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tions become tighter, the standards people demand go up. So the second
cycle will go further than the first, and the process will continue, each suc-
cessive phase building on and improving on what went before.
It should not need saying (but possibly it does) that throughout the entire
process it is vital to ensure that you speak – and listen – to everyone who
has agreed to support it, in order to make sure that they continue to do
so. Feeling that you are being ignored is a very effective route to losing
confidence in someone else’s big idea. Also, make sure you try continu-
ally to win new supporters, and explain what you are doing to the public –
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
One potentially useful tool that businesses as well as local administration
can make use of for the process of starting to work towards climate neu-
trality is an environmental (or sustainability) management system or EMS
based on a simple principle, the Continual Improvement Cycle:
Plan – Do
– Check – Act
. An EMS focuses on environmental management practices,
rather than the activities themselves, so it will ensure that proper proce-
dures are in place and training for workers exists, but it will not specify the
methods to use or the frequency that a pollutant needs to be sampled or
monitored.
It can assure managers that they are in control of processes and activities
that impact on the environment, and confirm to employees that they are
working for an environmentally responsible organization. Beyond this, it
helps the company to provide assurance on environmental issues to cus-
tomers, the community and regulators, and to ensure compliance with en-
vironmental regulations.
The basic EMS framework is established by the international standard ISO
14001 (developed by the International Organization for Standardization).
Another EMS framework is EMAS, the European Eco Management and Au-
dit Scheme, used by numerous companies throughout the EU. Many local