Electricity Generated (PJ)
1000
500
100
50
10
5
1
.5
.1
.05
.01
Specific SO Emissions (Mt/PJ)
4
3
2
1
0
2
Figure 2 Larger
companies are not always
cleaner: SO
emissions by
electricity generators
(Source: Berkhout et al.)
improving environmental performance. We used the MEPI data to investigate
whether companies registered/certified with environmental management systems
(either ISO 14000 or EMAS) demonstrated significantly better performance.* We
found no evidence of a link between environmental management and environmental
performance in firms in the electricity, pulp and paper, textile finishing and
printing sectors. In the fertilizer sector we found only limited evidence of a
relationship: firms with environmental management systems tended to emit more
nitrogen oxides to air, and less nitrogen to water. Looking at individual
production sites we found evidence of only one positive relationship between
environmental management and performance. Paper mills certified with ISO or
EMAS had lower COD emissions to water, although this was not a statistically
significant result. There was also a negative result. Fossil-fuel based electricity
generators with ISO certification perform worse over a number of indicators than
those without.
9 Conclusions and Issues for Policy
A number of policy conclusions can be drawn from the results of the MEPI study.
Supporting an Extension of Transparency
There are a number of reasons why transparency is becoming a key principle in
environmental policy:
* About 15% of the companies in the MEPI database have ISO or EMAS certified systems.
F. Berkhout
182
1000
500
100
50
10
5
1
.5
.1
.05
.01
Specific SO Emissions (Mt/PJ)
4
3
2
1
0
2
Figure 2 Larger
companies are not always
cleaner: SO
emissions by
electricity generators
(Source: Berkhout et al.)
improving environmental performance. We used the MEPI data to investigate
whether companies registered/certified with environmental management systems
(either ISO 14000 or EMAS) demonstrated significantly better performance.* We
found no evidence of a link between environmental management and environmental
performance in firms in the electricity, pulp and paper, textile finishing and
printing sectors. In the fertilizer sector we found only limited evidence of a
relationship: firms with environmental management systems tended to emit more
nitrogen oxides to air, and less nitrogen to water. Looking at individual
production sites we found evidence of only one positive relationship between
environmental management and performance. Paper mills certified with ISO or
EMAS had lower COD emissions to water, although this was not a statistically
significant result. There was also a negative result. Fossil-fuel based electricity
generators with ISO certification perform worse over a number of indicators than
those without.
9 Conclusions and Issues for Policy
A number of policy conclusions can be drawn from the results of the MEPI study.
Supporting an Extension of Transparency
There are a number of reasons why transparency is becoming a key principle in
environmental policy:
* About 15% of the companies in the MEPI database have ISO or EMAS certified systems.
F. Berkhout
182