy? – Ellen Macarthur Foundation

www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy/concept
EGG lighting resources – www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/case study/egg-lighting
Part 4 – Pollution and
Pollution Control
Pollution and the Source-Pathway-Receptor Pollution can be physical agents such as noise,
model vibration, radiation and light as well as chemicals, dusts
and vapours.
‘Pollution of the environment’ is defined in the UK
Environmental Protection Act 1990 as: The Source-Pathway-Receptor model is useful in
The release (into any environmental medium) from any helping to assess the risks of pollution and determine
process, of substances which are capable of causing appropriate controls:
harm to man or any other living organisms supported
by the environment.
SOURCE PATHWAY RECEPTOR
The ‘SOURCE’ relates to The ‘PATHWAY’ is the The ‘RECEPTOR’ is the

where the pollution or way that the source is recipient of the potential
chemical originates transported or travels pollution
In essence, anything can be a pollutant: it depends on The following terms are used to classify and describe
the level of contamination in relation to the receptor the behaviour of chemical pollutants:
species, habitat or ecosystem. For example, oxygen is • Persistence – The ability of a substance to remain
a pollutant to us above a certain level. It will turn butter unchanged in the environment for a prolonged
rancid and rust metal. It is an unwanted molecule in period of time.
many industries.
• Toxicity – The harm or potential damage to living
organisms. This can include illness or a reduction in
To understand the potential for pollution, we
survival, growth and reproduction.
also must understand the ‘normal’ levels of
• Carcinogen – Refers to the potential for a substance
contamination. For human-made organic chemicals
to cause cancer, examples include benzene,
such as pesticides, any detectable level is abnormal,
asbestos and arsenic.
but other contaminants such as heavy metals were
present in the environment before humans. • Mutagen – A chemical or physical agent that causes
All substances are poisons; there is none which is change in genetic materials.
not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison. • Teratogen – A substance which leads to birth
Paracelsus, 1493–1541 abnormalities, defects or spontaneous abortion
following exposure
60 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 4 – Pollution and Pollution Control
Common pollution types
Air pollution
Air quality is a problem all over the world – according
to the World Health Organisation – poor air quality is
attributed to 1 in 8 of all global deaths each year.
Air pollutants can be organic, inorganic and particulate.

Key pollutants include oxides of nitrogen (NOx), oxides
of sulphur, particulates – usually expressed as PM10
or PM2.5 (where the number refers to the size of the
particles in microns and hence their penetration in the
human respiratory system.
Example – Exhaust emissions from diesel vehicles:
NOx emissions Associated with

pulmonary and
Particulates respiratory harm
(including ultrafine – heart attacks,
PM2.5) strokes, asthma
Polyaromatic Can be carcinogenic

hydrocarbons (cancer causing)
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 4 – Pollution and Pollution Control 61
Common air pollutants controlled under law in the UK (UK Air Quality Strategy)
POLLUTANT SOURCES ENVIRONMENTAL AND

HEALTH IMPLICATIONS
Particulates Combustion processes, e.g. Combustion processes, e.g.
PM10 vehicles, incinerators etc, dust from vehicles, incinerators etc, dust from
PM2.5 construction sites, vehicle tyres construction sites, vehicle tyres.
Depending on particulate – many
health impacts, e.g. pulmonary and
respiratory illnesses – PM2.5 has
ability to penetrate to gas exchange
region of lung and potentially enter
the blood
Oxides of nitrogen (expressed as Combustion processes, e.g. Respiratory irritant
nitrogen dioxide) vehicles, gas boilers Respiratory and pulmonary illnesses
Precursor for photochemical smog
Ozone Produced at ground level during Respiratory irritant
settled weather from action Respiratory and pulmonary illnesses
of ultraviolet light on organic
compounds (photochemical smog)
Sulphur dioxide From combustion of fuels Respiratory irritant, acid gas
containing sulphur
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Combustion processes (especially Long-term health effects of
(PAHs) diesel) exposure to PAHs may include
cataracts, kidney and liver damage
PAHs are also known carcinogens

Benzene Evaporation of gasoline Carcinogenic
1,3 Butadiene Evaporation of gasoline Cardiovascular disease
Carbon monoxide Combustion processes without Carbon monoxide poisoning –

sufficient oxygen reduced ability of the blood to carry
oxygen
Lead Leaded petrol, abrasion of surfaces Damage to nervous system
with lead paint or coatings
In many places around the world, air pollutants are at UV has the potential to damage human health, the
levels which are not safe for public health, particularly natural environment and crop yields. Ozone-depleting
in urban areas. substances (ODS) interfere with ozone formation, e.g.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
Some core causes:
• exhaust emissions of vehicles – particularly for NOx, Other ODSs include certain degreasers and solvents
particulates and PAHs; (methyl chloroform, carbon tetrachloride), halons and
hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs).
• industrial emissions – particularly in countries/legal
jurisdictions with weak environmental law;
Following detection of the thinning of the ozone layer,
• burning of coal – for example in India, China and
and increasing threat from excess UV exposure – the
parts of Eastern Europe where it is implicated with
United Nations Montreal Protocol of 1987 put in place
high levels of NOx, particulates, sulphur dioxide as
commitments across the world to phase out CFCs and
well as contributing to acid rain;
other ODSs.
• fugitive dust from construction sites.
Many substances which are ODSs are also potent
In the UK, local authorities declare Air Quality greenhouse gases – such as CFCs and HCFCs which
Management Areas where levels of air pollution are types of F-Gases (mentioned in Part 1). The
exceed environmental legal limits. (National Air Quality mechanisms put in place as part of the Montreal
Objectives – www.uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/uk- Protocol are being used in the 2020s for the phase-
eu-limits) out of certain hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) used in
refrigerants which are not ozone depleting at all but are
Ozone layer and ozone depletion potent greenhouse gases.
The ozone (O3) layer which is part of Earth’s
stratosphere, screens out harmful wavelengths of UV Water pollution
light. It is about 9 to 18 miles above the surface of the
Earth (15 to 30 km). All of the rivers, lakes and streams in England are
polluted, say figures released by the Environment
Agency in 2020 – only 14% are rated good for
animals and plants. (environment.data.gov.uk/
catchment-planning/)
The figures reveal a complete lack of progress

towards the target of 100% healthy waters by
2027. The most problematic pollutants are sewage
discharges via Combined Sewage Overflows
(CSOs) following heavy rain and agricultural run-off
(e.g. fertilisers).
UV protection by the ozone layer
Common types of water pollution
Sources of water pollution include fertilisers and can be caused by everyday commodities such as milk,
pesticides from agricultural premises, oils from storage or by water which has a temperature differential from
tanks, leachate from landfill, and industrial processes the receiving watercourse, for example, cooling water,
which generate a variety of effluents. Accidental not just the release of hazardous substances. The
spillage of chemicals also causes pollution. Pollution biggest source of water pollution globally is sewage.
Sewage Deoxygenation of water courses

leading to ecosystem destruction
(eutrophication)
Fertilisers (nitrates, High biological oxygen demand
phosphates etc) (BOD)
Most forms of oil harmful to life,

Oil and oil derivatives clings to animals, birds, plants etc.
Waste oil is most harmful
Common water pollutant from

construction sites and quarries
Suspended solids – blocks light and smothers
ecosystems with fine material
Figure 29 – Common sources of water pollution
Example pollutant – microplastics
Only 9% of plastic ever produced has been

recycled – large proportions of plastic waste enter
the marine environment
Weathering of marine litter – causes microplastics

(less than 5mm, some in µm range)
Also primary microplastics, e.g. microbeads in

cosmetics
Can be readily ingested, and act as ‘reservoirs’ for

toxic carcinogenic or teratogenic (causing neonatal
damage) pollutants as a route to enter the food
chain
Eutrophication
Eutrophication is a significant water quality issue that
is linked to the elevated presence of nitrogen and
phosphorus in the water. This comes from surface
run-off and the leaching of fertilisers, sewage effluent,
atmospheric deposition and industrial wastewaters.
Elevated concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus

in water encourage the development of plant life and
can cause algal blooms. The effect of excessive plant
growth and algal blooms is that it blocks sunlight. This
reduces the growth of plants below the surface which
need the light to photosynthesise and has an adverse
impact on fish predators that need light to see their
prey.
Once the algae die, micro-organisms decompose the

material, using oxygen in the process. This reduces
the oxygen within the water body further and provides
an environment in which few plants and animals can
survive.
Figure 30 – Eutrophication process
Heavy metals
Heavy metals are a group of very toxic pollutants and Case study – Minamata disease
include the chemical elements mercury (Hg), cadmium
The story of Minamata disease gives an example
(Cd), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), thallium (Tl), and lead
of heavy metal pollution. It had a profound health
(Pb). Heavy metals can occur as pollutants in land, air
impact on the community around Minamata
and water.
Bay, Japan. A chemical factory run by the
Chisso Corporation between 1932 and 1968 first
There is a widespread legacy from industrial
manufactured fertilisers and went on to produce
development, e.g. old incinerator sites and many
other chemicals including acetaldehyde and vinyl
industrial processes as well as from certain types of
chloride. The wastewater from the factory was
electrical and electronic waste – for example lead in
discharged into Minamata Bay. Minamata disease
older circuit boards, cadmium in batteries etc.
is a neurological condition that in extreme cases
leads to insanity, paralysis and death. This was first
They are very toxic to plants and animals, e.g. mercury
identified in a young girl from the Minamata area,
– association with neurological damage, e.g. mad
and other members of her family in 1956.
hatters’ disease, lead with cognitive impairment,
cadmium with kidney damage etc. Some metals, for In 1959, following extensive research of
example, mercury and lead, can be converted by methylmercury in sediments, shellfish and
micro-organisms and chemical processes to organic fish within the Bay, it was established that the
forms (methylmercury and tetraethyl lead) which have symptoms were due to bioaccumulation of
different environmental behaviour and toxicity. methylmercury (an organic form of mercury)
through the food chain. The local population
had been exposed through their diet of fish and
shellfish. It was not until 1968 that there was official
government confirmation that the source of the
mercury contamination was wastewater effluent
discharged from the Chisso factory.
Persistent organic pollutants Controls on pollution
This group of organic (carbon-based) chemicals stay
in the environment and can be transported over large Pollution is a very varied issue with sources either being
distances. While they are not soluble in water, they in a single place – such as an emissions stack, exhaust,
are readily soluble in fats, and therefore accumulate in discharge pipe etc or diffuse over a wide-area – such as
animals (bioaccumulation). As a group, they present applying fertiliser to a field, or dust being blown by the
a significant risk of harm to human health and the wind from a large construction site.
environment.
In most jurisdictions there are legal controls on
Bioaccumulation refers to the process by which plants pollution both in terms of permitted discharges as well
and animals take up a chemical at a rate that is faster as required controls – for example, in England there is a
than it is metabolised. This is an important mechanism system of Environmental Permits, which are discussed
by which pollutants enter the food chain. in this section.
The category includes certain pesticides such as DDT, Pollution control hierarchy
as well as industrial chemicals such as polychlorinated The pollution hierarchy shows an approach for
biphenyls (PCBs) which are used as insulators in controlling pollution which focuses on eliminating the
electrical equipment, and as a flame retardant. source of pollution in the first instance.
Another group, dioxins, are produced naturally from
incomplete combustion of certain materials containing
chlorine, and as an unintentional by-product of waste Elimination
incineration.
Internationally, the UN Stockholm Convention on

Persistent Organic Pollutants was adopted in 2001. Its Substitution
aim is to ‘protect human health and the environment
from persistent organic pollutants by reducing or
Management
eliminating releases to the environment’. and Technical
controls
• Elimination
e.g. in a printworks – moving to solvent-free printing
processes.
• Substitution
e.g. with facilities management – substituting
environmentally harmful cleaning products with
biodegradable alternatives.
• Management and technical controls
, e.g. treatment plant for waste effluent at a
papermill where bacteria are used to digest organic
matter in wastewater (water from making paper
has a high biological oxygen demand so would
cause deoxygenation of a water body if released
untreated).
An Environmental Management System such as ISO The Regulations are quite prescriptive and place
14001:2015 which is discussed in Part 9 of this course requirements on the storage of oil in containers
provides a structured approach to controlling pollution exceeding 200 litres:
including putting in place procedures and controls, • Storage in a container with sufficient strength and
carrying out monitoring and having an emergency structural integrity that it is unlikely to burst or leak in
response procedure. ordinary use.
• Provision of secondary containment with a minimum
Examples of pollution control for oil
capacity of 110% of the storage capacity of the
Oil and oil products (such as diesel, kerosine etc) are
container, or in the case of multiple containers,
commonly encountered potential pollutants used as
a capacity of not less than 110% of the largest
vehicle fuels, fuel for mobile plants, for mobile and
container’s storage capacity.
back-up power generators and in heating systems. Oil
• It must be positioned so as to minimise risk of
products are very harmful to the environment and are
damage by impact.
implicated in a significant proportion of water pollution
incidents which are enforced by regulators. • The base and walls should be impermeable to water
and oil.
In England, there are legal controls on storage of • The base and walls must not be penetrated by
oil products (the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) any valve, pipe, or other opening which is used for
Regulations 2001). Storage containers include oil drums draining the system.
and fixed tanks, intermediate bulk containers, mobile
bowsers and some types of generator and transformer. Fill or draw-off pipes going through the bund must be
They apply to the storage of petrol, diese, biofuels, sealed to the bund, and drip trays provided for fill pipes
kerosene, vegetable oils, synthetic oils, oils used as external to the bund area
solvents, biodegradable oils, liquid bitumen-based
products and some waste oils.
Figure 31 – Legally compliant

oil storage tank with secondary
containment (bund) – source
www.gov.uk/government/
publications/choosing-and-using-
oil-storage-tanks-ppg2-prevent-
pollution
Another commonly used preventative measure for oil
pollution is an interceptor – commonly used in service
stations, car parks and vehicle manoeuvring areas. It
is relatively simple technology which relies on the fact
that oil floats on water.
Figure 32 – Example of oil interceptor
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC)

Pollution controls are frequently set out in law. In
European countries (including the UK) this is aligned
with EU Directives including the Integrated Pollution
Prevention and Control Directive and the Industrial
Emissions Directive.
In England and Wales, IPPC is implemented as

Environmental Permits.
An Environmental Permit sets out required Best

Available Techniques (BAT) – the available techniques
which are the best for preventing or minimising
emissions and impacts on the environment.
An Environmental Permit will also usually require

management techniques, monitoring and sometimes
reporting requirements.
Figure 33 – Best Available Techniques on a cement silo
include overflow alarms and extraction systems with
fabric filters
Many industrial processes including many
manufacturing plants, paint spray booths, waste
processing sites, incinerators, major industrial sites
and even some types of mobile plant are subject to
Environmental Permits.
• Part A1 Permits are regulated by the Environment

Agency – for large-scale potential impacts, e.g. an oil
refinery, a waste-to-energy plant.
• Part A2 and B Permits are regulated by the
local authority – for smaller-scale impacts, e.g. a
manufacturing plant, paint spray booths – Part B
permits cover air emissions only. Spill kits should be made available in areas where spills
and leaks are likely to occur with personnel trained to
Where a site will predominantly release to water only – use them. There are 3 categories of absorbent materials
such as discharging water from a quarry into a river (via within spill kits, and these are frequently colour-coded:
settlement ponds) – the Environmental Permit is known • Maintenance (grey): suitable for non-aggressive
as a Discharge Consent. There is a similar system of chemicals, oil and water-based fluids;
Trade Effluent Consents for discharges to the sewer • Chemical (yellow): for use with aggressive fluids (e.g.
system which are regulated by the water companies as acids and alkalis);
opposed to the Environment Agency. • Oil (white): used for oil spills.
Discharge Consents will typically have controls on An emergency response plan (which is required under
volume, temperature, pH, suspended solids, organic ISO 14001) establishes emergency procedures in the
content, oil content and other parameters. event of a spillage or a release to the atmosphere.
It is essential that staff and contractors are aware of
Emergency response for pollution the procedures, and that the procedures are tested
In countries with strong environmental legal regularly.
frameworks, pollution most commonly occurs when
there is an accident or incident such as a spillage, fire,
flood or failure of a containment system.
For water pollution, drains provide an important

pathway for pollutant migration and therefore ensuring
that there is an up-to-date plan which shows their
location, their type (surface, foul water or combined),
the direction of flow, and discharge options is essential
both from a risk management perspective and for
dealing with a pollution incident.
UK and EU Air Quality Strategy and limit values
uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/uk-eu-limits
Map of UK Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs)

uk-air.defra.gov.uk/aqma/
About ozone depletion and the Montreal Protocol

ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/ozone_en
About Minamata and mercury poisoning

www.eea.europa.eu/ds_resolveuid/KMUF4XABDP
The Minamata Convention on reducing mercury pollution

www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/minamata-convention-mercury
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration – pages on microplastic pollution risk

oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html
About Environmental Permits

www.gov.uk/topic/environmental-management/environmental-permits
About Best Available Techniques

www.gov.uk/guidance/best-available-techniques-environmental-permits
Guidance on environmental emergency response

www.netregs.org.uk/environmental-topics/emergency-response/
Pollution Prevention Guidance note on oil storage (UK) – although this is marked as ‘withdrawn’ it still
contains the legal requirements as well as good practice
www.gov.uk/government/publications/choosing-and-using-oil-storage-tanks-ppg2-prevent-pollution
Part 5 – Introduction to
Policy and Legislation
Environmental policy and strategy
Policy states intent whilst strategy describes how something will be implemented. Both terms are used in the
context of organisations as well as national governments. Governments commonly implement policies through
legislation – for example, in the UK policies to reduce single-use plastics have resulted in legal requirement for
retailers to charge for plastic bags.
Statement of intent –
should be ‘auditable’ may be implemented through
– some organisations various means:
have a strategy on how • legislation – national and local law
to implement a policy • targeted investment
• public behaviour change programmes
• financial incentives (e.g. market based)
• via planning system(s)
Example environmental policy – the UK 25 Year Environment Plan
The 25 Year Environment Plan (published in 2019) includes (amongst many

other items):
• meeting air pollution targets – to half impact on health by 2030
• ending sale of petrol and diesel cars
• reducing abstraction of fresh water
• improving water quality (rivers etc)
• reversing loss of marine biodiversity
• creating 500,000 hectares of new wildlife habitat
• doubling value and benefits from natural resources.
One criticism of the 25 Year Environment Plan is that most of the

commitments have not (at least yet) been put into law.
Figure 34 – www.gov.uk/
government/publications/25-
year-environment-plan
72 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 5 – Introduction to Policy and Legislation
Environmental Policy Principles
The past 50 years have seen the development of
several environmental principles which now sit at the
heart of legislation formed both internationally and at
a local level. These form a body of law referred to as
‘soft law’, a term which covers policy development and
codes of conduct which influence behaviour but which
are not directly enforceable until they are incorporated
into law.
Integration Principle Rectification at source

