Dimension of Corporate

Accountability Across all Business

Sectors
Bondad, Justine Rae B.
Inefficient resource use Resource productivity

End-of-pipe technology Cleaner production

Public relations Corporate governance

Reactive Proactive

Management systems Life-cycles, business design

Passive communication Multi-stakeholder dialogue

Linear/throughput Closed-loop approach

approach

Confidentiality Openness and transparency

For business, environmental responsibility entails:
1. “The responsible and ethical management of products and
processes from the point of view of:
• Health,
• Safety and
• Environmental aspects
2. Towards this end, business and industry should:
• Increase self-regulation,
• Guided by appropriate codes,
• Charters and initiatives integrated into all elements of business
planning and decision-making,
• Fostering openness and dialogue with employees and the public.
Integrating Environmental into Business:
“A greater commitment by the private sector should be pursued to
engender a new culture of environmental accountability through:
• The application of the polluter-pays principle
• Environmental performance indicators and reporting
• The establishment of precautionary approach in investment
and technology decisions.
Characteristics of Environmental Responsibility
1. Applying a precautionary approach
2. Adopting the same operating standards regardless of location
3. Integrating environmental considerations in the supply-chain
4. Facilitating transfer of environmental technology
5. Contributing to environmental awareness in company locations
6. Communicating openly with the local community
Business Paradigm for Environmental
Responsibility
 Improve resource  Asset for recruitment
productivity
 New economic instruments  Environmental pollution
(taxes, charges, trade threatens human health
permits)  Customers are demanding
 Environmental regulations cleaner products
are becoming tougher
 Favorable insurance cover for  International trade barriers
lower risk companies  Reduce liabilities
 Easier lending terms for
banks
 Positive effect on a company’s
image
 Obtaining management
commitment for environment
for environmental responsibility
Identify the affected persons and key issues by
asking:
 Who in the company currently has authority to issue policies?
 Who has a responsibility for environmental issues?
 What are the most critical environmental issues facing the
company?
 What are the main risks and opportunities associated with these
issues?
 Which line managers are most directly affected by these issues?
 What are the resource implications of addressing the
risks/opportunities?
 What further information is needed to develop an environmental
plan?
Tools for Corporate Environmental Responsibility:
 Environmental Management Tools
oEnvironmental Management Systems- ISO 14001; EMAS
Environmental Assessment Tools
Environmental Monitoring and Auditing Tools
Environmental Reporting and Communication Tools
Environmental Management Strategies
 Cleaner Production, Sustainable Consumption and Eco- efficiency
 Life-cycle management
 Design for the Environment/ Eco-design
 Product stewardship
 Product-services systems
 Industrial ecology
An EMS helps a company to:
• Identify and control its environmental aspects, impacts and risks
• Achieve compliance with environmental legislation
• Define principles to guide future environmental responsibilities
• Establish short, medium and long-term goals for environmental performance
• Determine resources needed to achieve those goals
• Balance costs and benefits for all stakeholders
• Define and document specific tasks, responsibilities, authorities and
procedures
• Communicate these throughout the organization, and train people
• Measure performance against pre-agreed standards and goals, and modify as
necessary
Other Environmental Tools
• Tools for Corporate Environmental Responsibility
• Environmental Assessment Tools
• Environmental Impact Assessment
• Environmental Risk Assessment
• Cleaner Production Opportunity Assessment
• Environmental Technology Assessment
• Life-Cycle Assessment
• Total Cost Assessment
 Scientific Change

Predictive
techniques
Accountability,
Design and others
Engineering Stakeholders
change Empowerment

Values, visioning, Awareness,

deign decisions,
others EIA Environmental
capacity, others

Institutional change
Corporate change
Environmental
capacity, Consent
Beliefs, structure, decision,
economic, others Accountability,
others
Environmental Assessment Tools to Help Identify
Business:
 Risks that could lead to losses for company. For example from:
o Contamination of a product such that it is unacceptable for markets
o Injury or illness of workers or local communities
o A pollution problem that undermines the position of the enterprise in the
national or international market
Opportunities that could lead to gains. For example from:
o The reduction of energy and resource consumption and therefore cost of
production
o Reducing pollution or recycling wastes
o Selling the product to a market which imposes environmental
requirements
PHILIPPINE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
STATEMENT (EIS) SYSYTEM
• Provides the legal and procedural framework for conducting
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIAs) for projects likely to have
significant environment impact.
• Formally established in 1978 through Presidential Decree (PD) 1586
that designated the following as implementing agencies:
a. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
b. Environmental Management Bureau (EMB)
c. DENR Regional Offices
• Designated to safeguard the Philippine environment and natural
resources in the face of growing industrialization and urbanization.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
(EIA)

EIA
• It also includes designing appropriate preventive, mitigating,
and enhancement measures addressing these consequences
to protect the environment and the community welfare.

• It is the systematic process that examines the

EIA environmental consequences of development actions
in advance.

EIA
• The emphasis, compared with other mechanisms for
environmental protection is on prevention. EIA
therefore, is a planning tool.
Detailed Usage of EIA
EIA is a decision making process for impacts on the
environment resulting from human activities.

EIA is a legislated element of the project

development process.

EIA processes vary in terms of the types of projects to which they

apply whether the assessment must consider effects of all phase of
the project life cycle or just a specific phase of the whole project.

There are also variations in the scope of factors

(environmental, social, and economic) that are
given premium attention.
Historical Statues as the Basis of the EIS
 Section 16 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution
 Presidential Decree (PD) 1151 AND 1152 in 1977
 Presidential Decree 1586 in 1978 or the Philippine EIS System
 The Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of PD 1586 in
1979
 Executive Orders (No. 291 and AO 42)
 Monitoring,
E S Screening Validation, &
I T Evaluation

A A
G Decision
Scoping
E Making
S
EIA Study, EIA Report
Report Review &
Preparation Evaluation
Screening It is the stage that determines whether a project is covered or
not covered by the PEISS. If a project is covered, screening
further determines what type of documents the project should
prepare to secure the needed approval and what are the rest of
the requirements are in terms of EMB Office4 application,
endorsement and decision making authorities and duration of
processing.

Scoping This identifies the most significant issues/impacts of the

proposed project, and then delimits the extent of baseline
information to those necessary to evaluate and mitigate
the project’s impact.

EIA Study This involves the description of the proposed project and
& Report its alternatives, characterization of the project
Preparatio environment, impact identification and prediction,
evaluation of impact significance.
n
EIA Report An EMB procedural screening for compliance to minimum
Review & requirements specified during the scoping, followed by a
substantive review of either composed third party experts
Evaluation commissioned by EMB as the EIA review committee for
PEIS/EIS-based applications, or DENR/EMB internal specialists,
the Technical Committee for IEE-based application.

Decision This involves the evaluation of EIA recommendations and the

Making draft decision document resulting to the issuance of an ECC,
CNC or Denial Letter. When approved, a covered project its
Certificate of Environmental Commitment Certificate (ECC)
while an application of a non-covered project is issued a
Certificate of Non-Coverage (CNC).

Monitorin Assesses performance of the Proponent against the ECC and its
g, commitments in the Environmental Management and
Monitoring Plan to ensure actual impacts of the project are
Validation adequately prevented or mitigated.
&
Evaluation
What should be monitored? Who should monitor?
Project
compliance with
the conditions Project
stipulated in the Multipartite
ECC & EMO Proponent/
Proponent’s Monitoring
Concerned
conduct of self- Team
monitoring Company
Complaints, &
recommended
measures to address Office of the
the complaints
Preparation,
Environmental
integration & Management
dissemination of
simplified
Bureau
validation reports
to community
stakeholders