EMB seeks ISO certification

The Environmental Management Bureau under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the premier agency responsible for the conservation and protection of the country’s environment, is currently undertaking an environmental management system (EMS) leading to ISO 14001 certification.

The EMS project was launched on May 4, 2001 with Secretary Heherson T. Alvarez as keynote speaker. Alvarez described the EMS as "a new ethic and a new culture."

In line with this, the EMB-DENR has embarked on certain activities following the ISO 14001 standards. These include an environmental review and conduct of training programs to internalize the value of EMS among the employees to facilitate their active involvement and participation in making it work in the bureau.

The ISO 14001-EMS model is an approach to environmental conservation suitable for any organization worldwide. It consists of a series of environmental standards and guidelines on environmental management systems and was published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a Switzerland-based organization of national bodies from more than 110 countries. (ISO comes from the Greek word "isos" which means equal.) The ISO 14001 document is also known in the country as Philippine National Standards (PNS) 1701. Several companies, most of them industries and hotels, have been awarded an ISO 14001 certification.

A fundamental information about ISO 14001 is that it does not replace any law or regulation. It recognizes that all management systems must have a well-defined and organized framework in undertaking relevant activities of the organization, while meeting its basic needs and objectives. An EMS presents a framework by which an organization responds to the impact of its activities on the environment while ensuring that its needs and objectives are likewise attained.

The EMS in the EMB-DENR is being pursued through the Industrial Initiatives for a Sustainable Environment (IISE) program, a USAID-assisted project of the department. The project aims to promote the adoption of the system, the pollution prevention/cleaner production (P2/CP) practices among industries in the country, especially those located or affecting the coastal areas in Visayas and Mindanao. It is the first of its kind in the world and in the Philippines, its main government partners are the DENR and the Department of Trade and Industry.

An awareness seminar was conducted at the DENR central office on Aug. 1 with the undersecretaries down to division chiefs as participants. Resource persons were consultants from the Environmental Compliance Consulting International.