Prevention Principle principle
Policy-makers should look
for opportunities to embed Policy should aim to prevent, reduce If damage to the environment
environmental protection in other or mitigate harm cannot be prevented, it should be
fields of policy tackled at its origin
Precautionary principle
Polluter pays principle
Where there are threats of serious or
Those who cause pollution or irreversible environmental damage,
damage to the environment should a lack of scientific certainty shall not
be responsible for mitigation or be used as a reason for postponing
compensation cost-effective measures to prevent
environmental degradation
Example – Polluter pays paid on all electricity, gas and some other fuels used by
This is a widely applied principle of environmental an organisation. This is intended to encourage energy
law both internationally and in the UK and, in broad efficiency, thereby reducing emissions of greenhouse
terms, seeks to ensure that polluters should pay for the gases.
environmental harm that they cause.
Another UK example is landfill tax, introduced in
National authorities should endeavour to promote 1996 by the Finance Act, which is a charge made
the internalisation of environmental costs and the use on each tonne of waste disposed to landfill – hence
of economic instruments, considering the approach incentivising more-sustainable forms of waste
that the polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of management including recycling.
pollution, with due regard to the public interest and
without distorting international trade and investment. Example – Precautionary principle
UN Rio Declaration 1992 The precautionary principle is also at the heart of many
environmental laws. It is based on the concept that,
Market-based instruments such as taxes and incentives where there are reasonable grounds to believe that an
are also a widely used tool to discourage externalities activity either is or could cause environmental harm,
associated with pollution. For example, in the UK, the although there remains some uncertainty about the
Climate Change Levy, a tax introduced by the Climate probability of risk and the degree of harm, appropriate
Change Levy Regulations in 2001, requires a tax to be regulation should be put in place.
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 5 – Introduction to Policy and Legislation 73
An important area in which the precautionary principle Producer responsibility can be defined as an
has been applied is climate change. Although it is environmental protection strategy to reach an
almost certain that the climate is changing, and that this environmental objective of a decreased total
is a consequence of anthropogenic activities including environmental impact from a product, by making the
the burning of fossil fuels, there is some uncertainty manufacturer of the product responsible for the entire
about the effects. However, the consequences of life-cycle of the product and especially for the take-
inaction are potentially so severe (including widespread back, recycling, and final disposal of the product.
flooding, disease spread and resource limitation) that
there is a strong impetus to act. Producer responsibility aims to internalise the costs
of products within the retail price and shift the cost of
Where there are threats of serious or irreversible managing toxicity and other forms of environmental
damage, lack of full scientific certainty is not a harm to the producer and away from the user or
reason for postponing precautionary measures the local authority. It is also intended to provide
to anticipate, prevent or minimise the causes of incentives to producers to incorporate environmental
climate change and mitigate its adverse effects considerations into design, for example using less-
United Nations Framework Convention hazardous chemicals or extending the design life of a
on Climate Change product.
Producer responsibility Instruments for implementing policies

Producer responsibility (or extended producer Environmental policies are essential for driving forward
responsibility) was a principle which emerged during sustainable development. Environmental policy
the early 1990s as a means of placing responsibility for instruments are a tool used by governments and
the environmental impact of a product or service onto other bodies to implement environmental policies.
the producer. Policies can be implemented in a variety of ways – not
necessarily just through laws – but also through fiscal
Within the European Union and UK, producer mechanisms and incentives.
responsibility policy and legislation has been applied
to several waste streams including batteries, electrical
waste (WEEE), packaging and certain road vehicles.
E.g. Environmental Permitting Regulations
Legislative 2018 (implements preventative
environmental policy on pollution)
E.g. carbon taxes, landfill tax (examples

Fiscal of polluter pays policies)
E.g. carbon trading schemes such as

Market EU Emissions Trading Scheme
E.g. The Courtauld Commitment 2025 on reducing

Voluntary food and packaging waste from supermarkets
Legislative instruments An example of this type of approach is the UK

Legislative instruments use measures through Government Vehicle Excise duty (VED) (i.e. ‘car tax’).
regulation in order to achieve environmental policy VED is a tax paid by motorists to use their vehicles on
objectives. This is implemented through environmental the road. Between 2001 and 2017, the rates of VED
regulations focused on specific environmental issues. were reformed and linked to the CO2 emission rating
of the vehicle. Those with vehicles with a high CO2
An example of a successful instrument in the EU was emission rating pay a higher rate of VED than those
the setting of emission-reduction targets for new with lower emissions.
cars. Cars account for approximately 12% of EU total
CO2 emissions. The legislation required fleets of new Market-based instruments
cars registered in the EU to emit on average no more Market-based instruments are indirect regulatory
than 130g CO2 per kilometre (g CO2/km) by 2015. Car instruments, which influence actors’ behaviour by
manufacturers unable to meet this limit value in any changing their economic incentive structure – for
year from 2012 faced a tax in the form of an excess example, by putting a price on environmental impacts
emissions premium. By 2021, the fleet average to be such as greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon pricing is a
achieved by all new cars is 95g CO2 per kilometre. good example of a market-based instrument.
Fiscal instruments
Fiscal instruments use taxes or subsidies to provide
an incentive for producers and consumers to move
towards designing, manufacturing and purchasing
more environmentally sustainable products and
services.
An example of a market-based instrument is the EU manufacturers in the UK – The British Retail Consortium
Emissions Trading Scheme. This is the world’s biggest and the Food and Drink Federation are also aligned
greenhouse gas trading programme – covering 45% with its principles.
of EU greenhouse gas emissions and includes 11,000
heavy energy-using industries. International environmental agreements
The scheme is a cap-and-trade arrangement, whereby The international community can have a significant
large emitters of greenhouse gases (e.g. energy- influence over national environmental law, particularly
generating companies and manufacturers of cement, through the work of the United Nations (UN) and
fertiliser etc.) receive or buy allowances that limit their World Health Organisation (WHO). Agreements
emissions. between three or more states are known as multilateral
environmental agreements, while agreements between
Any surplus allowances are traded on an open market, two states are known as bilateral agreements.
where companies can buy or sell allowances as
required (subject to availability). At the end of each Most agreements are legally binding on countries, once
year, the company must surrender enough emission ratified. Individual states’ responsibilities can vary under
allowances to cover their emissions, or they will the respective agreements. Each member state ratifying
receive a financial penalty. Over time, the number of the agreement will introduce national legislation to meet
allowances available is reduced, therefore providing an the requirements.
incentive for these companies to look at ways they can
reduce their GHG emissions or face not being able to There are more than 80 international agreements related
buy enough allowances to cover their emissions. to the environment, for example:
• Ramsar Convention (1971) – for the conservation
Voluntary instruments and sustainable use of wetlands. Wetlands provide
Voluntary instruments focus on encouraging companies a wide range of ecosystem services, yet are still in
to adopt voluntary measures to improve their decline.
sustainability and go beyond legislative requirements.
• Convention on the International Trade in
Endangered Species in Wild Flora and Fauna
An example from the UK of how voluntary instruments
(CITIES) (1973) – this was designed to protect
can be linked to financial instruments is through
endangered plants and animals, and to ensure that
Climate Change Agreements. Under such agreements,
the international trade in specimens of wild animals
organisations voluntarily agree to improve their energy
and plants does not threaten the survival of the
efficiency in return for a reduction in their Climate
species.
Change Levy.
• Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air
Pollution (1979) – this was intended to protect the
Another example is The Courtauld Commitment
human environment against air pollution, and to
which was set up in 2005 as a voluntary commitment
reduce and prevent air pollution.
between grocery manufacturers and distributors in the
UK and the Government. The aims were to improve • Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) –
resource efficiency and carbon emissions associated the Convention focuses on the conservation of
with food packaging. All the large supermarket biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components,
chains have signed up, as have the majority of food and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising
from genetic resources.
• Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the The Paris Agreement was signed in April 2016 and deals
Ozone Layer (1989) – this was designed to protect with GHG emission mitigation, adaptation and finance
the ozone layer by phasing out the production from 2020; it also adopts a pledge and review system
of numerous substances responsible for ozone discussed in earlier meetings and championed by the
depletion. The Protocol dates to the 1985 Vienna USA and China.
Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer,
and has undergone several revisions. As a result, the • A commitment to keep global warming to below
ozone hole over Antarctica has been measured to be 2°C; discussions suggested that a new limit of 1.5°C
slowly recovering. should be established.
• Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary • The Agreement was signed by 177 UNFCCC
Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal members, importantly, the USA and China, which
(1989) – this was designed to reduce the movement jointly represent 40% of global emissions have signed
of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically the Agreement.
to prevent the transfer of hazardous waste from
developed to less-developed countries. The Paris Agreement has been more successful than
• UN Convention to Combat Desertification in those previous international agreements (in terms of the
Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or number of signatories and governments willing to
Desertification, particularly in Africa (1994) – this ratify it) because it had flexibility – signatory nations
was designed to combat desertification and mitigate provided what are known as Nationally Determined
the effects of drought through national action Contributions (NDCs) in which they agree how to meet
programmes. the targets through their own means.
• Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (1997) – see Learner This gives the agreement flexibility and takes into
Note 2. account the needs and capacities of each country.
They are required to report on these and their
• Aarhus Convention (1998) – this focused on access
implementation efforts. A total of 189 countries
to information, public participation in decision-
published their action plans, which will be evaluated
making, and access to justice in environmental
during a first global stocktake in 2023. The Agreement
matters.
includes a ‘ratchet mechanism’ where contributions will
• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
increase over time as new decarbonising technologies
Pollutants (2001) – this was designed to eliminate or
become available and economies change.
restrict the production and use of persistent organic
pollutants.
The Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November
2016, 30 days after the date on which at least 55 parties
UN Paris Agreement on Climate Change to the Convention accounting in total for at least an
The United Nations Framework Convention of Climate estimated 55% of the total global GHG emissions had
Change (UNFCCC) was set up in 1992. Part of this is the deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance,
Conference of Parties (COP) system where signatories approval or accession with the Depositary.
to the Convention negotiate on climate change. COP
21, held in Paris in December 2015, resulted in the Paris You can read more about the individual countries’
Agreement – the first fully global treaty on climate pledges at the NDC registry at unfccc.int/ process/the-
change. Previous agreements such as the Kyoto paris-agreement/nationally-determined-contributions/
Protocol 1997 did not include or were not fully ratified ndc-registry
by certain high-emitting countries.
Key components of the Paris Agreement
Figure 36 – Components of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change
About environmental law Initially, laws were focused on the protection of rights
associated with property and land ownership, which
The purpose of environmental law is to protect or only protected the environment indirectly. More
enhance the environment and thus help to achieve recent laws have been made specifically to avoid
an important element of sustainability. This requires environmental harm, and are now evolving to the
individuals and organisations to take responsibility for management of resources.
their activities. This is achieved by:
• setting environmental limits; Environmental laws are set at international level,
country-level as well as locally, and apply to a wide
• requiring controls to be in place;
range of issues from waste, land, air and water pollution
• imposing levies on activities that cause to more recent issues such as the use of genetically
environmental harm; modified organisms and nanotechnology.
• requiring reporting and monitoring;
• using enforcement mechanisms, such as criminal Environmental legislation commonly comes from national
and civil sanctions, so that consequences are in legislative and executive branches of government. For
place if environmental harm is caused; example, in the UK, statutory law is made by Parliament
• requiring those responsible for harm to pay for the situated in England and also the devolved administrations
clean-up costs and/or provide recourse to those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as
affected. individual government departments.
Legislation can originate from a number of sources Civil law will usually involve one individual suing
including international multilateral agreements, e.g. another individual. The remedy is usually financial
the Montreal Protocol in 1987, which led to the EU compensation for the harm that has occurred so that
Ozone Depleting Substances Regulations. the person is in the position he was before the damage
occurred. Cases in the civil courts have to be proved on
In Europe (including in the UK), a great deal of the ‘balance of probabilities’, which is to a lesser degree
environmental law has come from EU Directives than ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ in the criminal courts.
(legal acts from the European Parliament) which are
implemented as national laws in EU member states, Both civil and criminal law can be applied to the same
e.g. EU WEEE Directive implemented in UK as Waste incident, for example, pollution of a watercourse
Electronic and Electrical Equipment Regulations 2013 may lead to a charge under the Environmental
(in the UK, these still exist post-Brexit as have already Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2018 by
been implemented in UK law). the Environment Agency but users of the river (e.g.
farmers abstracting water for irrigation) may also sue
Environmental law is commonly enforced by a national the polluter for damage caused and the resultant cost
enforcement body and through the criminal justice of rectifying that damage.
system (or increasingly civil penalties).
Example – tort of nuisance – there are two types of civil
Types of environmental law nuisance: private and public:
There are 2 types of environmental law in the UK – • Private nuisance – concerned with the
criminal and civil. unreasonable interference with the legitimate use/
enjoyment of land (e.g. noise or odour). A claim for
Criminal law damages may be made, or an injunction sought. The
Legislation enacted as an Act of Parliament (primary) claimant must normally be the owner or tenant of
or as delegated (secondary) legislation, e.g. statutes the land. The complaint must be reasonable (people
passed by Government departments. Failure to comply who are sensitive have no greater protection).
is an offence, if found guilty in a court, and subject to
• Public nuisance – these must have a significant
punishment. The devolved administration in Scotland,
and direct effect on the general public (including
Wales and Northern Ireland all have the powers to
definable groups). Actions can be taken by an
publish their own primary and secondary legislation.
individual, local authority or the Attorney General.
Civil law
As we will consider later, many civil nuisances have
Law concerned with the rights and duties of individuals
been made into criminal law nuisance under Part III of
or bodies against each other. Non-compliance with
the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
such duties are known as torts (civil wrongs).
Examples of torts in UK legal system relevant to

environment:
• trespass
• nuisance – unlawful interference with a person’s use
or enjoyment of land
• negligence – defendant owes a duty of care which
has been breached and has led to a claim.
Case study – Civil Law – Corby, Northamptonshire, residents vs Corby Borough Council for health impacts
related to decontamination of a steelworks
A recent significant case was the action taken by local residents in Corby against Corby Borough Council.
Between the 1930s and 1981, Corby was a centre of steelmaking on a site extending over 280 hectares.
After the closure of the site, the land was acquired from the British Steel Corporation by Corby Borough
Council who undertook a regeneration project. This involved the excavation of large volumes of soils
contaminated with metals and organic compounds which were then transported by open trucks through
the town centre to a disposal site. A number of children were born in the area between 1986 and 1999 with
deformities of their upper limbs. The mothers of these children had lived close to, or had contact with, this
area during the period of their pregnancies and formed the Corby Litigation Group representing 18 children
born in this period. They claimed that the reclamation works had created toxic dust which had dispersed
in the neighbourhood and that they had been exposed to this dust directly and through the ingestion of
homegrown vegetables.
The Group sued Corby Borough Council for damages relating to personal injury, allegedly caused by the
Council’s negligent handling of the contaminated soils. In 2009, the High Court found Corby Borough
Council liable in public nuisance, negligence and breach of statutory duty, subject to it being established
in later proceedings by individual claimants that their conditions were caused by the defaults identified
in the judgement. The Council never accepted that there was a causal link between their handling of the
contaminated materials and the birth defects, and intended to appeal the decision but, in 2010, following
mediation, a settlement was agreed between the Council and the families before the appeal was heard.
While this was a landmark outcome – a direct causal link between the air pollution and the health effects was
never formally established.
Sources of environmental law UK examples:

There are 2 sources of environmental law in the UK – • Acts of Parliament – Set framework – have to be
common and statute. approved by Parliament and receive Royal Assent,
e.g. Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Statute law is the written down form of the law and is
• Statutory Instruments – provide the detail under the
what Parliament discuss and debate. Before any new
Act – can be enacted by government departments
legislation or law can be introduced, it must follow a
and ministers, e.g. Waste (England and Wales)
very formal process and involves a number of distinct
Regulations 2013.
stages. Failure to conform, if found guilty in court, may
lead to punishment as a criminal offence.
Example of statutory law – Environmental Protection
Act 1990
Common law is generated over time by the decisions

Part II Waste on Land
of judges in cases, and is based on custom and
Handling and treatment of Controlled Waste
practice. Judgement in one case can be used to inform
Duty of Care
the decision in another case where the circumstances
Waste carrier licencing
are similar. These binding decisions are known as
‘Precedents’ – decisions made in a higher court that are
Part IIA Contaminated Land binding in lower courts.
Powers for local authorities to force landowners
and/or original polluters to clean-up contaminated Statute law is a ‘source’ of both criminal (e.g.
sites Environmental Protection Act 1990) and civil law
(e.g. Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations).
Common law is only a source of civil law.
Part III Statutory Nuisances and Clean Air
Defines what is meant by a Statutory Nuisance
Gives local authority EHO enforcement powers to
deal with nuisance issues
Enforcement and penalties
Some consequences of non-compliance with environmental law include:
Liability to civil
Damage ability
Enforcement action, claims (torts) from
Reputational harm to gain new work
e.g. prosecution neighbours and other
and customers
affected parties
Financial cost and staff

Increased insurance
time to rectify a problem Likely disruption to Reduction in morale
premiums or
and implement corrective core business activities of employees
negative insurance
actions, e.g. training etc.
The primary regulators in the UK include the following.
Regulator Jurisdiction Role
The Environment Agency England

Overall role to protect and improve the
environment.
Wales (formed from a merger of
Countryside Council for Wales,
Natural Resources Wales Regulate major industry and waste
Environment Agency Wales and
activities, including large installations,
Forestry Commission Wales)
permitting and associated regulations.
The Northern Ireland Key role in water quality (discharges to
Northern Ireland
Environment Agency surface water).
The Scottish Environment
Scotland
Protection Agency
Regulation of lower-risk activities
Local Authorities UK-wide including discharges to air, nuisance,
noise, etc.
There are a wide range of potential penalties available

The 4 outcomes we want to achieve are to:
to enforcement bodies for breaches of environmental
• stop illegal activity from occurring or continuing;
legislation, or if environmental harm is caused. This
• put right environmental harm or damage,
includes traditional criminal sanctions such as custodial
also known as restoration or remediation;
sentences (prison) and fines (as dictated by the relevant
• bring illegal activity under regulatory control,
regulations), but also include a wide range of other
and so in compliance with the law;
enforcement mechanisms.
• punish an offender and deter future
offending by the offender and others.
Most countries have an enforcement body(ies) for
statutory environmental law – with focus on prevention,
To get the best outcome for the environment and
deterrence, remediation and where necessary
for people, we will use the full range of enforcement
prosecution. Guidance and help are usually the first
and sanctioning options available to us.
priority!
Criminal prosecution is only used for the most serious factors are then considered to determine the level of
offences, or where repeat offences have been carried the fine. In the case of the £1 million starting point,
out despite intervention from the regulator. The types the range extends from £450,000 to £3 million. If
of sanctions which can be imposed include: a company has in place an effective environmental
• Fixed penalty notice: usually a fine, the level of which management system, this would be considered to be
is set by statute. an important mitigating factor.
• Formal caution: this precedes a prosecution and is

