BACKGROUND TO ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS:

Caring for the Environment has traditionally been a somewhat neglected subject; there are
many reasons for this. We, as individuals, tend to think that environmental problems only
affect “other people” , “on the other side of the world” and even then “not in our lifetime”.

Generally it is difficult to see what negative impact our individual actions could have on our
planet.

Conversely, we don’t see how our individual actions could possibly be significant enough to
help “heal” or put into “remission” our ailing planet - so what do the vast majority of people
and companies do? – ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! – a very frightening and potentially
cataclysmic scenario.

The true situation, however, is quite different…

Firstly, adverse environmental effects in one part of the world can have disastrous results in
other parts due, for example, to prevailing winds, people travelling from one part of the world
to the other, import/export of foodstuffs, bird migration etc.

There have been many notable examples of this, perhaps one of the most notorious being the
Chernobyl disaster of 1986 which resulted in radioactive deposits in many countries in the
northern hemisphere.

Secondly, a whole is only as good as its constituent parts; a Company is only as good as its
employees; an orchestra is only as good as each individual musician etc. Therefore, a
corporate effort to protect the Environment is the first step towards making our planet “well”
again.

In recent years there has been increasing global awareness of the need to protect our
environment. We must seek ways of achieving our global requirements for energy, food and
industrial products and services whilst, at the same time, providing for a sustainable
environment.

We only have one Earth - It may appear take a long time to destroy a part of our environment,
but, once destroyed or seriously impaired, it will take even longer to retrieve it - if at all
possible!!!

There is an increasing desire, by forward thinking companies, to achieve and demonstrate

sound environmental performance by monitoring and controlling the environmental impact of
their activities.

There is also increasing pressure from Governmental Authorities and many leading ‘blue
chip’ companies throughout the Middle East to adopt an Environmental Accountability
philosophy as a means of improving and thereafter sustaining the quality of life for everyone.

The International Standard ISO 14001 describes a system of management for

controlling and monitoring the environmental aspects and impacts of an organisation.