CHAPTER 6 PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF EVOLVING STANDARDS

• Jurisdiction: United States

International Environmental Law for Natural Resources Practitioners
(Mar 1997)
CHAPTER 6
PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF EVOLVING STANDARDS
Rob Abbott
Golder Associates, Ltd.
Vancouver, British Columbia Canada

CONTEXT:

"I am persuaded that the 21st Century will be decisive for the human species. We are pushing to the limits this planet's capacity to support human life. This confronts us with a challenge of unprecendented proportion; we literally must manage our own future" .Maurice StrongSecretary-General1992 Rio Earth SummitSenior Advisor to the World Bank President

CONTEXT: Part Two

"The time when environmental strategy meant fending off regulation for as long as possible and then doing the bare minimum to comply is long gone."

The McKinsey Quarterly, 1995 Number 2, "The Real Green Issue", p.136

THE ABC's OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN THE GLOBAL MARKET PLACE

• ISO 14000

• World Bank

• OPIC

• International Council on Metals and the Environment

• Host country standards

• United States EPA requirements

• The Natural Step Program

• EMAS

• World Business Council on Sustainable Development

• GEMI

• CERES

And on...and on...and on...

TOP TEN ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS:

10. Corporate Liability

9. The environmental function in firms

8. Environmental reporting

7. Investment/shareholder activism

6. Political Intervention

5. Markets & Trade

4. Interest Group Behaviour

3. Public Attitudes

2. Non-regulatory Initiatives

1. Environmental regulation

1. ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION:

becoming more stringent & complex

• public trust a key determinant

• where public trust is low, laws and regulations are being made tougher

• where public trust is higher, some regulatory agencies are prepared to enter into cooperative programs with firms or industries

• where the issues involved are publicly contentious, governments are turning to or even establishing third-party, arms-length organizations to confirm compliance

2. NON-REGULATORY INITIATIVES:

becoming more common, global and binding.

• non-regulatory environmental initiatives are becoming more competitive, detailed and prescriptive

• environmental certification systems are currently being actively investigated, tested and debated and recent European initiatives — on eco-auditing and labeling, and the establishment of "buyers groups" focused on environmental issues —are beginning to influence thinking in North America

3. PUBLIC ATTITUDES:

public concern about environmental quality is a fundamental social value not subject to diminishment or reversal

• public concern about environmental quality is now a well established core value in western industrialized societies

• the perceived threat of deforestation and/or loss of global biological resilience geniunely worries people

• the potential impact (particularly on children and human and animal reproductive systems) of the accumulation of persistent toxins or contaminants geniunely worries people

4. INTEREST GROUP BEHAVIOUR:

becoming more professional and sophisticated

• pressure groups are developing new tactics and technologies

• ability to influence...