The Environmental Sentencing Guidelines also
kept on an organisation’s record. It can be referred to
contain a section for individuals with penalties for
later if there is a re-offence.
environmental offences including custodial sentences,
• Prosecution: takes a variety of forms and can include
community service orders and different levels of fines.
imprisonment for the most serious offences.
Individual in this context could be anybody – where
• Orders from the court: these could require the culpability for environmental harm can be assigned to
offender to undertake remedial works and to the responsibility of a particular person.
cover the Environment Agency’s costs for taking
the prosecution to court. This could also include Civil sanctions
recovery under Proceeds of Crime procedures. Civil sanctions are available in England and Scotland
as a remedy for non-compliance and are intended to
The Environment Agency (and devolved equivalents) provide a more flexible approach to enforcement, in
are increasingly using new enforcement powers called line with the severity of the offence.
Civil Sanctions which do not involve using the court
system – these are described below. There are a number of different types of civil sanctions
available, and those that apply will depend on the
Environmental Sentencing Guidelines (UK) offence. One option is for the offender to agree to put
New guidelines came into force in 2014 intended to something right in the knowledge that failing to do
provide greater clarity over the levels of fines set for so will result in prosecution. This kind of agreement is
several offences relating to waste and illegal discharges to known as an undertaking and includes:
water, air and land. The tariff-based system sets a starting
• Enforcement undertakings. Where an offence has
point for the fine which is related to 3 criteria:
been committed, the offender makes a voluntary
• size of the company as determined by turnover offer to restore or remediate any damage caused,
(micro (< £2 million); small (£2 million – £10 million); and will usually require steps to ensure future
medium (£10 million to £50 million) and large (£50 compliance such as long-term investment in an
million and over)); environmental management system, and also benefit
• culpability of the organisation (deliberate, reckless, to anyone affected by the offence or equivalent
negligent, or low/no culpability); benefit or improvement to the environment.
• harm caused (Category 1 being the highest and • Third-party undertakings, where the offender
Category 4 the lowest). compensates those affected by pollution.
A combination of harm and culpability for each size Other options include the serving of a penalty notice
of company then sets the starting point for a fine. An on the offender, which can be a fixed monetary penalty
example starting point for a large company found guilty notice which imposes a fine of a fixed amount and a
of a Category 1 offence following deliberate action is variable monetary penalty notice, where the regulator
£1 million, but if the company has low or no culpability, determines the size of the fine dependent on the
the starting point is £50,000. Aggravating and mitigating severity of the offence.
In October 2015, the Environment Agency
accepted the largest enforcement undertaking to
date for almost £415,000 from an organic baby
food company, HiPP UK Ltd. HiPP had failed to
meet its requirements to register as a producer
of packaging waste and to recover and recycle
packaging waste under the Producer Responsibility
(Packaging) Regulations for an extended period
between 2004 and 2011. The enforcement
undertaking agreed included payments totalling
£414,960 to three environmental charities (the
Bumblebee Conservation Trust, the Woodland Trust
and the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust).
Non-compliance case study – Thames Water, UK (2017)
This was the highest ever UK fine for environmental offences, £20,361,140 (March 2017).
The case combined 6 separate cases from 2012-2014 was

bought together into one regarding pollution of River Thames
from sewage discharges in the Marlow area. Repeated illegal
discharges caused major environmental damage along 14km of
river and the death of birds, fish and of river life.
The court judgement was that Thames Water was negligent.
Environment Agency investigations show multiple failures from

management disregarding risks identified by their own staff and
failing to react to high-priority alarms used to alert them to the
serious problems.
Costs and fines reflect:
• cost of clean-up
• environmental damage caused
• as a deterrent to future breaches of the law.
“The time has now come for the courts to make clear that very large organisations
… really must bring about the reforms and improvements for which they say they are
striving because if they do not, the sentences passed upon them for environmental
offences will be sufficiently severe to have a significant impact on their finances.”
Judge Bright QC
Non-compliance case study – Bellway Homes, Woolwich, UK (2020)
This was the highest ever UK fine for wildlife offence, £600,000.
Bellway Homes also made voluntary donation of £20,000 to Bat Conservation

Trust.
The presence of Soprano Pipistrelle bats had been documented at a housing

development site in Woolwich, London, in 2017 and Bellway Homes had been
notified in planning documents that if they wished to carry out work, they
would need to first obtain the appropriate mitigation and a Natural England
European Protected Species licence.
Bellway Homes commenced demolition works without this licence.
Managing compliance A compliance register should be more than just a
list of applicable laws but should also include an
Managing compliance and having systems in place interpretation of why that law is applicable, how
to respond to non-compliance are critical areas for compliance is managed and who is responsible. Typical
organisations. One way to manage compliance is fields include:
conducting an evaluation of compliance, which is a • Name of requirement
requirement of most management systems. Certified • Why it is applicable
organisations can include this evaluation in their
• How it is managed
internal audit schedule.
• Who is responsible?
Typically, managing compliance includes identifying
compliance obligations (including legal and non-legal A key advantage of this approach is that it can be
requirements), and having a clear understanding of how readily adapted as audit criteria.
the legislation applies (directly and indirectly). This can
be used then as audit criteria to determine the extent of Staying up-to date with environmental legal
compliance. requirements
Remember, compliance is a dynamic area and subject
An evaluation of compliance needs to use auditing to frequent changes. It is likely since this course was
principles such as identifying and sampling the developed there will have been further legislation
appropriate objective evidence to determine published or changes/updates to existing legislation.
compliance. All compliance obligations should be
included in this evaluation. Sources for keeping updated include:
• government websites, for example, www.gov.uk
The frequency of the evaluation should be based in the United Kingdom has got guidance for most
on the organisation’s perception of the risk of not significant environmental legal requirements. In
complying, and/or the potential seriousness as a result Scotland and Northern Ireland, there is a resource
of not complying. known as Net Regs focusing specifically on
environmental guidance for business – www.netregs.
Compliance registers org.uk/
A compliance register is a logical way of recording • IEMA resources, e.g. Transform Magazine
compliance requirements – and can be developed in a • company legal advisors
variety of ways – typically in a spreadsheet or database
• legal subscription services
format.
• environmental consultants.
About Environmental Policy Principles (UK)
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/environmental-principles-draft-policy-statement
LSE Grantham Institute – what is the Polluter Pays Principle

www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/what-is-the-polluter-pays-principle
About the Precautionary Principle (EU resources)

ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/precautionary_principle_decision_making_
under_uncertainty_FB18_en.pdf
Zero Waste Scotland’s resources on Extended Producer Responsibility

www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/our-work/extended-producer-responsibility
About the Courtauld Commitment on food and packaging waste

wrap.org.uk/taking-action/food-drink/initiatives/courtauld-commitment-2025
List of international, multilateral, environmental agreement

www.unep.org/gef/multilateral-environmental-agreements
About the UN Paris Agreement on Climate Change

unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement
Paris Agreement Nationally Determined Contribution Register

unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/nationally-determined-contributions-ndcs/nationally-
determined-contributions-ndcs
About UK legislative process

www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/
Environment Agency Enforcement and Sanctions Policy

www.gov.uk/government/publications/environment-agency-enforcement-and-sanctions-policy
The Environmental Sentencing Guidelines

www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Environmental-offences-definitive-guideline-Web.pdf
Civil Sanctions used by the Environment Agency

www.gov.uk/government/publications/environment-agencys-use-of-civil-sanctions
Net Regs – Environmental guidance for businesses in Scotland and Northern Ireland
www.netregs.org.uk/
IEMA Managing Compliance with Environmental and Human Rights Laws in Organisations
www.iema.net/resources/event-reports/2018/07/25/managing-compliance-with-environmental-and-human-
rights-laws-in-organisations
Guidance on UK environmental legislation

www.gov.uk
Text of UK legislation
legislation.gov.uk
Part 6 – Key Environmental
Legislation
Overview This section is broken into large topic areas for clarity,
although it should be noted that there is considerable
All businesses are covered by some environmental overlap between some sections, and there are
legislation. It is extremely important that companies have variations across jurisdictions.
a system in place to identify applicable legislation, so
that they can ensure the requirements are met as well as This section focuses on legislation in the United
identifying the requirements of pending legislation. Kingdom – there are likely to be equivalent topics in
other jurisdictions.
UK – Some key Acts of Parliament
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

Protection for habitats, species and geographical areas
Control of Pollution Act 1974

Control of noise from construction sites
Environmental Protection Act 1990

Legal framework for waste, pollution control, contaminated land and
statutory nuisance
Climate Change Act 2008

Improve carbon management and the transition to a low-carbon
economy
Commits UK to be net-zero carbon by 2050 through setting of 5-yearly
carbon budgets
Environment Bill (likely to become Environment Act 2021)

A new framework for environmental governance and to meet the
ambitions of the Government’s 25-year environment plan
88 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 6 – Key Environmental Legislation
Climate change and energy legislation
DIRECTION OF TRAVEL • UN Paris Agreement 2015 (described in Part 5)

• Climate Change Act 2008 – 100% reduction in UK greenhouse gases
compared to 1990 baseline
INFORMATION AND • Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) – (described in Part 8)
ASSESSMENT BASED • Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS)
• Energy Performance Certificates and Display Energy Certificates
FISCAL AND MARKET- • Climate Change Levy
BASED INSTRUMENTS • EU Emissions Trading Scheme (described in Part 5)
F-GAS REGULATION • Fluorinated Greenhouse Gas Regulations (e.g. refrigerants)
Climate Change Act 2008 Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS)

100% reduction in UK greenhouse gas emissions Legal requirement for all large companies: above 250
by 2050 compared to 1990 baseline – the aim is to employees or which have an annual turnover of 50m
‘decarbonise the economy’ from energy supply to Euros) to assist with reducing energy consumption and
manufacturing transport. carbon footprint.
• 5-yearly carbon budgets covering all sectors of • Measure and report on energy use, carry out energy
economy, e.g. 3rd Carbon Budget – 2019-2022. audits and present costed recommendations (to
• The carbon budgets translate the ‘well-below 2°C board level) on driving down energy consumption.
and pursuing 1.5°C’ global temperature target • Buildings, processes and transport – alternative route
and equity principles in the United Nations Paris to compliance is ISO 50001 (Energy Management
Agreement. Systems Standard).
• Engage ESOS Lead Assessor (e.g. from IEMA’s Lead
ESOS Assessor Register).
• Next compliance deadline 2023.
Success factors: take it seriously (not just a tick

box) and use an experienced ESOS Lead Assessor
(e.g. IEMA ESOS Register). If done well, findings and
recommendations are highly useful – utilise them.
Figure 37 – The first 3 carbon budgets set under the

Climate Change Act 2008
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 6 – Key Environmental Legislation 89
Energy Performance Certificates and Display Energy F-Gas Legislation
Certificates F-Gases (fluorinated gases) are potent greenhouse
gases – 3 % of global greenhouse gas emissions
Legal requirements from the Energy Performance in (expressed in tonnes CO2 equivalent). They are used as
Building Regulations. refrigerants (e.g. air-con, chiller plants, vehicles), foam
blowing agents and circuit board manufacture.
Energy Performance Certificate – EPC: a building’s
energy efficiency as designed Emissions of F-Gases are rising strongly – doubled in
the EU from 1990 to 2014. International agreement
• required when a building is bought, sold or rented;
to cut emissions by two-thirds by 2030 –– part of
• valid for 10 years;
the Montreal Protocol (originally for ozone depleting
• illegal to rent property rated F or below. substances).
Display Energy Certificate DEC: DEC: a building’s Existing legislation UK – Fluorinated Greenhouse Gas
energy efficiency in practice Regulations 2015:
• required only on large public sector buildings; • Maintain F-Gas register showing location and types
of refrigerants.
• annually renewed;
• Make sure air-conditioning engineers have
• rating based upon utility data and floor area.
accredited qualifications (e.g. City and Guilds).
The same legislation also requires 5-yearly energy • Ensure F-Gases never leak to atmosphere.
efficiency inspections of air-conditioning systems rated • Carry out leak tests on air conditioning systems and
above 12 Kilowatts. chiller plant – frequency determined by GWP of
refrigerant and volume in situ.
Certain F-Gases are already banned, e.g. R22.
WASTE Waste (England and Wales) Regulations, Environmental

HANDLING AND Permitting Regulations, Hazardous Waste Regulations
TREATMENT Duty of Care
• Waste Hierarchy
• Waste treatment
rules to prevent pollution from occurring during waste treatment
• Hazardous waste
specific rules to prevent mixing and ensure segregation of hazardous waste materials
PRODUCER • Packaging
RESPONSIBILITY Producer Responsibility (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2017
INSTRUMENTS for businesses handling more than 50 tonnes per year – recover and recycle – directly
or via compliance scheme
• Electrical waste
Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Regulations 2013 – sellers and distributors of
EEE have to take back at end of life and recycle within UK or EU
Similar requirements for end-of-life vehicles and batteries
Waste legislation Waste hierarchy
The Waste Hierarchy is a legal requirement in the UK
A substance/object becomes controlled waste when it and across EU Member States. It originates from the
is discarded: EU Waste Framework Directive and is included in the
Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011. It sets out
‘Waste’ means any substance or object which the an order of preference for waste treatment.
holder discards or intends or is required to discard.
EU Waste Framework Directive
Different countries have interpreted the waste hierarchy Duty of Care

in different ways. For example, in England and Wales Duty of Care is a legal requirement meaning that
it is legal to mix recyclable materials together for organisations are responsible for preventing harm
them to be later segregated into economically viable to people and the environment from waste from
fraction (such as at a Material Recovery Facility). In production to final disposal, no matter who it is passed
Scotland (and most EU states), recyclable waste has to to and including after it has left sites where it was
be segregated at source with separate containers for produced – i.e. even when it is out of direct control of
paper/cardboard, plastics, glass and metals. an organisation.
The waste hierarchy broadly follows an order of Duty of Care should prevent illegal activity of waste
preference of environmental and economic benefits – and promote its responsible management, for example
after all, most forms of waste do have economic value. avoiding:
• fly-tipping;
• illegal export, e.g. export of hazardous waste or
electrical/electronic waste to countries where it can
be disposed of cheaply;
• tyre dumping and crime;
• pollution from illegal waste sites.
It is usually straightforward to manage day-to-day

waste – risks often occur with non-routine waste (e.g.
construction projects) and contractor organisations.
This means that waste must be stored in a way which What must waste transfer notes contain?
does not cause pollution, ensure whoever takes it
away has a Waste Carriers Licence, and that the waste • Description of the waste.
is being treated at a site with an Environmental Permit • How the waste is contained.
or a Waste Exemption. All of these are issued by the • The quantity.
Environment Agency (or the devolved equivalent). • Place, date and time of transfer.
Transfers of waste must be accompanied by a Waste • Name and address of both parties.
Transfer Note or Hazardous Waste Consignment Note. • Permit, licence / exemption details of the person
Many organisations audit their waste contractors and receiving the waste.
disposal sites to make sure they are not presenting Duty • Appropriate European Waste Catalogue (EWC)
of Care liabilities. code.
• Declaration that the waste management
hierarchy has been applied.
• The 2007 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
code of the organisation transferring the waste.
• The waste transfer note must be retained for at
least 2 years.
Storage on site
• Correct segregation! E.g. not mixing food with
recycling, not mixing electrical waste with
general waste etc.
• Preventing pollution, e.g. spillages, wind/weather,
security issues
• Only store for 12 months max
Transfer off site

• Waste Transfer Note or Hazardous Waste
Consignment Note
• Waste Carriers License
Treatment and/or disposal

• License from Environment Agency or equivalent
(Environmental Permit or Waste Exemption)
Figure 38 – Duty of Care – key requirements
The future – Circular Economy Package (UK) Includes:
The revised legislative framework on the circular • by 2035 – commitment to recycle 65% of municipal
economy identifies clear steps for the reduction of waste, reduce landfill <10%;
waste and establishes an ambitious and credible long-
• greater emphasis on waste prevention/reduction;
term path for waste management and recycling and
• waste separately collected for preparing for reuse or
aligns elements with the EU Circular Economy Package
recycling not to be incinerated.
post-Brexit.
Pollution and nuisance legislation
POLLUTION • Environmental Permits

PREVENTION integrated pollution prevention and control – described in Part 4
(KEY LEGAL • Discharge consents
REQUIREMENTS specifically for surface water discharge – from the Environment Agency –
DESCRIBED IN PART 4) described in Part 4
• Trade Effluent Consents
for discharge to sewer system
• Air Quality Limit Values
air quality and public health – described in Part 4
• Oil storage – Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) Regulations 2001 – described in
Part 4
POLLUTION DAMAGE, • Environmental Damage Regulations
REMEDIATION cover remediation when environmental harm has occurred
NUISANCE • Environmental Protection Act 1990
The important legal requirements for pollution include Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control and
Environmental Permits which are discussed in Part 4 of this course.
Figure 39 – Example of legal requirements for discharge of water pollutants
Statutory nuisance
Nuisance is something that can affect people’s quality
of life – for example disrupting sleep or affecting
mental health. Nuisance can be a challenge to manage
as it can be subjective.
The law regarding statutory nuisance is set out in Part Under the EPA, local authorities have a duty to
III to the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA), and periodically inspect their area and to investigate any
examples of statutory nuisance include: complaint of a statutory nuisance. If a local authority
• any premises in such a state as to be prejudicial to is satisfied with the existence of a statutory nuisance,
health or a nuisance; the normal procedure is to serve an Abatement Notice
either on an individual or the owner of the premises
• smoke emitted from premises so as to be prejudicial
from where the nuisance arises. An Abatement Notice
to health or a nuisance;
is a legal document and must be complied with. It can
• fumes or gases emitted from premises so as to be
place restrictions on your operations and specify steps
prejudicial to health or a nuisance;
you need to take to restrict or remove the nuisance.
• any dust, steam, smell or other effluvia arising on
industrial, trade or business premises and being Managing nuisance risk
prejudicial to health or a nuisance; It is important for organisations to understand the
• any accumulation or deposit which is prejudicial to location of potentially sensitive receptors and whether
health or a nuisance; their business activities have the potential to cause
• any animal kept in such a place or manner as to be a statutory nuisance. Many relatively straightforward
prejudicial to health or a nuisance; techniques can be implemented to minimise the
potential for statutory nuisance to occur. All businesses
• any insects emanating from relevant industrial, trade
will carry out activities that could give rise to statutory
or business premises and being prejudicial to health
nuisance, such as noise or light emissions, for example.
or a nuisance;
The key issue is to conduct an assessment identifying
• artificial light emitted from premises so as to be
all sources of potential statutory nuisance and then
prejudicial to health or a nuisance;
assess whether any source could realistically cause a
• noise emitted from premises so as to be prejudicial nuisance.
to health or a nuisance;
• noise that is prejudicial to health or a nuisance and Remember that some forms of nuisance, such as noise
is emitted from or caused by a vehicle, machinery or and light, for example, are likely to be more problematic
equipment in a street; during the evening and throughout the night. It is
• and/or any other matter declared by any enactment therefore important to undertake an assessment at
to be a statutory nuisance. regular intervals. Ways to manage nuisance:
• communicating with the affected party – being
Additional requirements relating to minimising accessible;
construction noise at night-time is within the Control of • being responsive to complaints;
Pollution Act 1974.
• using frameworks, e.g. Considerate Constructors
Scheme.
Conservation legislation
CONSERVATION • Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981:

