Manual on the Development of Cleaner Production Policies ... - Unido

DEVELOPMENT OF CP POLICY
MODULE 5: POLICY TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS
5. Environmental management accounting
Conventional costing systems used in enterprises have several limitations, inter alia they do not
take into account environmental costs and liabilities. Environmental management accounting is a
tool of corporate environmental management. It is based on the premises that good environmental
management by business and other organizations will become increasingly important; secondly,
that accounting and financial management techniques can help to support this, to the mutual
benefit of both the organization’s environmental management function and its accounting and
finance function.
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6. Occupational health and safety
This is an area being promoted by trade and labour unions, because environmental problems are
often synonymous with occupational health problems. In addition to its beneficial impact on the
workplace, CP helps minimize environmental risks. The International Labour Organization has
been increasingly active in promoting preventive environmental management.
SLIDE: Reasons to be optimistic about CP
• Developing regulatory framework and increasing pressure for
enforcement;
• Progress in the application of market-based instruments;☺
• Realistic resource pricing;
• Success of some of the CP Centres;☺
• Competitiveness and market pressures;
• Increased effort on policy development.☺
This can be the closing slide, by presenting factors that support Cleaner
Production. Even though it is included in module 5, the slide can be used to end
a meeting on most modules. The closing conclusions of the meeting should be
optimistic and constructive, and it is important to agree on follow-up activities.
Background
Despite its obvious economic and environmental benefits, CP has been gaining ground rather slowly.
There are, however, some reasons for optimism when considering the future implementation of CP,
thanks to existing or emerging “sticks” and “carrots”.
The first “stick” is that environmental regulations are being developed more effectively, in part thanks
to international support and the transfer of experience from one country to another. Public pressure to
enforce environmental regulations has also been on the increase. This is accompanied by a “carrot” of
a growing use of market-based instruments in environmental protection. Economic instruments, based
on the polluter-pays principle, are more effective in stimulating implementation of CP projects.
Similarly, the pricing of resources becomes more realistic with the general trend towards covering at
the very least their production costs (e.g. water and electricity). While there is some debate on how to
put a value on environmental costs, the fact is that the increased price of resources is forcing some
companies to implement CP cost-saving programmes.
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