Book Description | Environmental certification is an effective tool for managing the environmental impact of companies, leveraging their competitive capabilities and ensuring their compliance with environmental principles. A growing number of countries across the world are adopting this practice and the growth of new environmental standards - with different scopes, aims and roles - calls for a clear and updated systematization of the issue. This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of the different environmental certification tools. As well as examining practical methods of implementing the standards for each type of certification, the book discusses their added value from a corporate management perspective. In identifying the most important requirements and standards for the issuing of environmental certification of both products and processes, the book demonstrates how companies can use operational methods to develop an environmental management system or a product certification in practice. Balancing a complete theoretical presentation of the issue with an operational perspective, the book supports the adoption and implementation of environmental certification tools. It will be a valuable resource for professionals as well as students and scholars of environmental management, sustainable business and corporate social responsibility. |
Editorial Review | Formerly restricted to accounting audits, certification practices have grown exponentially in recent years, notably in the area of environmental management. Written by experienced scholars and practitioners with a deep understanding of environmental certification, this book provides an enlightening, instructive and well documented synthesis of this little-known field. - Olivier Boiral, Universite Laval, director of the Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Development Management Standards - Canada "All readers, will find in this book much to stimulate their thinking on environmental management. Its contents, the variety of benefits coming from the adoption of enviromental initiatives are explored, and the practices and tools available are shown to the reader in a very practical way." - Victor Vazquez, Head of Environmental Department, Andalusian Institute of Technology - IAT - Spain "The book offers not only a comprehensive overview of the existing environmental management practices and certification schemes but successfully serves to a deep interpretation and understanding of the standards requirements and the necessary steps for their adoption and implementation, constituting itself into an excellent educational material for academics and practitioners." - Aida Szilagyi, chair of National Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (NCSPC) of Romania "In the context of climate change and other global environmental problems environmental management systems and approaches will become more important for companies in the near future. The book gives a complete overview of common standards and provides a valuable contribution to the topic how sustainable development can succeed in business." - Monika Brom, Deputy Head of Unit Sustainable Development - Environment Agency Austria "Chair of EU EMAS Competent Bodies - AustriaThe book exhaustively covers all main environment issues related to third party audits and recognitions, such as endorsements and certifications, including an effective recall on audit techniques adopted by the certification bodies. A valuable reference for all the "insiders"." - Zeno Beltrami, Business Development Manager at DNV GL Business Assurance, Region South Europe |