LEGISLATION main conservation framework for countryside management and protected species
• Protected areas legislation (various):
legislation setting out legal status of Sites of Special Scientific Interests, National Nature
Reserves, National Parks and others – usually enforced through the planning system
• Conservation of Species and Habitat Regulations 2010:
implement parts of European conservation directives including additional protections
on certain animal and plant species
• Protected Species Licensing:
system for protecting plant, animal and bird species from development (for example
protected by Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981)
• Biodiversity Net Gain:
upcoming legal requirement (in Environment Bill 2021) for increasing biodiversity on
major construction projects after vs before – some off-site solutions allowed
The threat to biodiversity is one that is unprecedented The Act covers a wide
in recent times. Accelerating, massive biodiversity loss range of species,
globally, particularly over the past 50 years, has meant including all bats, reptiles
there is an urgent requirement for coordinated action. and amphibians, and
The international nature of biodiversity loss, e.g. habitats some mammals, fish and
in certain countries are destroyed for resource uses for butterfly species which
other countries – means that concerted global action is are listed in its annexes.
the only way forward.
All bat species, all dormice species, many species of
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 butterfly, snail and newt, and otters, hedgehogs and
The Wildlife and Countryside Act is a vital piece of badgers are covered by the Act. All wild bird species,
conservation legislation in the UK. The legislation with only a few exemptions under the Act, are also
makes provisions for the protection of certain species. protected, plus many plant species, including several
The Act transposes the requirements of the EU Birds types of mosses and lichens.
Directive by making it an offence to intentionally kill,
injure or take any wild birds or their eggs or nests. Protected species licensing
Licences can be obtained from Natural England (or
The picking, uprooting, damaging or trading of listed devolved equivalents), which allows certain prohibited
plant species is also prohibited by the Act. In addition, activities in the interest of such things as disease
it is an offence to intentionally kill, injure, take, possess prevention or public interest.
or trade in certain
wild animals, and The protected species licensing system as well
it is prohibited to as protecting listed species from the Wildlife and
interfere with places Countryside Act also includes later requirements from
used for their shelter the EU Habitats Directive and other legislation.
or protection.
A developer seeking a licence must demonstrate that • Avoid
the activity is justified, that there is no satisfactory Develop an alternative site or use technology to
alternative to infringing the protection, and that they eliminate the impacts. This is the most common and
will take measures, such as trapping and relocating preferable approach to avoiding harm.
specimens or improving habitats. The traditional • Mitigate
approach with protected species is: avoid, mitigate, Take actions during design, construction and
compensate. operation to minimise or eliminate impacts.
• Compensate
Providing a compensation site elsewhere of
comparable habitat to relocate the amphibians to.
Other legislative requirements
Environment (and wider sustainability) law is a very wide

subject – and this section is far from exhaustive – some
additional legal requirements are summarised below:
CONTAMINATED LAND • The Environmental Protection Act 1990 sets out the legal requirements on who
is responsible for the clean-up of contaminated land with priority being the
polluter followed by the current landowner.
• Local Authorities have the powers to enforce contaminated land remediation.
PLANNING • The planning system has significant synergies with the environment as a result of
the Town and Country Planning Act and more recently in the Planning Act.
• New developments have to consider their potential environmental impact,
depending on their location and activities. Large developments may be required
to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment (see Part 7 of this course).
HAZARDOUS • Include general regimes such as COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to
SUBSTANCES Health) for all harmful substances as well as COMAH (Control of Major Accident
Hazards) for the storage of large amounts of dangerous substances, ADR for
the transport of dangerous substances and RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous
Substances) and REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction
of Chemicals) for the manufacturing of hazardous substances.
Guidance on UK environmental legislation
www.gov.uk
Text of UK legislation
legislation.gov.uk
LSE Grantham Institute – About the Climate Change Act

www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/what-is-the-2008-climate-change-act/
About the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme

www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-savings-opportunity-scheme-esos
About statutory nuisance and how this is managed by local authorities

www.gov.uk/guidance/statutory-nuisances-how-councils-deal-with-complaints
Waste Duty of Care – Code of Practice

www.gov.uk/government/publications/waste-duty-of-care-code-of-practice
Requirements for hazardous waste

www.gov.uk/dispose-hazardous-waste
UK Circular Economy Package

www.gov.uk/government/publications/circular-economy-package-policy-statement/circular-economy-package-
policy-statement
About protected species licensing

www.gov.uk/guidance/wildlife-licences
UK producer responsibility regulations and their requirements

www.gov.uk/government/collections/producer-responsibility-regulations
Tools and Assessment
There are a wide variety of tools for measuring and environmental performance and reviews past and
improving environmental performance – some required present environmental performance to provide a
legally (such as Environmental Impact Assessment) and baseline. The purpose of the Environmental Review
some voluntary. is to identify environmental issues related to the
organisation and how that organisation performs.
Environmental Management Systems including ISO
14001 are discussed in their own section in Part 9 You would typically undertake such a review
as are Environmental Audits in Part 10. Another tool, when starting an improvement programme for an
carbon footprinting is discussed in Part 8. organisation or when planning to implement an ISO
14001 management system.
Environmental Review
Depending on context, a review might also take
Also referred to as an Initial Environmental Review, in social issues such as equality and diversity and
is a systematic approach to understanding current stakeholder mapping.
Identifies risks and

opportunities from Can be the foundation
Develops an action
environmental issues, Assesses risks under on which to develop
plan and objectives
and associated normal, abnormal and an Environmental
(and underlying plans
legislative and/ emergency conditions Management System
and programmes)
or stakeholder (such as ISO 14001)
requirements
An Environmental Review should provide valuable • a document review to include environmental

management information in relation to environmental policies, procedures and systems;
issues on-site and can be used to signpost areas of • generation of a baseline of the organisation’s
concern or where further investigation is required. The environmental performance – this can be included
review can be carried out by internal or external staff, as if data are available. This also can be benchmarked
long as they are competent to do so. against other similar organisations;
• estimation of the resources required to implement
The review involves the following:
an EMS such as ISO 14001 (if appropriate).
• identifying all the business locations and activities
conducted; Top management commitment is required prior to
• a site tour of internal and external areas to determine undertaking the review, because resources will be
the environmental aspects and impacts, compliance required. The person(s) conducting the review must be
obligations as well as the site-specific issues which able to explain the purpose and benefits.
determine the potential risk level – for example, the
location of sensitive receptors, local issues such
as planning restrictions, smoke control area and
air quality management area status, understanding
the site inputs, throughputs and outputs covering
resources, processes and discharges;
98 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 7 – Environmental Tools and Assessment
The resources required to complete an Initial or requirement for environmental permits, licences,
Environmental Review are similar to that for auditing authorisations, registration exemptions and/or
(see Part 10). However, the process of completing the exclusions;
review is different due to the unknown nature of the • past, present and future activities under normal,
organisation’s impacts and potential immaturity of abnormal or emergency scenarios;
systems and/or processes. Key considerations include:
• methods for collecting environmental data –
observations, documentation (processes and
• historical or ongoing compliance issues or procedures), monitoring equipment and/or
complaints; qualitative discussions with site staff;
• the collection of background information on the • methods for identifying and evaluating the
company – this will vary depending on the type of significance of aspects and impacts (see next
organisation (air, water, land emissions); but research heading).
should be completed to determine the existence
Environmental aspects
What are environmental aspects?
Environmental aspect Environmental impact
‘…An element of an organisation’s activities, ‘…Any change to the environment, whether adverse
products and services which can interact with the or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from an
environment.’ organisation’s activities, products or services.’
An environmental aspect assessment is a tool within Organisations are required to determine the
an EMS and a way of identifying and prioritising the environmental aspects of its activities, products
management of environmental risk. It is a requirement and services that it can control and those that it
of organisations operating an EMS (including ISO can influence, and their associated environmental
14001:2015). impacts, considering a life-cycle perspective.’
ISO 14001:2015
ASPECT: electricity use in an office or warehouse IMPACT: resource depletion, air pollution,
greenhouse gas emission(s)
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 7 – Environmental Tools and Assessment 99
The relationship between environmental aspects and Assessing environmental aspects
impacts is one of cause and effect. Aspects can be determined by understanding the
activities and the inputs (energy, water, raw materials)
An environmental aspect can cause environmental and outputs (emissions to air, land, water, generation of
impacts (which can be positive or negative). A waste) from those activities.
significant environmental aspect is one that has, or can
have, one or more significant environmental impacts. Aspects should be assessed under normal, abnormal
Significant environmental aspects are determined by and emergency scenarios, and include direct activities
the organisation applying self-imposed criteria. from their processes as well as indirect activities
that can be controlled and/or influenced such as
contractors, supplier or customer activities (taking a life-
cycle perspective) – so this would include boundary of
influence as shown in the diagram.
Figure 40 – Environmental aspects – direct control and influence
The process for identifying and evaluating aspects A common approach is to:
should be documented, and ultimately should inform 1. Start with determining the principal activities of an
the organisation of its key risk areas. organisation.
2. Identify the aspects and impacts of each activity
There is no prescribed approach to recording
(taking a life-cycle perspective, e.g. considering
environmental aspects and different organisations do
supply chain, end of life, other impacts out of direct
it in different ways. ISO 14001:2015 is not prescriptive
control).
on methodology (it just says you need to determine
3. Develop and complete the significance evaluation
aspects and impacts – it does not say how). There are
(see next heading).
many methods for undertaking an aspect assessment.
Considering boundary of control and boundary of influence (see diagram) can be helpful when mapping
environmental aspects – remember ISO 14001:2015 requires a life-cycle perspective.
Environmental aspects would typically be recorded in an Aspects Register:
ACTIVITY ASPECT ASPECT TYPE IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT
Electricity use for Use of grid electricity Operational Carbon footprint, natural resource depletion
HVAC systems
Gas use in boilers for Use of grid gas Operational Carbon footprint, natural resource depletion
heating and DHWS
Use of combined heat Use of grid gas Operational Carbon footprint, natural resource depletion
and power plant
Electricity use for Use of grid electricity Operational Carbon footprint, natural resource depletion
lighting
Electricity use for ICT Use of grid electricity Operational Carbon footprint, natural resource depletion
and small power
Back-up generator Use of gas oil, Operational Water pollution from gas oil storage, local air
storage of gas oil quality impact when run
What this aspects register is missing is an assessment of significance of the aspects and their environmental
impact as well as potential control measures and legal requirements.
The Learner Workbook accompanying this course has a useful practical exercise on environmental aspects.
Determining significance of environmental aspects are used to generate a score. Those with a score above
It is important to determine the significance of aspects a certain number (e.g. 9 or more) are deemed to be
for their future management and prioritisation. There significant.
is no prescribed formula for completing an aspect
evaluation. The key is to devise a method and apply it Other factors can be added to the scoring, depending
consistently. Qualitative, quantitative or a combination on the context of the organisation, for example:
of approaches can be used. • compliance obligations – higher scores for if there
are compliance obligations linked to the aspect or
The most common approach is to apply quantitative associated impact;
scoring, similar to health and safety risk assessments,
• ability to control or influence – when looking at the
whereby a combination of the likelihood (e.g. ranging
life-cycle perspective, etc.
from 1–5) and consequence (e.g. ranging from 1–10)
Scoring the likelihood of aspects
FREQUENT At least once a month 5
OCCASIONAL At least once a year 4
FORSEEABLE An incident which is reasonably foreseeable 3
POSSIBLE An incident which may occur 2
UNLIKELY An incident which is extremely unlikely to occur 1
Scoring the consequence of aspects
VERY HIGH Causes substantial environmental damage 10

Causes a breach of legislation and/or
Substantial potential to increase eco-efficiency and/or
Causes complaints or subject of serious concern
HIGH High environmental impact and/or 7

Likely to cause future breach of legislation and/or
Likely to increase eco-efficiency and/or
Likely to cause complaints or become a subject of serious concern to stakeholders
MODERATE Medium environmental impact and/or 5

Small potential to cause a breach of environment legislation
Small potential to increase eco-efficiency
Small potential to cause complaints or concerns to stakeholders
SLIGHT Slight environmental impact 3

Controlled by legislation but unlikely to cause a breach and/or
Unlikely to increase eco-efficiency
Unlikely to cause complaints or concern to stakeholders
NEGLIGIBLE Negligible environmental impact 1

Not controlled by legislation
No opportunities for increasing eco-efficiency
No risk of complaints or concern to stakeholders
Life-cycle thinking and life-cycle assessment Life-cycle thinking highlights the links between
economic, social and environmental dimensions
A life-cycle is defined as consecutive and through the entire value chain
interlinked stages of a product (or service) system,
from raw material acquisition or generation Life-cycle assessment
from natural resources to final disposal. Life-cycle assessment/analysis (LCA) is a systematic
ISO 14001:2015 methodology for compiling and examining the inputs
and outputs of materials and energy and the associated
Life-cycle stages include the acquisition of raw environmental impacts to the functioning of a product
materials, design, production, transportation and or service system throughout its life-cycle.
delivery, use, end-of-life treatment and final disposal.
Life-cycle assessment – usually using a prescribed
As consumers become more environmentally aware standard such as ISO 14044 or ISO 14025 – is a
and interested in the provenance of the goods and commonly used tool to quantify environmental impacts
services they buy, increasing emphasis and thought around the life-cycle of a product and is usually limited
has to be given, by organisations, to the way in which to a single product or for comparing products (or
products and services are manufactured, so that their product types).
impact on the environment is minimised and managed.
There are other drivers too – understanding hotspots This includes extraction of raw materials; the
in product life-cycles identifies opportunities to reduce processing, manufacturing and fabrication of the
pollution, energy use and increase efficiency. product; the transportation or distribution of the
product to the consumer; the use of the product by the
Life-cycle thinking consumer; and the disposal or recovery of the product
Life-cycle thinking (LCT) is a powerful tool used to after its useful life. The international standard ISO 14044
promote sustainable development. Life-cycle thinking Environmental Management Life-cycle Assessment
goes beyond looking upstream at the supply chain and is a commonly used standard as is ISO 14025
manufacturing process, but also considers downstream Environmental Labels and Declarations – which is used
at what happens to a product once it is made and sold for life-cycle assessment used in product labelling.
and is disposed of.
Life-cycle thinking is the name given to the approach

that goes beyond the traditional focus on production
and manufacturing processes, to include the
environmental, social and economic impacts of a
product over its entire life-cycle.
Life-cycle thinking helps organisations take a holistic

picture of an entire product or activity system (e.g.
cradle to grave) and includes the environmental (and
frequently social and economic impacts of a product
or service) over its entire life-cycle. The aim is to reduce
a product’s resource use and emissions as well as
improve socio-economic performance throughout its
life-cycle.
Life-cycle assessment includes 4 stages:
1. Initiation of goal and scope – the boundaries of 3. Impact assessment – a categorisation and
what is being included (i.e. making sure the entire evaluation of the impacts identified
life-cycle is captured) 4. Interpretation – the generation of results and their
2. Inventory – a list of the various environmental interpretation. This stage is also likely to reveal areas
impacts – or those relevant to the assessment for improvement and focus.
Life-cycle assessment can be

used for comparing products
or functions, e.g. what is
better environmentally, hand-
dryers or paper towels?
Life-cycle assessment can be used for making

design choices, e.g. in car design – is the use of
lightweight alloys, which save on fuel efficiency,
worthwhile even if they mean bigger environmental
impacts from mining and processing compared to
standard steel?
Life-cycle assessment can be used for producing

Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) –
an EPD provides technical information about the
environmental impact of a product at different
life-cycle stages and is externally verified. EPDs are
available for many products but have particular
uptake in the construction industry where they
form part of schemes like BREEAM (Building
Research Establishment Environmental Assessment
Method).
CASE STUDY – Levi’s Jeans9 The findings established that consumer care and
cotton production were still the most significant
Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) conducted the apparel impact areas.
industry’s first LCA study in 2007 to assess the entire
life-cycle impact of a core set of products. The study General findings:
focussed primarily on the company’s US operations • Water consumption: Fibre production,
and established that the greatest water and energy predominantly cotton, contributes
impact was in two areas: cotton cultivation and significantly to water consumption.
consumer care. • Climate change: Consumer care and fabric
production are the most significant phases
Since then, LS&Co. has made progress, addressing for climate change impact and energy.
areas within its control, leading to more than one • Expanded scope: By expanding its scope to
billion litres of water saved to date through the Levi’s® include the leading cotton-producing countries,
Water<Less TM
process and implementation of the it has seen the water consumption from cotton
apparel industry’s first water recycle/reuse standard in cultivation increase to 68% of the total impact.
its supply chain. The company has also taken steps to
reduce the environmental impact of its products in the Consumer use findings:
areas outside its direct control. This includes educating • Washing every 10 times a product is
consumers through its Care Tag for the Planet initiative worn instead of every 2 times reduces
that encourages consumers to adopt care methods energy use, climate change impact
that use less energy and water. and water intake by up to 80%.
• Consumers in China are leading the pack:
LS&Co. also joined the Better Cotton Initiative® to when it comes to laundering their jeans,
invest in cotton that uses less water and chemicals and they mostly wash in cold water and air dry.
improves farmer livelihoods. • American consumers had the highest
water intake and use of non-renewable
To reduce its global impact, LS&Co. conducted energy. The good news is that Americans
a new global LCA study to understand consumer more prevalently use cold water.
behaviours by market and cotton agriculture globally. • Consumers in the UK and France mostly air
Using a standard pair of 501 jeans as its product, dry their jeans but they use more hot water
LS&Co. focussed on the major consumer markets than American or Chinese consumers.
that it operates in (USA, China, UK and France) and • Consumers in the USA, UK and France wash
it analysed the following aspects of its products’ life their jeans more frequently than in China.
cycle:
• cotton production
• fabric production
• garment manufacturing
• packaging
• sundries
• transportation and distribution
• consumer care
• end of life.
9. levistrauss.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Full-LCA-Results-Deck-FINAL.pdf
Levi Jean’s Study – Figure – 1.13
The entire life cycle of one pair of Levi’s® 501® jeans equates to:
69 miles driven by the average US car

