Environmental policy is the concern and development of objectives with the purpose of improving the environment, conserving the natural principles of human life and promoting sustainable development. In both the public and private spheres, environmental awareness is growing. In companies, ISO 14001 or EMAS certificates certify that they use environmental management systems. In this Green Ecologist article, we explain everything about the what is environmental policy and examples, in addition to influencing what are the principles of environmental policy.
What is environmental policy and its principles
What is environmental policy? Well explained in a simple way, the environmental policy It is the concern to help improve and take care of the environment, preserve the natural principles of humans and promote sustainable development, through setting clear short and long-term objectives related to all this together.
In addition, environmental policies can be defined such as strategies that are carried out from the different institutions, both national and international, that through the development and application of different environmental regulations, seek deal with environmental problems existing.
At the global level, we find that the UN has a specialized body, whose main mission is to promote international cooperation in matters related to the environment, as well as to assess environmental conditions at the global, regional and national levels, developing for this national and international strategies, this body is UNEP (United Nations Environment Program), whose importance is indisputable, which contributes to the application of environmental law by developing regulations and strengthening institutions for the rational management of the environment, acting in turn, as a coordinating body on environmental matters within the United Nations.
Regarding the EU, environmental policies at European level focus on:
Promote an innovative and circular economy in which biodiversity is protected, valued and restored and health risks derived from environmental problems are minimized, enhancing the resilience of society by decoupling growth from the use of resources .
Regarding the main principles that govern these policies, they are included in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), specifically in its article 191 and are those of caution, prevention, and the principle of "whoever pollutes pays" .
In summary, the principles of environmental policies for sustainable development to achieve clean and ecological economic growth are:
- The responsibility principle environmental: we can all improve our environment.
- The prevention principleBetter to prevent than to correct ecological disasters.
- The substitution principle of dangerous substances for others less polluting and processes of high energy consumption for others more efficient.
- The polluter pays in cases where environmental damage cannot be prevented.
- The consistency principle which requires the coordination of environmental policies with other departments and the integration of environmental objectives.
- Principle of cooperation in social groups that work with objectives of environmental improvement and its realization is essential.
- Environmental policies should always be based on the results of scientific research.
What are the general principles of environmental policy and their meaning
When we speak of general principles, we are dealing with the main "ideas" that will serve as basis for the elaboration of the different environmental regulations. In short, they are the structural basis on which the different strategies related to environmental protection will be sustained. These are the two main ones in environmental policies:
Principles of precaution and prevention
They focus on the main purpose of managing risk, this means that, in cases where there is a suspicion of negative effects on human health or the environment derived from certain policies or actions, in these cases and after a prior evaluation objective scientific, if it cannot be assured that these negative effects will not occur, it will always be chosen not to continue with said policies or actions. An example of the application of this principle, we have it in cases in which a doubt arises about the possible harmful effects of a certain product, if after the corresponding scientific evaluation, these doubts persist, the withdrawal of said product should always be chosen. From the market.
"Whoever pollutes pays"
It is undoubtedly the "principle par excellence" of environmental law policies, its main application is carried out through the Directive on environmental liability, with the aim of preventing damage to the environment or remedying those that have already occurred. Basically it translates into the principle by which professional activities that threaten the environment have an additional tax derived from said risk, paying for both preventive and reparative actions of the damage.
How should environmental policy be - summary
Environmental policy is a management model adopted by an entity or company to relate to the environment and natural resources. This must begin with an environmental commitment, a document that should govern all activity in the company and that should reflect the basic points of environmental policy.
Some of the points to be included in this environmental commitment that will guide the company's policy are:
- They will always act according to the laws and regulations of environmental management.
- Any environmental impact will be minimized as much as possible.
- The waste generated will be minimized as much as possible.
- Reuse and recycling will be advocated.
- Risks at the patrimonial, occupational and environmental level will be prevented.
- Environmental audits will be carried out periodically to ensure that the established points are met.
Environmental policy: ISO 14001 example
The ISO 14001 2015 It is the standard that stipulates the contents that must be present in the quality policy of a company in environmental matters. It marks the points that the management must implement, maintain and enforce around the environmental policy in your company. Among the things that the norm imposes is that:
- The context of the company's operations and the environmental impacts that may arise from its activity must be established.
- The frame of reference must be set so that the objectives are established at the environmental level.
- It must include a commitment to environmental protection, which must necessarily prevent pollution, use resources sustainably, mitigate climate change and protect ecosystems as well as biodiversity.
- Legal commitments must be included.
- A commitment to improve the Environmental Management System must be included.
What's more, environmental policies should:
- Stay documented.
- Be communicated to all members of the company.
- Be available to any interested party.
Environmental policy: examples
Environmental policy is something that must be present in all companies, from the smallest to the largest multinationals. There are a large number of aspects that we can take into account when following appropriate environmental measures, here are some of them. examples of environmental policy:
- Change the vehicle fleet for electric vehicles, such as electric bicycles or electric cars.
- Recycle the paper that is used and always use recycled paper.
- Avoid printing all those documents that are not strictly necessary.
- Train, communicate and educate workers in ecological practice.
- Promote ecological activities under the aegis of the company, for example, going out to clean the forest or plant trees.
- Reduce the environmental impact of the company: air conditioning, heating, electricity and water.
Environmental policy: the United Nations climate change summits
The main expression of environmental policies, arises from the summits on climate change, in which the member states of the UN meet to manage and create the agreements on which the environmental regulations will be governed. From these summits, the main international treaties and conventions on which current environmental policies rest have emerged, an example of these are the Kyoto Protocol, agreed in 1997, whose main objective is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Paris agreement, adopted at the Paris climate summit in 2015 with the aim of fighting against climate change, which will begin to apply in 2022, as well as the 2030 agenda, including the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, successors to the Millennium Development Goals, approved during the Millennium Summit in 2000 at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
In the year 2022 the Climate Summit in Madrid, with the aim of promoting global action against climate emergency and implement the Paris Agreement in 2022, as well as get the different countries to commit to a greater reduction of CO2 throughout 2022. It is still too early to know what objectives have been achieved and what they will consist of, since it has It has been a summit that is not without controversy, and has been extended to include the entire weekend due to the impossibility of the different countries to reach agreements.
Agenda 2030, a clear example of environmental policy
One of the greatest examples of environmental policy worldwide, we find it within the 2030 Agenda, which includes the Sustainable Development Goals, constituting an action plan agreed by the UN member countries to, among other goals, protect the environment and combat climate change at the global level.
The Sustainable Development Goals are 17, among which, in terms of the environment, we find the following:
- Guarantee the availability of water and its sustainable management.
- Guarantee access to affordable, safe, sustainable and modern energy.
- Guarantee sustainable consumption and production patterns.
- Adopt urgent measures to combat climate change and its effects (taking note of the agreements concluded in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).
- Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
- Protect, restore and promote the use of terrestrial ecosystems.
- Carry out a sustainable management of forests.
- Fight against desertification, stop and reverse land degradation.
- Put a stop to the loss of biological diversity.
The goals included in the 2030 Agenda are expressed as global aspirationsThe governments of each country will set their own national goals, taking into consideration the circumstances in which each country finds itself, but always pursuing the common objective. Find out more about this agenda to improve the environment in this other Green Ecologist article on What is the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.
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