Climate Change: 33.4kg CO2-e 246 hours of TV on a plasma big-screen
3 days’ worth of one US
Water Consumed: 3,781 litres household’s total water needs
The total amount of phosphorous

Eutrophication: 48.9g PO4-e found in 1,700 tomatoes
Seven people standing with arms
Land Occupation: 12m2/year outstretched, fingertips touching, would
form one side of a square this size
Source: Levi Strauss

goo.gl/4LiFcn
Materials, production and other findings: Its main findings were as follows:
• Fabric assembly, which includes yarn
• When calculated and interpreted
spinning, dyeing, weaving and fabric
correctly, LCAs provide a powerful tool
finishing, had notable contributions
for measuring the environmental profile
related to climate change impacts and
of clothing and for understanding where
non-renewable energy consumption.
the large environmental impacts occur
• Life-cycle stages that had minimal
during an item of clothing’s lifetime.
contribution to impacts include fabric
transport, product transport, packaging, • The data available for clothing LCAs
production wastes, distribution, are scarce and of variable quality. Many
retail and end-of-life waste. studies are based on similar base data or
reliant on older information. The range of
Continuing with the clothing theme, in 2010 a garments studied is also small, as many
report10 was commissioned by MISTRA (the Swedish studies choose similar clothing items.
Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research) • A large variety of textiles are used to make
to identify, review and analyse existing LCAs for clothing; however, LCAs are mainly confined
clothing products. Information was gathered from to garments fabricated from cotton, polyester
publicly available studies and collated to draw and viscose, which are amongst the most
conclusions about the environmental impacts common textiles. As little quantitative data
of clothing life cycles and to provide insight into is available for other/emerging textiles it is
the source of major impacts for different clothing difficult to compare different products. There
types and products. Measuring the size of an is also little data on fibre blends, and studies
item of clothing’s footprint and assessing the are limited to products such as sheets.
major contributors to it, is an important exercise
in understanding the impact of these clothing
items on the environment and to develop ways to
minimise the impacts.
10. www.oakdenehollins.com/media/232/2010_mistra_review_of_life_cycle_assessments_of_clothing.pdf
• Existing LCAs are inconsistent in their have higher ecotoxicity levels. By contrast,
reporting. Varying environmental impacts synthetic fibres require fewer resources
are used and often one or two indicators but have higher energy consumption.
are relied upon, which may ignore
• The impact of the use phase is dominated
significant impacts in other areas.
by energy and water use due to washing
• Functional units chosen for studies can and drying. The assumption for synthetic
vary. Most use a single item of clothing; clothing – that it requires lower washing
however, others use impact per wash, temperatures and is more likely to be hung
packs of clothing or a set weight of dry – means that it should have lower impacts
clothing. These inconsistencies make in this phase; however, not enough data
contrasting similar items problematic. was available to support this assumption.
• Most studies make differing assumptions, • The normal disposal or waste phase
particularly for consumer habits during has little impact overall. However, reuse
the use phase, and no data appears to and recycling can significantly reduce
exist to verify these assumptions. This the impact by extending the lifetime of
variance in the models makes comparison a garment, replacing the production of
between similar studies difficult. a garment or other textile product.
• The two largest contributions to the • In the future, carbon footprinting is

environmental impact arise from the likely to become increasingly prevalent
production and the use phases in the as retailers seek to promote their
life-cycle of clothing. However, other environmental credentials, as evidenced
phases such as transport, retail and end of by some of the studies above.
life also make a significant contribution,
• Marketing tools such as the Carbon
which must be calculated correctly
Product Footprint Label administered by
to ensure the validity of the LCA.
the Carbon Trust is one method of this,
• The impact of the production phase with PAS 2050:2011 (specification for
is most influenced by the textile used. the assessment of the life-cycle GHG
Natural fibres tend to use less energy in emissions of goods and services) often
their production but are more demanding used as the benchmark for these studies.
on other resources such as water and
Sustainable procurement Sustainable procurement is an opportunity for
organisations to better understand their supply chains
What do we mean by sustainable procurement? – as well as being an opportunity to collaborate. Large
organisations have been instrumental in driving better
Sustainable procurement is the process of making sustainability performance in their supply chains.
purchasing decisions that meet an organisation’s
needs for goods and services in a way that benefits Case study – Marks and Spencer Sustainability
not only the organisation but society as a whole, Score Card
while minimising its impact on the environment.
This is achieved by ensuring that the working
conditions of its suppliers’ employees are decent,
the products or services purchased are sustainable,
where possible, and that socio -economic issues,
such as inequality and poverty, are addressed.
ISO 20400 Sustainable Procurement Standard
Research has demonstrated that the most significant

sustainability impacts may lie outside the boundaries of
an organisation and that organisations need to take a
Marks and Spencer (M&S) is a major British retailer
life cycle thinking approach to their business and look
of household items, food products and clothing.
across the whole value chain to see where they are
Although M&S’s own operations have an impact
impacting the environment.
on the environment, its biggest impact comes
through the products it sells and the way in which
Traditionally, procurement has been about getting
those products are used. Rising raw material and
the best quality for the lowest cost. There is a strong
energy costs, availability and costs of labour, as well
argument that sustainability is an element of quality – as
as the costs of managing waste, pose significant
well as being allied to characteristics such as longevity
challenges for M&S’s supply base. At the same
– a proactive approach to sustainability in the supply
time as these challenges arise, customers are
chain reduces risks of environmental harm (e.g. from
increasingly aware of their personal impact on the
toxic pollutants) to human rights issues such as risk of
natural world.
modern slavery. All of these elements provide legal,
reputational and supply disruption risks if not managed Its Sustainability Scorecard initiative seeks to
appropriately: improve performance in the M&S food supply
chain by focusing on tracking and incentivising
A procurement approach can have a huge effect on environmental, human resources, ethical sourcing
your environmental footprint – ask these questions: and lean manufacturing practices. Additionally, the
• ‘Do we really need to buy this?’ – process change programme allows M&S to understand its supply
• ‘Could we rent it instead?’ – contract change chain better. The Sustainability Scorecard helps to
ensure positive trade relationships with employees,
• ‘How much will it cost to run and what will be
suppliers and consumers – a recognised aspect of
the disposal cost when we no longer need it?’ –
the M&S brand.
consider whole-life costs
There have been some legislative drivers for sustainable ISO 14001:2015 has also been a driver for organisations
procurement. For example, in the UK, the Public to adopt sustainability principles in their procurement
Services (Social Value) Act 2021 requires public sector process as it mandates it through its requirements for
procurement to factor in economic, social and life-cycle thinking including in operational procedures.
environmental well-being in connection with public
services contracts. Approaches to sustainable procurement
Sustainable procurement is frequently one of the most
The public sector in the UK has been a big influence on challenging areas for and organisation’s sustainability
this area and has driven an increase in the sustainability strategy since supply chains are often complex and
in procurement for the private sector – particularly with the issues to be considered are extremely wide. For
those organisations doing business with the public example, to give three product/service groups:
sector (for example – see the case study about Balfour
Beatty and Social Value in Part 3).
PRODUCT GROUP KEY SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES LIKELY TO INCLUDE:
Supply of facilities services • Work conditions for contracted facilities staff, e.g. avoiding zero hours
contracts, Living Wage standards etc.
• How the facilities services provider can collaborate with, for example, driving
down carbon emissions from buildings and improving waste management
practices
• Environmental impacts of cleaning products
Supply of concrete for • Embodied carbon of cement and aggregate (greenhouse gas emissions over
construction projects the life-cycle)
• Recycled content
• Greenhouse gas emissions of company delivering concrete
• Longevity/durability
• Quality standards
Supply of computers, screens • Avoiding hazardous materials in the life cycle, e.g. heavy metals, brominated
(and other electrical/electronic flame retardants
equipment) • Energy performance in use
• Longevity – designed in obsolescence
• Return and replace policy – recyclability at end of life etc.
Organisations also differ in the governance of Example – EU Energy labelling
procurement – some may have a centralised
The EU established an energy
procurement function or procurement team others
consumption labelling scheme
might be more decentralized with procurement in
for household appliances. The
different teams.
directive applies to most white
goods, light bulb packaging and
When beginning to implement sustainable
cars when offered for sale or
procurement practices – it is best to focus on those
rent. The EU energy label gives
areas of procurement which present the most
information about the energy
significant risks and opportunities. Key activities include:
efficiency of a product. The label
1. Reviewing key procurement activity (know your
rates products from dark green
supply chain).
(most efficient) to red (least efficient). The label
2. Understanding the most significant areas of spend. also shows total energy consumption and provides
3. Knowing which procurement categories present other information relevant to that product, such as
significant risks and opportunities – so identifying water consumption and noise levels for washing
procurement categories that can enhance machines, and screen size for televisions.
environment/sustainability performance, e.g. facilities
management services, energy management.
Example – Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC)
4. Assessing the level of capability within procurement
teams/functions for sustainability. The FSC logo can be found on
5. Getting buy-in from top management. products which come from forests.
Forests are inspected and certified
6. Developing a policy for communicating to suppliers
against strict standards based
and other stakeholders.
on FSC’s 10 Principles of Forest
Stewardship.
Case study – Product Eco-labels
These inspections are undertaken by independent
There are many labels and declarations of organisations, such as the Soil Association, that
environmental performance. Ecolabels are a are accredited by the FSC. In order to be given
subgroup of environmental labelling, responding FSC certification, a forest must be managed in an
to special criteria of comprehensiveness, environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and
independence and reliability. An eco-label can be economically viable manner. This is what makes
used in procurement processes to help simplify the FSC system unique and ensures that a forest is
sustainability requirements (for example, as a clause well-managed from the protection of indigenous
within a specification). people’s rights to the methods of felling trees.
Forests that meet these strict standards are given
FSC certification and the timber allowed to carry
the FSC label.
ISO 20400 as an approach for sustainable The construction industry has also collaborated on
procurement producing a resource known as the Supply Chain
ISO 20400:2017 Sustainable Procurement is the new Sustainability School – www.supplychainschool.co.uk/
international standard for sustainable procurement and which provides training, guidance and other resources
there are many free resources at www.iso20400.org. on many aspects of procurement from avoiding
The standard provides guidance for any organisation modern slavery risks to understanding social value.
of any size or type that needs to deliver sustainable
outcomes through their supply chains and has had Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
significant uptake amongst a variety of sectors seeking
to implement a structured approach to sustainable Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a decision
procurement. support tool used by environment and sustainability
professionals to ensure that relevant environmental
Components of ISO 20400 include: information is available to a decision-maker (usually
• Procurement fundamentals – concept, principles, a local authority or government department), before
drivers they decide whether to grant consent for a future
development: for example, a major road, large housing
• Policy/strategy – accountability, written policy
estate, industrial facility, power station, etc.
• Organising procurement function – governance for
procurement, training, setting priorities, measuring
Most countries around the world have EIA requirements
performance
enshrined in legislation, generally focused on those
• Process – specifications, contract wording, supplier projects likely to generate significant environmental
selection effects.
The EIA process

Screening of multi-staged consent
Proposal Screening Scoping

Identifying the & initial
Identification need for EIA engagement
Iterations of: Design > Assessment > Environmental

Alteration, Mitigation & Enhancement Statement
Submission and Decision Post Consent

Implement mitigation
Consultation Making & monitor effects
Further information request
Source: The State of EIA Practice in the UK (IEMA, 2011)

www.environmentalistonline.com/article/state-eia-practice-uk
• Screening – checking the plan or programme to • Submission and consultation – the planning
decide if EIA is needed. application is submitted along with the environmental
statement, and then is consulted on with the public
• Scoping – defining the extent of the EIA; initial
and other consultees.
consultation can take place here for opinions on the
scope. • Decision-making – the environmental statement/EIA
report and any supporting information are taken into
• Iterative assessment and design – the environmental
consideration by the relevant authorities as part of the
team works with others in the development team
decision-making process.
to feed in assessment findings and alter the design
to reduce the negative and improve the positive • Monitoring – the development’s actual environmental
environmental consequences of the proposal. impacts are monitored, regarding whether
environmental mitigation measures are both delivered
• Environmental statement/EIA report – a report
and successful in reducing negative effects.
detailing the findings of the assessment is produced,
often including predefined sections (via regulation or
policy) to ensure appropriate and relevant content.
EIA is an effective tool for identifying significant
environmental impacts and considering mitigation early
in the planning process.
Benefits Challenges
Improves environmental outcomes as projects are Ensuring the EIA starts at the right stage of the
designed from the outset to avoid and reduce impacts, project: often, EIAs can start too late, meaning that
while maximising environmental performance environmental impacts may be already embedded in
the project design
Allows better-informed decision-making from the As EIA is project-focused, strategic environmental issues
outset of the project, through the availability of key may be difficult to resolve
environmental information
Involvement of a wide range of stakeholders working Ensuring that the focus is to add value rather than
together allows better solutions to be found becoming simply a procedure to complete (‘tick-box’
exercise)
Potential monetary savings, as key environmental

factors are identified from the design stage – therefore,
there is a lower risk of expensive mitigation measures or
other consent costs later in the project
Croners resources on environmental aspects
app.croneri.co.uk/topics/environmental-aspects-and-impacts/indepth
About Environmental Product Declarations

www.environdec.com/all-about-epds
Life-cycle Initiative – What is life-cycle thinking?

www.lifecycleinitiative.org/starting-life-cycle-thinking/what-is-life-cycle-thinking/
Circular Ecology – What is a life-cycle assessment?

circularecology.com/lca.html
Tetrapak – examples of LCAs of food packaging

www.tetrapak.com/en-gb/sustainability/planet/environmental-impact/a-value-chain-approach/life-cycle-
assessment/lca-examples
ISO 20400 resources on sustainable procurement

www.ISO20400.org
Supply Chain Sustainability School

www.supplychainschool.co.uk
Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply – resources on sustainable procurement

www.cips.org/knowledge/procurement-topics-and-skills/sustainability/sustainable-and-ethical-procurement/
sustainable-procurement/
Social Value Portal – what is social value?

socialvalueportal.com/what-is-social-value/
IEMA’s resources on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

www.iema.net/resources/event-reports/2020/02/13/iema-impact-assessment-guidance
Part 8 – Data and Reporting
Measuring environmental performance Types of data and indicators

There are various types of environmental performance
Why measure environmental performance? indicators depending on what is being measured. These
Measurement and monitoring are essential elements of could cover waste management, energy, emission
environmental management. This allows performance limit values or water quality. Some of these will be set
to be quantified and verified and is also a key in law, and others can be self-imposed or in line with a
requirement of environmental management standards reporting standard or legal requirement – for example,
such as ISO 14001. Key reasons include: using the Global Reporting Initiative (see later in this
section) or required by an Environmental Permit.
To show progress against environmental
objectives and show continual improvement The type of environmental indicators a company
(perhaps as part of an ISO 14001:2015 EMS) chooses will depend on its core business. A typical
office-based business might decide to focus on the
Legal/regulatory requirement amount of waste it generates, the electricity it uses and
e.g. Environmental Permits, Greenhouse Gas the emissions its fleet of company cars generate.
Reporting (e.g. Directors’ Reports, Streamlined
Energy and Carbon Reporting), EU Non- A chemical factory might look at the pollution it causes
Financial Reporting Directive etc. through industrial processes, the number of raw
materials it uses and the energy it uses to operate plant
and machinery.
Signatory to reporting/transparency
commitments, e.g. Carbon Disclosure Project The two businesses would collect different types of
(CDP), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) data and would compare them in different ways – for
Sector specific reporting: example, the office might use an activity metric such
e.g. Higher Education (UK) – Estates Management as the number of staff it has to compare how it is using
Return energy, whilst the factory might look to its turnover or
e.g. Construction project site monitoring industrial output, e.g. per tonne of product.
requirements
• Quantitative data refers to data that can be
collected in numerical form and can be counted, for
For an organisation’s own reporting
example how many tonnes of waste are produced
e.g. Sustainability reports, environmental reports,
each year. It includes primary, raw output of
corporate responsibility reports etc.
monitoring and observation systems, surveys and
other forms of data collection. It normally requires
To be able to make environmental ‘claims’ about some kind of analysis to be meaningful to a wider
a product, service, building etc. audience.
e.g. Environmental Product Declarations • Qualitative data is data that is descriptive rather than
(see Part 7) numerical, for example the result of an interview,
details of surveys or past legal action. This data
Environmental data can come from a variety of describes the meaning or quality of something,
sources, for example utility bills, emissions data, delivery rather than data for statistical analysis, although it
bills, monitoring equipment, energy meters and many can be collated and turned into quantitative data.
other sources. It is important to ensure that the data is
accurate, recorded and analysed correctly.
114 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 8 – Data and Reporting
Structural changes should be considered that have an
impact on the organisation’s base year figures, such
as the transfer of ownership of activities or operations
from your organisation to another or mergers/
acquisitions/divestments. Typically, an organisation will
• Absolute indicators use data expressed as a total in
use a mixture of absolute indictors – to show overall
terms of physical unit terms (tonnes, cubic metres)
impact on an environmental issue (e.g. climate change)
or as values, for example kWh electricity/year.
as well as normalised indictors to better illustrate
• Normalised indicators use data that has been
performance improvement and allow comparisons.
displayed as an indicator relative to an intensity
ratio to enable comparison to something else – for
example, kWh electricity per person/year or tonnes
of waste per employee. Normalised indicators
are commonly used to show the efficiency of an
organisation or process and involve dividing the
impact you are reporting on (such as tonnes of
waste or quantity of emissions) by an appropriate
activity metric (such as the number of staff your
organisation has) or a financial metric (turnover).
Intensity ratios compare data with an appropriate
business metric or financial indicator, allowing you
to compare performance over time and with other
similar organisations.
Example using energy data
UNITS SOURCES OF DATA
Electricity Kilowatt-hours (KWh) Metering (and possibly software),

invoices, supplier reports
Gas m3, KWh Metering (and possibly software),
invoices, supplier reports
Liquid fuels Litres Invoices/delivery notes
e.g. diesel, heating oil (although can be estimated from
mileage records)
On-site renewables Kilowatt-hours (KWh) Metering (and possibly software),
e.g. Photovoltaic panels Offset against the above
Industrial processes Various Metering, invoices, delivery notes
If electricity/gas – same as above and other sources
– other fuels process dependent
but could include mass-balance
calculations and other techniques
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 8 – Data and Reporting 115
Energy data from metering can provide a rich resource
for identifying opportunities for reducing consumption.
Many larger buildings and processes are fitted with
half-hourly meters allowing consumption to be viewed
in half-hourly periods over a 24-hour period allowing
interrogation of the data using specialised software or
by downloading into a spreadsheet:
Figure 41 – Half-hourly electricity profile of an office
TYPES OF ENERGY METER DESCRIPTION
Accumulation Traditional type of meter – usually is only read intermittently and

meter frequently leads to estimates in billing
Smart meter/ Allows consumption to be read remotely and accurately (usually using
AMR a radio signal) – allows accurate billing – variants exist for electricity, gas
and water
Half-hourly Allows consumption to be recorded in half-hourly periods

meter
(sometimes
referred to as
interval meters)
Sub-meters Not usually used for billing but placed on separate areas of a building or
process – and used for providing a higher resolution of data for energy
management. Some sub-meters may also be interval/half-hourly meters.
Frequently, these are used together with software.
Carbon footprinting and carbon accounting
What is a carbon footprint and carbon accounting?

A carbon footprint is a measurement of greenhouse
gases (GHG) usually quoted in kilograms or tonnes of
carbon dioxide equivalent – kg CO2e or tCO2e. GHGs
were introduced in Part 1 and include carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide and a variety of F-Gases.
Carbon footprints can be carried out for:

• an organisation
• a product/service
• a country
• a sector
• or a household or an individual person.
Carbon accounting is a quantitative process tracking

the GHG emissions of an organisation, commonly
using accounting terminology and methodologies. Part
3 of this course introduced science-based targets, net-
zero and carbon neutrality – all of which require carbon
footprinting and carbon accounting.
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is

an international accounting tool
used to quantify and manage
GHG emissions. Developed by
the World Resources Institute
(WRI) and World Business Council
on Sustainable Development
(WBCSD), it sets the global
standard for how to measure, manage and report
GHG emissions and is referred to in greenhouse gas
reporting standards, legal requirements and disclosure
requirements the world over.
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol uses the terminology of scopes as shown in the diagram below:
GHG TYPE SCOPE DEFINITION EXAMPLES
Direct emissions Scope 1 Emissions from Emissions from combustion in owned or

operations that are controlled boilers, furnaces, vehicles, etc.
owned or controlled by Emissions from chemical productions in
the reporting company owned or controlled process equipment
Indirect emissions Scope 2 Emissions from the Use of purchased or acquired electricity,
– (commonly grid generation of purchased steam, heating, or cooling
electricity) or acquired electricity,
steam, heating, or
cooling consumed by the
reporting company
Value chain emissions Scope 3 All indirect emissions Production of purchased products,
(indirect) (not included in Scope transportation of purchased products, or
2) that occur in the value use of sold products.
chain of the reporting Business travel
company, including Employee commuting
both upstream and Investments
downstream emissions Franchises
For many organisations – the Scope 3 emissions can be the largest part of the overall footprint – hence underlining
the importance of sustainable procurement practices focussing on carbon hotspots in the supply chain.
Example – carbon footprinting of croissants using Environmental and sustainability reporting
PAS 2050
Sustainability reporting
PAS 2050 Assessment Often referred to as ‘integrated reporting’ – integrates
of life-cycle greenhouse strategy, governance and sustainability along with
gas emissions of goods financials.
and services is a freely
available standard used
for life-cycle carbon
footprinting.
Life-cycle carbon footprint of a tonne of croissants

(taken from Guide to PAS 2050:2011)
1,400
1,200
1,200
1,000
800 In the late 1990s, corporate sustainability reporting

600 was virtually unknown. Yet, in little more than a
400
decade, it has evolved from the extraordinary to
the exceptional to the expected. By the standard
200
of major innovations in business practices, it ranks
0
among the most remarkable in recent years.
kg CO2e per tonne croissants
Allen White – Co-Founder of the GRI
Disposal Manufacturing (bakery)
Consumer use Raw materials Sustainability reporting is a process that assists
Distribution and retail organisations in understanding the links between
sustainability-related issues and the organisation’s plans
The standard has become a widespread tool in and strategy, goal-setting, performance measurement
calculating carbon footprints and is often used for and managing change towards a sustainable global
product labelling. Many companies are now seeking economy – one that combines profitability with social
product certification from organisations such as responsibility and environmental care.
the Carbon Trust, who will certify against the use of
standards such as PAS 2050. The final product of this process is a sustainability report
where the organisation reports on the most critical (or
Calculating the carbon footprint of a croissant shows material) aspects of the organisation’s economic, social
that the greatest component of the footprint occurs and environmental impacts and the relation of those
from the raw materials (such as dairy farming practices). with its performance.
Reasons to report include legal drivers such as: Materiality
• EU Non-financial reporting Directive (EU and UK) – Issues which are important to an organisation and/or
Public interest entities with >500 employees. Covers its stakeholders are referred to as material. Sustainability
environmental matters, social and employee aspects, strategy and accompanying reporting should reflect
e.g. human rights, anti-corruption and bribery, board properly on these including:
diversity; • identifying groups of stakeholders;
• Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (UK) • considering the view of stakeholders whose interests
– covers large companies. >£36m turnover and are likely to be affected by a decision or activity, even
requires energy, carbon, intensity metric, energy if they have no formal role in the governance of the
efficiency narrative; organisation or are unaware of these interests;
• Directors Reporting of GHG emissions (UK) – Listed • responding to their concerns/impacts.
(plc) companies – GHG emissions.
Stakeholders can have very specific interests,
sometimes at odds with the company’s objectives
Voluntary initiatives including:
and business goals. It can, therefore, be difficult for
• Global Reporting Initiative
a company to know which issues to prioritise and
• UN Global Compact address, especially if they don’t contribute to the
• Dow Jones Sustainability Index bottom line.
• Carbon Disclosure Project
Companies frequently use a tool known as a materiality
• amongst others.
matrix for determining which issues should be reflected
in sustainability reporting.
Example – Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Example – UK Streamlined Energy and Carbon
Reporting
The GRI promotes the
use of sustainability SECR is a legal requirement which came into place
reporting as a way in 2018 for large organisations which means at least
for organisations two of the following:
to become more
• a turnover of £36 million or more;
sustainable and
contribute to a • a balance sheet of £18 million or more; or
sustainable global
economy. • 250 employees or more.
The GRI’s mission is to make sustainability The requirement is for an annual disclosure of
reporting standard practice. To enable all energy consumption in the UK and associated
companies and organisations to report their greenhouse gas emissions with reporting including:
economic, environmental, social and governance
• UK energy use (electricity and gas);
performance, GRI produces free Sustainability
Reporting Guidelines. These are used extensively • associated greenhouse gas emissions;
with around 80% of large multinational
• an appropriate intensity ratio (e.g. per £million
organisations reporting via the GRI framework with
turnover);
round 3,000 organisations in 70 countries.
• a narrative on measures taken to reduce energy
The GRI requires mandatory reporting on core
use and associated greenhouse gas emissions;
governance issues and a set of general disclosures
and then a number of topic-specific standards on • details of the methodology used (typically the
economic, environmental and social issues. Greenhouse Gas Protocol).
The GRI sustainability reporting process can assist SECR is designed to increase awareness of energy
organisations in implementing the steps for creating costs within organisations, provide them with
a GRI sustainability report. It includes proposals for data to inform adoption of energy efficiency
actions that a company can undertake to address measures and to help them reduce their impact on
its sustainability impacts and the plans needed to climate change. They also seek to provide greater
support these actions. transparency for stakeholders.
Verification and assurance of sustainability reports
External assurance or verification can provide both The use of external assurance for sustainability
report readers and internal managers with increased reports is advised in addition to any internal
confidence in the quality of sustainability performance resources, but it is not required in order to make a
data, making it more likely that the data will be relied on claim that a report has been prepared in accordance
and used for decision-making. with the GRI Standards. Many organisations
engage in this process to make their report more
Verifiers can be internal as well as external – but legitimate and credible, or to respond to a specific
cannot have assisted with original compilation of requirement by their stakeholders in this regard.
data or conflicts of interest from their position in the Global Reporting Initiative – Guide for Policy Makers
organisation.
Sustainability reporting (and use of data relating to
The international NGO AccountAbility provide a set environmental and social impacts in general) can be
of assurance and verification standards which are prone to inclusion of errors, so external verification can
commonly used for sustainability reporting. add a lot of value.
WWF personal carbon footprint calculator (useful for employee engagement)
footprint.wwf.org.uk/
Better Buildings Partnership guide to better energy metering

www.betterbuildingspartnership.co.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachment/bbp-better-metering-toolkit.pdf
Greenhouse Gas Protocol resources – includes free access to the various standards for carbon accounting
ghgprotocol.org/
Download PAS2050 – Specification for the assessment of the life-

cycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services
shop.bsigroup.com/en/forms/PASs/PAS-2050/
Tips on sustainability reporting from PWC

www.pwc.co.uk/services/sustainability-climate-change/insights/
sustainability-and-climate-change-reporting-tips.html
UK Government Environmental Reporting Guidelines including

Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting Requirements
www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-reporting-guidelines-
including-mandatory-greenhouse-gas-emissions-reporting-guidance
AccountAbility Assurance Standards for sustainability reporting

www.accountability.org/standards/aa1000-assurance-standard/
Global Reporting Initiative resources

www.globalreporting.org/
Management Systems
Introduction ISO 14001 is the most prominent EMS, and thus the
focus of the remainder of this section.
Standards exist for almost all consumer products and This Learner Note focuses on ISO 14001:2015. The
services to ensure their safety and quality. ‘Management 2015 version was published on 8 September 2015, and
systems’ are a type of standard which refer to the organisations certified under ISO 14001:2004 had three
systems and processes in place to control how the years to transition to the new version. While many of
product or service is produced, rather than relating to the requirements are the same, the standard has been
the product or service itself. restructured under the new ‘Annex SL’ framework.
There is also an increased emphasis on several key
A ‘management system’ is defined in ISO 14001:2015 areas, including life-cycle perspective, leadership and
as a ‘set of interrelated or interacting elements of an sustainability.
organisation to establish policies and objectives and
processes to achieve those objectives’. ISO 14001:2015
Environmental Management Systems Purpose

ISO 14001 is an internationally recognised EMS standard
Environmental Management Systems (EMS) are a type of which provides organisations with a framework to
management system. Management systems also exist for protect the environment, and respond to changing
quality, information security, business continuity, energy, environmental conditions in balance with socio-
food safety, finance and health and safety. economic needs. It specifies requirements that enable
an organisation to achieve the intended outcomes that it
EMS can be implemented by any type or size of sets for its EMS.
organisation, in whole or in part. There are more than
300,000 ISO 14001 certified organisations worldwide, It sits within the ISO 14000 family of standards;
with approximately 12,000 in the UK. others include:
• ISO 14006 – incorporating eco-design
There are various types of EMS, including: • ISO 14015 – environmental assessment of sites and
1. ISO 14001 – international organisations
2. BS 8555 – enables phased implementation of ISO • ISO 14020 series – environmental labels and
14001 (British standard) declarations
3. Eco-management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) – • ISO 14031 – environmental performance evaluation
European standard • ISO 14064 – measuring, quantifying greenhouse
4. Green Dragon Environmental Standard – Wales gases (GHG)
5. Integrated management (PAS 99) – environmental • ISO 14040 series – life-cycle assessment
standards combined with another discipline. • ISO 14063 – communication.
All management systems are voluntary. EMS have existed

since 1992 (BS 7750) with the original ISO 14001 being
published in 1996.
124 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 9 – Environmental Management Systems
Role of the ISO Structure
ISO is the International Organisation for Standardization, The basis for the approach underlying an EMS is founded
a worldwide federation of national standards bodies. on the concept of ‘Plan–Do–Check–Act’ (the Deming
ISO comprises representatives from various national Cycle), which is integrated into the requirements of the
standards organisations who write the standards. standard. This provides an iterative process to achieve
continual improvement:
• Plan: establish objectives and processes necessary to
deliver results
• Do: implement the processes established in the
planning stage
• Check: monitor and measure processes including
commitments, objectives and operating criteria, and
report the results
• Act: act to improve continually.
Key requirements
There are 22 sub-clauses within 10 high-level clauses (clauses 4–10 contain the requirements). All requirements
must be met for organisations to claim conformity. The main clauses are:
Clause Title Content

Clause 4 Context of the Contains 4 sub-clauses. This requires the organisation to identify
organisation internal and external issues that can impact on its intended outcomes,
as well as identifying the needs and expectations of interested parties.
Environmental sustainability is an operational and strategic issue.
Context means considering the internal and external factors and
conditions that can affect your products, services, investments and
interested parties.
You need to decide which elements are important and relevant to
environment and sustainability – PESTLE can be a useful tool for doing
this (mapping out Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and
Environmental issues).
Findings should be documented to prove that context clauses of ISO
14001 have been addressed.
It also needs to determine the scope and set the boundaries of the
management system in line with the business objectives.
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 9 – Environmental Management Systems 125
Clause 5 Leadership Contains 3 sub-clauses. There is a strong emphasis on leadership and
commitment, not just management. This means top management is
accountable for the management system. They need to:
• integrate the requirements of the EMS into the organisation’s core
business processes;
• ensure the EMS achieves its intended outcomes;
• allocate the necessary resources.
Top management is also responsible for communicating the
importance of the EMS and heightening employee awareness and
involvement. Top management must establish, implement and maintain
an environmental policy which includes specific commitments and
ensure that roles, responsibilities and authorities are assigned and
communicated within the organisation.
Clause 6 Planning Contains 2 sub-clauses. Clause 6 brings risk-based thinking to the
forefront. The organisation is required to have processes in place to
determine risk and opportunities, environmental aspects, compliance
obligations and planning action. This looks at what, who, how and
when risks will be addressed.
Focus is placed on the development of environmental objectives,
considering the significant aspects, compliance obligations and the
risks and opportunities. Objectives should be measurable, monitored,
communicated, aligned to the management system and updated when
needed.
NB: An environmental aspect is defined as an ‘element of an
organisation’s activities or products or services that interacts or can
interact with the environment’. An aspect can cause an environmental
impact. The organisation must determine (using criteria), what aspects
are significant.
Environmental aspects can include:
1. Emissions to air includes gases, vapours, particulates, fumes, mist and
noise.
2. Releases to water includes controlled waters and sewer discharges.
3. Waste management, including non-hazardous, hazardous liquid or
solid.
4. Contamination of land, including land owned or leased by the
company.
5. Use of raw materials and natural resources.
Objectives can be focused around reduction (doing something
more efficiently), generating a better understanding of something
(establishing a baseline) or improving management information and
processes.
Clause 7 Support Contains 5 sub-clauses. After addressing the context, commitment and
planning, organisations need to look at the support needed to meet
their goals and objectives. This includes:
• providing resources for the establishment, maintenance and contin-
ual improvement of the EMS
• determining the competence of those persons doing work for the
organisation, ensuring they are aware of key areas of the EMS
• ensuring that processes are in place and effective for internal and
external communications
• keeping all documented information required by the standard and/
or that which is self-imposed.
Clause 8 Operation Contains 2 sub-clauses. The organisation is required to establish,
implement, control and maintain the processes needed to meet EMS
requirements, and to implement the actions identified to address risks
and opportunities and the organisation's environmental objectives.
Clause 8.1 addresses both internal and outsourced operations, as well
as considers procurement and design, and requires consideration of the
life-cycle perspective.
The organisation is required to establish, implement and maintain
processes needed to prepare for and respond to potential emergency
situations. This includes:
• preparing to respond to prevent and mitigate environmental impacts
• responding to actual situations
• periodically testing the planned responses
• reviewing and revising procedures
• providing relevant training.
Clause 9 Performance Contains 3 sub-clauses. Organisations need to determine what,
evaluation how and when things are to be monitored, measured, analysed
and evaluated, including evaluating compliance. Internal audits are
also part of this process, to ensure that the EMS conforms to the
organisation’s requirements as well as the standard.
The final step, management review, looks at whether the EMS is
suitable, adequate and effective. The standard is prescriptive in what
should be included in the management review.
Clause 10 Improvement Contains 3 sub-clauses. This requires organisations to determine
opportunities for improvement and implement corrective action.
Organisations need to react, evaluate and implement actions to address
non-conformity and corrective action. (This includes containment/
correction of the issue as well as corrective action to prevent re-
occurrence.) The effectiveness of action also needs to be considered.
Lastly, the organisation is required to demonstrate continual
improvement of the EMS to ‘enhance’ environmental performance.
The previous version only implied improvements to environmental
performance. The purpose of the EMS should be to achieve
improvement in environmental performance.
Benefits and challenges of Environmental Management Systems
Benefits Challenges
Provides a systematic approach to initiating and
Internal resources are required to establish and maintain
continuing environmental improvements
Provides information to management Certification involves additional cost
Demonstrates green credentials; retains and wins work Certification involves additional management time
Can identify cost-saving opportunities Negative publicity, if certification is lost
Reduces risk, including prosecution risk Can cause confidentiality concerns
Helps meet compliance obligations Information on performance may leak externally

Reassures interested parties – regulators, financiers,
There can be inconsistencies between auditors
neighbours, community, insurers
Enhances environmental performance by identifying Can become focused on meeting requirements rather
resource-efficiency opportunities than improving performance
Improves the delivery of products and services No guarantee of improvement
Scope and objectives are down to the organisation’s
Retains and attracts the best employees
discretion
Allows comparisons between sites
Implementation of an Environmental Management System
Some basic steps when implementing an EMS include:
• get top management support • consider potential objectives
• assign responsibility and authority to ensure the • devise the policy statement
system conforms, and for reporting performance
• consider the competencies required
• determine the scope
• gain staff commitment and improving awareness
• identify the processes and documented information
• consider the operational and emergency processes
required
required
• conduct an environmental review to determine the
• develop and fulfil an internal audit programme –
external and internal issues, needs and expectations
addressing non-conformities
of interested parties, risks and opportunities,
environmental aspects and compliance obligations • conduct the management review.

British Standards Institution
www.bsigroup.co.uk
ISO 14001:2015 Environmental management systems – requirements with guidance for use
www.bsigroup.co.uk
International Organisation for Standardization (ISO)

www.iso.org
IEMA – driving climate actions through ISO 14001:2015

www.iema.net/knowledge/policy-horizon/climate-change-energy/climate-change-resources-webinars-and-
events/driving-climate-actions-through-iso
IEMA – application of life-cycle thinking in ISO 14001:2015

www.iema.net/resources/event-reports/2017/07/13/the-application-of-life-cycle-thinking-in-iso-14001
Auditing
What is an environmental audit? An audit identifies risks from poor management and
control which may otherwise result in environmental
An environmental audit is a management tool. The damage, excessive cost, damage to reputation and
audit process is a systematic way of checking if even prosecution. It is a powerful tool in improving
an organisation is meeting a set of requirements environmental performance and an important
or complying with requirements, for example the mechanism for continual improvement.
requirements of ISO 14001 or compliance with
legislation. For ISO 14001, auditing is a vital component ensuring
that it achieves its intended outcomes. Audits also
Elements of a good environmental audit: confirm to stakeholders that an organisation is
exercising effective environmental management
1. Auditor competence and commitment – needs and governance and is genuinely pursuing a positive
to have sound understanding of the operations environmental and sustainability agenda.
of the organisation and context
Common audit terminology
2. Fully supported by the organisation – • Audit criteria. What you are auditing against, e.g.
commitment and time made available – top clause of ISO 14001 or you may write the criteria
management to all levels yourself.
e.g. auditing environmental impacts from a waste
storage area
3. Clear audit objectives, framework and
• Non-conformity – A non-fulfilment of a requirement
parameters – audit criteria
(not meeting the audit criteria)
• Potential non-conformity – possibility of audit
4. Responsibilities and participation – internal criteria not being met (i.e. environmental harm) from
auditors should not be precluded from, nor a future occurrence
intimidated by auditing staff who are their • Corrective action – action to eliminate the cause of
seniors. Without this scrutiny it is not possible a non-conformity and to prevent recurrence
to audit the entirety of the management system
• Preventative action – action to eliminate the cause
and evaluate its effectiveness
of a potential non-conformity (future) and to prevent
occurrence
5. Clear and well-presented audit report – • Observations for improvement – information for
identifying where the audited requirements have the auditee about making improvements – even if
been met as well as valid and meaningful non- something strictly meets the audit criteria – there’s
conformities likely to be improvement possible still
• Positive feedback – telling the auditee what is being
done well and areas of good practice (frequently
missed in audits!)
130 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 10 – Environmental Auditing
Common types of environmental audits
Compliance with the conditions of an Compliance with the law

environmental permit or consent (or area of law)
Environmental due Themes of

diligence liabilities environmental audits
Check how well
environmental policies,
procedures and other
ISO 14001:2015
Conformance with
environmental
contractual requirements
Certify an organisation management system
or agreements, e.g.
against a standard (such components are
supply chain audit
as 14001:2015) implemented
What makes a good environmental auditor?
Environmental auditors require not only appropriate

technical competence but also need to possess the
personal behaviours that contribute to successful
audits:
• skills
• knowledge
• auditing ‘style’
• approach/attitude
• auditors must be diligent and committed, genuinely
striving to help improve environmental performance.
They should be able to plan their audits so that
they focus on priority areas, and be able to produce
relevant, evidence-based findings in a way that
clearly explains the benefits of taking action.
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 10 – Environmental Auditing 131
Carrying out an environmental audit
Standard ISO 19011 Guidelines for Management System Auditing sets out a process for auditing:
Preparing audit Conducting Completion

Audit initiation Audit reporting
activities the audit and follow-up
Audit initiation • The opening meeting is when the auditor outlines

• Deciding on the audit team. the plan for the audit, introduces the audit team (if
applicable), confirms the scope of the audit and the
• Checking that the auditors have the necessary
criteria and confirms how the audit results will be
knowledge, skills and experience to conduct the
reported.
audit is essential.
• The audit itself involves collecting evidence,
• Establish what is being audited, the reason for the
observing processes and actions, undertaking
audit, the scope of the audit, the criteria for the audit.
interviews and reviewing documentation.
• Establishing contact with the company/department
• Typically, the closing meeting includes meeting
to be audited, confirming their availability for the
with the auditee to outline the audit findings and to
audit.
confirm the next steps, for example when they will
receive the report and the distribution of the report.
Preparing audit activities
• Review the information provided in advance from
Audit reporting
the team/department/organisation to be audited.
• A well-structured audit report can drive significant
• Information provides the background and context
continual improvement – even when there are no or
for the audit, identifying potential audit trails and key
few non-conformities – useful and well-thought-out
staff that will need to be included in the audit.
observations and recommendations can improve
For example, if you were preparing to audit a waste
environmental performance.
practice, the key documents you would expect to
• Make it positive – list all opportunities for
review would typically include previous audit reports,
improvement.
map of the site, including waste storage areas and
waste procedures. • Include recommended solutions and next steps.
Conducting the audit Completion and follow-up
• During the audit, the auditor will physically inspect A key next step in the audit process is to ensure that
the area or activity in question, interview relevant any non-conformities or areas for improvement are
personnel and review any additional documentation followed up on and actioned. The audit process should
not already received. have a clearly defined approach for following up the
audit results and ensuring that where corrective actions
are required, they have been fully addressed and closed
out.
132 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 10 – Environmental Auditing
IEMA Value of Environmental Auditing Guide
www.iema.net/resources/news/2020/06/17/iema-launch-value-of-environmental-auditing-guide
IEMA 10 Golden Rules of Remote Auditing

www.iema.net/document-download/43609
IEMA Environmental Auditor Register

www.iema.net/membership/specialist-registers/environmental-auditor-register
University of Sheffield – Ethical Audits and the Supply Chains of Global Corporations
speri.dept.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Global-Brief-1-Ethical-Audits-and-the-Supply-Chains-of-
Global-Corporations.pdf
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 10 – Environmental Auditing 133
Part 11 – Improving
Sustainability Performance
Making organisations more sustainable Some points for reflection
• What are your major impacts on society,

There is a need for businesses to become more
economy and the environment? (Think of the 5
sustainable. Climate change, economic and population
Capitals – natural, social, human, manufactured
growth and a shift in demographics are all contributing
and financial).
to the scarcity of resources.
• Does your overall business strategy contribute
In addition to protecting the planet, organisations positively to these – i.e. how is the world
are increasingly realising the business case for enriched or diminished by your products or
sustainability. A correlation has been discovered services?
between good environmental and social performance
and financial performance, with companies with • Do you understand who your main stakeholders
strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) are and what are the impacts your organisation
performance outperforming companies with weak ESG has on them?
performance, as measured in accounting terms.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

and the requirement for organisations to address
climate change (e.g. through adopting net-zero
strategies) are headline drivers for improvement.
An organisation’s journey towards sustainability

Sustainable products and
services are the norm
• Sustainability embedded
throughout value chain
(e.g. including with
Organisation may have developed a strategy suppliers)
and/or implemented a framework such as • Organisation takes a
ISO 14001:2015 leadership role in the
sector with promoting
• Policies and programmes in place to
No organised approach sustainability
improve performance
to sustainability/ • Organisation is
environmental issues • Depending on size – likely to have member
transparent about
of staff or team with specific responsibilities
• Senior management its impacts through
for this area
generally not engaged reporting and other
• Senior management generally feel measures
• Response to issues tends
comfortable talking about the subject matter
to be largely reactive, e.g. • Organisation has adopted
responding to specific • People working for the organisation are able science-based targets on
customer queries/ to be able to identify work that is happening climate change and/or a
requirements to improve social and environmental impacts net-zero strategy
134 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 11 – Improving Sustainability Performance
This course has introduced some of the key principles, tools, policies and techniques to help organisations
improve performance. Following this course, would any of these be useful next steps?
Identifying who your allies/ Getting buy-in from senior

Carrying out an environmental/
key stakeholders are to create management (possibly
sustainability review
improvements presenting a business case)
Considering how to
Implementing ISO 14001:2015 Carrying out resource efficiency
communicate with clients,
and/or other frameworks for audits, e.g. looking at energy
customers etc on sustainability
improvement and waste savings
issues
Measuring carbon footprint Joining sector based and

Developing an approach for
(including Scope 3) and putting membership organisations and
sustainability in procurement
in place a climate change plan utilising networks (e.g. IEMA)
Business case for sustainability

The business case for sustainability improvements is about more than money – with factors such as reputational
improvement, customer/employee engagement often being more powerful drivers than direct financial cost savings.
Additional benefits/
Quantifiable factors Convincing business case
considerations
• Increased business, potential new • Moral and ethical imperative • Communicated in a way that
markets and customers • Improve reputation engages the target audience
(e.g. ability to win tenders etc.) (e.g. senior directors)
• Better stakeholder relationships
• More attractive to investors (e.g. suppliers)
• Return on investment and cost • Reduce prosecution risk
savings (e.g. carbon, energy,
• Engage employees
materials etc.)
• Attractive to new recruits
• Opportunities for innovation
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Part 11 – Improving Sustainability Performance 135
Financial tools to assist with business cases include but Managing change and internal
are not limited to: communications
Simple Payback Periods (SPP) Role of colleagues in improving sustainability

SPP gives you the time for the initial investment to be Environmental/sustainability improvements frequently
repaid. SPP are appropriate for recommendations with require buy-in and collaboration across organisations.
non-complex, short paybacks (less than 3 years) with Fundamental roles include:
low capital outlays, short asset life, or no and/or low • leadership help with resourcing and integrating
associated capital and maintenance costs. sustainability across the organisation and its value
chain;
It is calculated by dividing the total investment by the
• all employees and contractors should have
first-year savings to give a payback in years.
awareness of the key issues and what is being done
to address them;
Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA)
LCCA evaluates all the costs and savings associated • some job roles have specific competence
with the life of a project. It allows for reporting of the requirements, e.g. procurement, auditors, specialists.
break-even year and results in a Net Present Value
(NPV), which includes a ‘discounting factor’ to take into Internal communications staff/specialists where these
account the future value of money. The NPV allows exist can be key allies. Sustainability improvements
you to determine the total value of the investment frequently result in change – and change can be
at the end of the life once all costs and savings have problematic where not managed well.
been calculated, and includes consideration for the
depreciating value of money, particularly for longer- Communication principles
term assessments. Communication is a two-way process of giving and
receiving information. We cannot not communicate
LCCA tends to be preferred for more complex – we do it all the time. Being an adaptable, and
decisions associated with assets with a long life, high therefore effective, communicator can require further
upfront capital costs or an initial downtime period, understanding of the complexities of communication.
where there are additional quantifiable benefits (other Effective engagement in different situations relies on
than reduced energy, waste, water consumption, etc.), knowledge of communication and the ability to adapt
such as reduced maintenance or capacity for growth. our personal styles to achieve desirable outcomes.
It’s all a bit technical We saved our team

and hard to understand What’s in it for me?
£30K last month
Often, a lack of effective communication is identified

as the root cause of many environmental incidents (e.g.
a spill from a damaged container). Communication
of policies and procedures can be reactive (e.g. fixing
the damaged container rather than being proactive in
preventing its occurrence, such as staff not being g
aware of storage requirements).
An example of effective communication leading to a Climate-KIC was a campaign that saw 20 cities
better outcome was reported in the 2016 Guardian crowdsource ideas to make cities greener and get
Sustainable Business Awards, ‘Communicating people interested in climate change action. The scale
Sustainability’ category: of the campaign and challenge in mobilising people
on climate change action demonstrated the success
that campaigns can have when they are focused on
collaboration and use a range of communication media.
Principles of communication
• Who is your audience?
• Develop a practical way to get feedback – what
• What is the purpose of the communication? information do you need, and how much?
• Do you understand the topic fully? • Use multiple communication techniques –
• What might the objections be? verbal, written reports and presentations.
• How can you present a rounded picture? • Building rapport and relationship is critical to
• How can you achieve credibility with your effective communication – people like people
audience? that are like them (match and mirror positive
• Do you need to follow through on what you behaviours).
say? • Listen to understand, not to reply.
• Consider communicating a little at a time and • The response you get is what you
give people time to understand and digest what communicated. What you think you are
you say. Break it up by summarising the main communicating may not be what the other
points, and asking for any questions. person is receiving.
• Present information in several ways – verbal, • There is no failure, only feedback. Don’t take it
pictures, demonstrations, graphs, video. personally, just adjust your approach in future.
Reframing as a tool for communicating sustainability A ‘frame’ refers to the way we put experiences into
When communicating on sustainability issues – it is different contexts to give them meaning. By changing
important to understand who you are talking to and the ‘frame of reference’ around an experience, it can
what tone is effective – understanding and reflecting change the meaning. Reframing is used in business,
people’s individual drivers and interests. sales and marketing, politics, education, sport and
therapy to help people overcome barriers or problems
and to see a different perspective.
For example: There are two broad types of reframing.
• Context reframe – think of a different context in
• After a serious illness, many people will reflect on
which the person’s behaviour might be positive.
being stronger, having come through it.
Switching the context can make the behaviour
• A large investment in solar panels could be useful.
reframed away from the initial large capital cost • Meaning reframe – ask yourself: ‘What else could
to the additional benefits such as demonstrating this behaviour mean? What is it that hasn’t been
a commitment to sustainability, long-term noticed?’ Perhaps a decision could be ‘brave’ rather
energy security and protection from energy price than ‘stupid’, or vice versa.
volatility.
• How to reframe – step back from what was said
Reframing can also be used nefariously! For or done and consider the frame through which
example: the reality is created. Following this, another lens
can be chosen by saying: ‘Let’s look at this another
• Fracking is sometimes referred to as ‘alternative way’. This allows you to reframe a problem as an
energy’ some also talk about ‘clean-coal’. opportunity, a weakness as a strength, or unkindness
as a lack of understanding.
The purpose of reframing is to separate ‘intention’ from
‘behaviour’. All meaning is context dependent. If you
Change management principles
change the context, meaning or content, you change
Change management refers to approaches used to
the original meaning.
transition people (individuals, teams or organisations)
to accepting and effectively implementing a redirection
Reframing helps someone to alter their perception
in the use of resources, business processes, and/or
of an experience so that it is more positive, practical
budgets that reshape an organisation
or useful. Sometimes it can be as simple as ignoring
or emphasising certain words. It is important to use
Change management is a widely used term in
this skill ethically, and not simply to win an argument.
business and is a necessary mode for progress. In
Reframing works best when it is subtle, used sparingly
some organisations, specific roles are created to guide
and filled with long-term positive intent. When used
companies through change, as the process can be
inappropriately, it is easily spotted and has the reverse
complex, stressful and risks generating resistance if
effect.
managed ineffectively.
Change management principles are integral to the

successful implementation of improvements, including
the types of changes in process, products, behaviours,
investments and collaboration needed to drive
environment and sustainability performance.
Barriers to and enablers of change
BARRIERS ENABLERS
Staff are disengaged from their roles, colleagues, Involve staff from all areas of the organisation – identify
managers and customers champions to engage and motivate.
Report regularly to keep up momentum.
Staff are ‘falsely urgent’ – their time is taken up by Focus on priorities and those areas that prevent
constant firefighting reoccurrence of ongoing issues.
Explain that change will allow smarter working and
better use of time.
Complacency – thinking that what got us here will take Identify the risks from not changing.
us forward Highlight others’ achievements through different ways
of working.
Top management is focused on management rather Make the business case for change.
than leadership, or there is a lack of top management Provide resources to enable a change in focus.
commitment or support for the change Emphasise that a shift to a leadership approach is more
sustainable, encourages greater staff responsibility and
output – less focus on reporting.
Provide leadership training.
Other business priorities Establish a strategy to determine priorities.
Create a ‘change team’ and allocate adequate
resources.
Working in isolated silos rather than holistically Collaboration – sell the benefits.
Change inertia or fatigue Communicate change successes.
Fear of failure Reframe the risk associated with staying the same.
Financial barriers – cost of resources Prioritise this in a business case.
The necessary internal competence may not be in place Consider training or using external resources.
Conflicts and competing demands – Create a ‘change team’ and allocate adequate resource.
customer/industry/contractual constraints
Sustainability issues tend to move quickly and

adaptability to change is vital, e.g. moving to paperless
systems, implementing new climate change targets
which involve different work practices (e.g. reducing
flying), sharing desk space, starting a sustainability
reporting programme etc. Key success factors include
communicating benefits of change in advance and
involving people in improvement programmes. Getting
people to provide their ideas and helping implement
them makes changes more acceptable
Almost all change programmes will involve a ‘bumpy
transition’ as the change is implemented – this is
shown in most models of change – including the
Kubler-Ross change curve below:
The Kubler-Ross change curve
Denial
Disbelief: Looking for
evidence that it isn't true Integration
MORALE AND COMPETENCE
Changes integrated;
a renewed individual
Frustration
Recognition that Decision
things are different; Learning how to work in the new
Shock sometimes angry situation; feeling more positive
Surprise or shock
at the event Experiment
Initial engagement with
the new situation
Depression
Low mood:
lacking in energy
TIME
Figure 44 – Kubler-Ross Change Curve
Project management for sustainability Examples of projects could include:

Many sustainability improvements involve projects • a new manufacturing production process with lower
large and small. Project management is the application environmental impacts
of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to meet
• implementing an ISO 14001:2015 environmental
a project’s aims through the application of project
management system or transitioning to new versions
management processes, e.g. typically these could be
of standards
initiating, planning, execution, monitoring and closing.
• launch of a new service to help your clients reduce
their carbon footprints.
PLANNING MONITORING
INITIATION EXECUTION CLOSING
An effective project manager has a good understanding RAID stands for Risks, Assumptions, Issues and
of potential and actual risks that could affect the Dependencies. A RAID log is commonly used in
delivery of the project. A RAID log is a technique which spreadsheet format and can then be used to keep track
is commonly used for managing project risks. of ongoing issues and used in meetings to highlight key
risks.
RISKS Events that will have an adverse impact on your project if they occur.
Risk refers to the combined likelihood the event will occur and the impact on the project
if it does occur. If the likelihood of the event happening and impact to the project are both
high, you identify the event as a risk. The log includes descriptions of each risk, full analysis
and a plan to mitigate them.
ASSUMPTIONS Any factors that you are assuming to be in place that will contribute to the successful
result of your project.
The log includes details of the assumption, the reason it is assumed, and the action
needed to confirm whether the assumption is valid.
ISSUES Something that is going wrong on your project and needs managing. Failure to manage
issues may result in a poor delivery or even complete failure.
The log includes descriptions of each issue, its impact, its seriousness and actions needed
to contain and remove it.
DEPENDENCIES Any event or work that are either dependent on the result of your project, or on which
your project will be dependent.
The log captures whom you are dependent on, what they should deliver and when. It may
also include who is dependent on you.
Setting objectives is critical to project management:

what output or benefit is to be achieved, and the
individual milestones which provide indicators of
performance. Usually, a project is deemed to be a
success if it achieves the objectives according to the
defined criteria, within agreed timescales and budgets.
IEMA resources
IEMA Code of Practice

All professional members of IEMA commit to abide by a Code of Practice. The Code sets out the behaviours
expected of IEMA’s members in relation to ethics, values and professionalism.
Individual members of IEMA shall:
1. Uphold and promote the environment and 6. Acknowledge my limitations of competence and
sustainability profession. not undertake work which I know is beyond my
professional capability.
2. Exercise honesty, impartiality, diligence and
objectivity in my professional work. 7. Develop and maintain standards of professional
competence and knowledge through a
3. Support and promote sustainable action and
combination of training, learning and practical
challenge environmentally unsustainable action.
experience and through the support of others.
4. Work to, and promote, high standards and best
8. In giving advice, make the relevant person(s)
practice in the environment and sustainability
aware of the potential consequences of actions.
profession.
9. Endeavour to be an innovative, lateral thinker in
5. Ensure that professional judgement is not
the pursuit of environmental improvement and
influenced by a conflict of interest and I shall
sustainability.
make all relevant parties aware where there is
such a conflict.
IEMA Skills Map levels of work (entry level, operational, managerial
Sustainability skills can be thought of as the range of and leadership), and environmental and sustainability
abilities required to allow us to transform the world professionals can use it to benchmark their current
to sustainability. These are skills that can be used competencies.
individually and organisationally. The majority of the
skills required to do this are applicable in all work The Skills Map is accessible at www.iema.net/
sectors and are explored within the IEMA Skills Map. sustainability-skills-map
The IEMA relaunched the Skills Map 2016 to ensure it The Skills Map allows individuals to identify areas where
accurately reflected the skills essential for transforming they may require further development and training in
organisations to sustainability. It identifies the order to progress their careers and allows organisations
knowledge, skills and behaviours that are key to being to assess the competency and training needs of their
an effective sustainability professional at different staff. This course is set at the Entry level (Associate).
Core knowledge: Fundamental knowledge

and understanding of sustainability and how to
translate it into a business context
Technical knowledge: Across environmental,

social, economic, and governance horizons. A
depth of knowledge including understanding
of relevant issues and principles, knowledge of
tools, techniques and systems and familiarity
with innovative practices
Soft skills for sustainability – including

communication, change and problem reframing/
resolution
About the IEMA Associate assessment The assessment consists of 30 multiple-choice
Following the FCIEM course, the award of the status questions over one hour. The pass mark is 70%.
of IEMA Associate can be achieved following an online You therefore need to correctly answer 21 or more
assessment. Your training provider should register you questions to pass.
for the assessment in line with the IEMA examination
schedule. Practice questions are available at www.iema.net/
membership/membership-levels/associate (plus in the
back of your Learner Workbook)

IEMA Sustainability in Practice Series – Change Management for Sustainable Development
www.iema.net/preview-document/sustainability-in-practice-vol-2-change-management
Exeter University resources on the Kubler-Ross Change Curve

www.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/humanresources/documents/learningdevelopment/the_change_
curve.pdf
Association of Project Management Resources

www.apm.org.uk/resources/what-is-project-management/
IEMA Code of Practice

www.iema.net/membership/code-of-practice
IEMA Skills Map

www.iema.net/sustainability-skills-map
About IEMA Associate Membership

www.iema.net/membership/membership-levels/associate
Annex
IEMA Associate Standard
Introduction practices in developing sustainable products and

services and providing sustainable solutions
There are 13 Learning Outcomes covered within the
Associate membership standard which align to the Knowledge of Skills
Entry level of the IEMA Skills Map. These are split into 7. Collect data, perform analysis, and evaluate
the areas of core knowledge, technical knowledge and information
skills/knowledge of skills.
8. Research and plan to provide sustainable solutions
The technical knowledge section is split into 9. Deliver effective communication and capture
environment and socio-economic. Those who wish to feedback
take the environment exam related to this Standard will 10. Engage with stakeholders
be assessed on only the environment-related Learning 11 Outline tools and techniques that identify
Outcomes but those who wish to take the sustainability opportunities and risks
exam will be assessed on the environment and socio- 12 Identify and propose ways to improve performance
economic-related Learning Outcomes.
13. Support change and transformation to improve
sustainability
As a general guide, the recommended study time is 40
hours to ensure coverage of these Learning Outcomes.
Detailed assessment criteria and scope for each
However, as every learner has a different background
learning outcome are provided on the following pages.
and learning style, please use as much time as required
to feel confident in meeting the Associate standard.
Command Words
Learning Outcomes
A number of Command Words are used within the
Learning Outcomes and associated Assessment Criteria
The 13 Learning Outcomes are listed below:
to help learners understand the level of detail required.
These include:
Core Knowledge
Identify: Stating the name or identifying the
1. Outline the implications of global trends for the
characteristics/main point of something. Normally a
environment, for society, for the economy and for
name, word or phrase will be sufficient, provided the
organisations
reference is clear.
2. Outline sustainable business/governance principles
Recognise: Same meaning as Identify.
and their relationship with organisations, products
and services Outline: Stating the most important features of
something. Equivalent to a thin description but involves
Technical Knowledge more than simply listing.
3. Outline environmental/socio-economic principles Describe: Providing a thorough description and

and their relationship with organisations, products enough detail about an item for a learner to have a
and services clear picture of it.
4. Outline major policy and legislation and their Explain: Providing a detailed response (definition and
implications for organisations, products and services explanation). ‘Explain’ may involve giving reasons for
something, linking causes and effects, drawing parallels,
5. Outline major tools, techniques, systems and
pointing to relationships or showing how theory can be
practices used to improve sustainability performance
applied.
6. Outline the role of innovation and other leading
Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | IEMA Associate Membership Standard Version 1.0 145
Associate Standard in detail
Core Knowledge
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA (THE LEARNER

LEARNING OUTCOME PRESCRIBED CONTENT (THE LEARNER
WILL BE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE
(THE LEARNER WILL…) WILL BE FAMILIAR WITH…)
KNOWLEDGE BY…)
Fundamentals of Sustainability
1. Outline the implications 1.1. Outlining the global mega-trends Mega-Trends: Climate Change (GHG
of global trends for driving the need to transform the and climate consequences), population,
the environment, world to sustainability global middle class, urbanisation, pivot
for society, for the 1.2. Outlining the concept of to Asia-Pacific market, resource scarcity,
economy and for sustainable development biodiversity loss
organisations Sustainable Development: Brundtland
1.3. Outlining the UN's Sustainable
Development Goals definition; triple bottom line
(environment, society and economy)
1.4. Describing the 5 sustainable
capitals and the dependencies Sustainable Capital: Natural, Social,
between them Human, Financial and Manufactured/
Built
1.5. Outlining the concept of
environmental limits Environmental Limits: Planetary
boundaries concept (Stockholm
1.6. Recognising that economic activity
Institute)
regularly creates unintended
environmental and social Sustainability Skills: IEMA Skills Map
consequences, locally and globally
1.7. Recognising that delivering
sustainable outcomes involves
applying sustainability skills to
overcome internal and external
challenges
Fundamental Business and Governance Principles and Issues
2. Outline sustainable 2.1. Outlining the role of ethics in
business/governance individual and organisational
principles and their decision-making
relationship with 2.2. Outlining the importance of
organisations, products accountability, equalities (incl:
and services gender equality), inclusivity, integrity,
stewardship, transparency, cultural
context and engagement
146 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | IEMA Associate Membership Standard Version 1.0
Technical Knowledge
This section is split into environmental and socio-economic themes.
Those who wish to take the environment exam related to this Standard will be assessed on only the environment-
related Learning Outcomes but those who wish to take the sustainability exam will be assessed on the
environment and socio-economic-related Learning Outcomes.
Environment

KNOWLEDGE BY…)
Fundamental Environmental Issues and Principles
3. Outline environmental 3.1. Outlining the importance of Natural Cycles: Carbon, Nitrogen,
principles and their natural cycles, ecological Phosphorus and water
relationship with systems, ecosystem services and Ecological Systems: Plants and animals
organisations, products environmental limits, and their and their interactions with non-living
and services impact on your organisation components including energy
3.2. Outlining the impact of human Ecosystem Services: Supporting,
interventions on natural ecological Provisioning, Regulating and Cultural
systems, habitats, species and
Environmental Limits: Planetary
individuals
boundaries concept (Stockholm
3.3. Describing pollution sources, Institute)
pathways and receptors
Pollution Sources, Pathways and
Receptors: Including the concept of
pollution linkages
KNOWLEDGE BY…)
Policy, Regulation and Legislation
4. Outline major policy 4.1. Outlining how sustainability issues Types of Law: Common, Statute, Civil
and legislation and link to policy and Criminal law (in jurisdictions where
their implications for 4.2 Outlining the main types of law they exist)
organisations, products and the relationship between Policy Instruments: Fiscal, legislative,
and services international, national and sub- market and voluntary instruments
national law Principles of environmental policy:
4.3. Identifying key policy instruments Polluter Pays,
in place and how they are used to Precautionary Principle: Best Available
achieve sustainable change Technique, Hierarchy Approach,
4.4. Outlining key environmental Producer Responsibility, Lifecycle
principles that form the basis of Thinking
policy Environmental Legislation: Legislation
4.5. Outlining key environmental in relation to natural environment, air,
legislation water, land, energy, waste, resources,
4.6. Outlining the role of environmental climate change, planning and producer
regulators and penalties for non- responsibility
compliance Environmental Regulators: National
4.7. Identifying relevant stakeholders that regulators appropriate to country
influence environmental issues and or region of operation/activity (in
policy development jurisdictions where they exist)
4.8. Outlining the benefits and Penalties: Civil and criminal sanctions
opportunities organisations (in jurisdictions where they exist)
can achieve in moving beyond
compliance
KNOWLEDGE BY…)
Management and Assessment Tools
5. Outline major tools, 5.1. Outlining major environmental Environmental Management Tools:
techniques, systems management tools, techniques, Environmental Management Systems
and practices used to systems and practices, their (EMS) and Audit covering the main
improve sustainability advantages and disadvantages applicable standards and key elements/
performance 5.2. Outlining the concept of life-cycle steps within the tools as well as
thinking, its benefits and challenges advantages and disadvantages
5.3. Identifying the different roles Brief coverage of the following: Impact
people play in delivering sustainable Assessment, Life-cycle Thinking and
outcomes Corporate Reporting covering main
features, advantages and disadvantages
5.4. Outlining the tools, techniques,
only
systems and/or practices used
by organisations to manage People: Sustainability profession, leaders
compliance and non-compliance (organisational), wider professions,
everyone
Innovative and Leading Practices
6. Outline the role of 6.1. Identifying examples of innovation
innovation and other and other leading practices in
leading practices in developing sustainable products and
developing sustainable services or providing sustainable
products and services solutions
and providing
sustainable solutions
Socio-economic

KNOWLEDGE BY…)
Fundamental Socio-Economic Issues and Principles
3. Outline socio-economic 3.1. Outlining the importance of Social Protection Floor: access to
principles and their tackling global inequalities, a social essential health care (including maternity
relationship with protection floor and their impact care), basic income security for children,
organisations, products on your organisation persons unable to work and older
and services 3.2. Outlining the impact of human persons
interventions on social systems,
cultural practices, community
cohesion and individuals
3.3. Outlining the social and physical
determinants of health
Policy, Regulation and Legislation
4. Outline major policy 4.1. Outlining how sustainability issues Types of Law: Common, Statute, Civil
and legislation and link to policy and Criminal law (in jurisdictions where
their implications for 4.2. Outlining the main types of law they exist)
organisations, products and the relationship between Policy Instruments: Fiscal, legislative,
and services international, national and sub- market and voluntary instruments
national law Principles of Socio-Economic Policy:
4.3. Identifying key policy instruments People-centred, responsive and
in place and how they are used to participatory, multi-level, conducted in
achieve sustainable change partnership, sustainable, dynamic
4.4. Outlining key socio-economic Social Legislation: Legislation in relation
principles that form the basis of to human rights, equality, gender, labour
policy rights, health and safety, inclusivity,
4.5. Outlining key social legislation diversity, engagement, healthcare,
income security, and well-being
4.6. Outlining the role of regulators and
penalties for non-compliance Regulators: National regulators
appropriate to country or region of
4.7. Identifying relevant stakeholders that
operation/activity (in jurisdictions where
influence socio-economic issues
they exist)
and policy development
Penalties: Civil and criminal sanctions
4.8. Outlining the benefits and
(in jurisdictions where they exist)
opportunities organisations
can achieve in moving beyond
compliance
KNOWLEDGE BY…)
Management and Assessment Tools
5. Outline major tools, 5.1. Outlining major socio-economic Socio-Economic Management Tools:
techniques, systems management tools, techniques, Impact Assessment (Social, Health,
and practices used to systems and practices, their Human Rights), Socio-Economic
improve sustainability advantages and disadvantages Surveys, Stakeholder Engagement,
performance 5.2. Outlining the concept of life-cycle Auditing (labour, human rights),
thinking, its benefits and challenges Corporate Reporting
5.3. Identifying the different roles People: Sustainability profession, leaders

people play in delivering sustainable (organisational), wider professions,
outcomes everyone
5.4. Outlining the tools, techniques,

systems and/or practices used
by organisations to manage
compliance and non-compliance
Innovative and Leading Practices
6. Outline the role of 6.1. Identifying examples of innovation
innovation and other and other leading practices in
leading practices in developing sustainable products and
developing sustainable services or providing sustainable
products and services solutions
and providing
sustainable solutions
Knowledge of Skills

KNOWLEDGE BY…)
Analytical Thinking
7. Collect data, perform 7.1. Identifying relevant sources of data Data: Absolute and Normalised data,
analysis, and evaluate and describing techniques used to Qualitative and Quantitative data
information collect, process, and store accurate
data
7.2. Explaining the importance of
relevant and accurate data
7.3 Describing how to analyse and
interpret data/information to draw
appropriate conclusions and make
practical recommendations that
improve sustainability performance
7.4. Describing methods to monitor a
programme to improve sustainability
performance
Problem Reframing and Resolution
8. Research and plan to 8.1 Identifying the benefits of research, Innovations: Academic research,
provide sustainable planning and keeping up-to- developments by competitors, other
solutions date with innovations providing sectors and wider stakeholders, new
sustainable solutions business models
Effective Communication
9. Deliver effective 9.1 Explaining the role effective Internal Stakeholders: Leadership
communication and communication plays in achieving Team, Operations, Finance, Other
capture feedback sustainable outcomes Specific Departments, All Staff
9.2. Identifying a range of internal and External Stakeholders: Partners, Clients,
external stakeholders Customers, Suppliers, Shareholders,
9.3. Identifying different communication Regulators, Local Community
methods that provide information
and capture feedback
Relationship Development
10. Engage with 10.1. Identifying the benefits of
stakeholders collaboration and cooperation
in responding to sustainability
challenges, particularly when facing
similar issues
KNOWLEDGE BY…)
Resilience, Risk and Continual Improvement
11. Outline tools and 11.1. Outlining tools and techniques that Risks and Opportunities: At an
techniques that identify can be used to identify risks and operational and organisational level, risks
opportunities and risks opportunities and opportunities to the environment,
risks and opportunities presented by a
changing environment
Delivering Sustainable Solutions
12. Identify and propose 12.1. Outlining how a long-term vision
ways to improve for sustainability, with milestones
performance and targets, can improve
sustainability performance
12.2. Identifying key project management
techniques that, when used, can
deliver sustainable outcomes
12.3. Outlining how a financial return
on investment and wider benefits
can create a business case for
sustainability
12.4. Outlining how contracting
and procurement can be a
vital component of improving
sustainability performance
Leadership for Change
13 Support change and 13.1. Outlining the principles of change
transformation to management
improve sustainability
Thinking about quality training that focuses on environmental
and sustainable solutions? IEMA provides IEMA Certiﬁed and
Approved courses through our Training Centres. Whether
you’re looking for individual training or global business
solutions, our team are on hand to help.
Visit iema.net/training
IEMA – Transforming the world to sustainability
© World Copyright 2021.

IEMA
+44 (0)1522 540069 | info@iema.net | iema.net

IEMA, City Office Park, Tritton Road, Lincoln, LN6 7AS

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Foundation Certificate in

Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Contents 3

4 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Contents

Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Contents 5

6 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Contents

The course is the equivalent of 40 guided learning

The course materials have been designed by IEMA and

Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Introduction 7

2. Outline sustainable business/governance principles

8 Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management – Learner Notes | Introduction

About sustainability Definition of sustainable development

Sustainability has been broadly applied to

Figure 1 – Three pillars of sustainability

Environmental sustainability (a related term) is

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): – Figure 3.1

Multiple considerations for sustainability including drop in carbon emissions, improved

Figure 3 – WEF Global Risks for 2021

Mega-trends relate to a wide variety of large-scale COUNTRY

environmental, social and economic changes, varying

big data and cybersecurity.

Key mega-trends include: Russia 2.4

a larger ecological footprint – e.g. if the global

Population Human population growth was fairly constant until the

MILESTONE (BILLIONS) YEAR ACHIEVED YEARS TO ACHIEVE ADDITIONAL 1 BILLION PEOPLE

Figure 5 – Global population growth projections from the United Nations

People with Income between US$6,000 and US$30,000 in Millions of People

Figure 6 – Growth of population in middle income bracket and projections to 2050

Figure 7 – Projected growth in global energy consumption

Where recycling is carried out under controlled

Rare earth elements are used in a wide range of

Figure 8 – Burning of electrical cables to recover

It’s a relatively cheap and effective process, but it uses a

Solutions include resource efficiency, circular economy

Figure 11 – Lithium mining in Bolivia

How Planetary Boundaries have Changed since 1950

Figure 12 – Planetary boundaries

Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations (ppm) 350 >400

4. Ocean Global mean saturation state of aragonite in surface seawater

5. Phosphorus flow from freshwater systems to oceans (millions of

7. Freshwater use Global human consumption of water (km3/yr) 4,000 2,600

8. Atmospheric Overall particulate concentration in the atmosphere, on a

9. Introduction of Concentration of organic pollutants, radioactive materials, nano-

human deprivations – such as hunger, illiteracy,

be to ensure that all people are free from such

deprivations and are empowered with the rights and

education resources needed to provide a social foundation for

The datasets on planetary boundaries and the social

DE floor aspects from Doughnut Economics can be

ch combined to give an overall picture of global sustainable

Figure 13 – Doughnut Economics concept

The social foundation forms an inner boundary, in

Figure 14 – Planetary boundaries and social floor data

The science and causes of climate change

The Greenhouse Effect

Some solar radiation is

EARTH Some infrared radiation is

GREENHOUSE GAS POTENCY AVERAGE RESIDENCE TIME

Figure 16 – Concentration of carbon

Climate change by numbers

• Targets covered all GHGs, not just CO2.

• Targets were legally binding – failure to comply

The Protocol ‘operationalises’ the UNFCCC, but

• A commitment to keep global warming to

• The Agreement was signed by 177 UNFCCC