Promoting SCP patterns through the use of the voluntary, market-based EU Eco-Management and

Transcription

1 IMPACT SHEET SWITCH-ASIA PROJECT EMAS Global China: Environmental Management for Companies in China Accessing International markets through better international Certification Promoting SCP patterns through the use of the voluntary, market-based EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS)

2 IMPACT SHEET SWITCH-Asia project EMAS Global China: Environmental Management for Companies in China the challenge activities / strategy Products "made in China" are common today - with a daily increasing share of traded goods. However, there are justified concerns about the sustainability of production in China and its negative environmental and social impacts. The project is specifically addressing Cleaner Production, using the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) to bundle forces along the global supply-chain in a systemic approach to stimulate SCP. An EMAS registered entity can be measured by society regarding its policies and its performance. The public disclosure of companies' environmental performance through EMAS in China will thus contribute to an increased awareness about industrial impacts. EMAS is the premium environmental management system in place worldwide; the system goes beyond other standards (e.g. ISO standards) and its voluntary application requires a strong commitment of entrepreneurs. objective Capacity building ( Train the trainers ): Provide training to Chinese consultants so that they are able to coach SMEs for the implementation of EMAS. The training will put a strong focus on expert know-how, best practice examples, case studies, on the job training and marketing of EMAS global. The training materials will be used from various sources in the EU such as EMAS easy materials and EMAS training and information materials. Development of an enabling policy environment: Harmonise the certification, verification and registration procedures for in China located industrial sites. The partner set up of the proposed action is a guarantee that this complex matter can be sorted out within a reasonable short time. Concrete business intervention: Prepare SMEs for EMAS registration and assist SMEs in the full implementation of EMAS. The Chinese consultants on the job training will result in companies going through the preparation for EMAS registration. It is expected that 100 sites will reach EMAS registration and 300 fulfil all necessary requirements for registration. The overall objective is to promote sustainable production patterns through the voluntary, market-based EU Eco- Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) for in China located production sites to effectively improve communication and collaboration within the supply chain. The specific objectives are: To enable Chinese environmental consultants to support European and Chinese companies and their production sites in China in the implementation of EMAS Global, as a new opportunity for China to change towards sustainable production and consumption. To lead companies to EMAS implementation in a convoy approach, and to foster the uptake of EMAS Global by production sites of Chinese and European companies. Broad awareness raising & promotion: A series of marketing/training workshops and conferences combined with a marketing strategy will create interest among the target group. Specifically companies and sites working with European customers or belonging to European companies will be targeted in it. EMAS help-desk: Launch a help-desk to facilitate the implementation of EMAS Global in China. Similar to the EU helpdesk the Chinese consultants, verifiers and interested companies will have an EMAS helpdesk available online. The helpdesk will provide information and also direct answers to questions raised.

3 scaling-up strategy The project is not able to build on previous actions of the same theme due to the very new opportunity to register with EMAS globally. However, the project will build on existing experiences of the project partners to promote other international standards in China such as ISO standards. Furthermore the European project partners have experience with promoting EMAS in EU member states, e.g. through the EMAS helpdesk and through EMAS easy for SMEs. The European Commission has the objective of significantly increasing the number of EMAS registered organizations over the next years, and it has a vital interest in making the scheme available to international operations of European companies and to organizations worldwide. China, in particular, with its strong trade relations to the EU holds great potentials in terms of additional EMAS registrations. To stimulate scaling-up of EMAS-Global in China the project focuses on the capacity building of environmental management consultants, which will be an essential feature for further multiplication of the project activities. The scaling-up strategy involves: The core group of 50 trained Chinese environmental management consultants will pass on their gained knowledge to additional Chinese environmental management consultants (450); The train the trainers concept has a built-in scaling-up mechanism for the training of environmental management consultants to continue the EMAS Global implementation; The training materials will be developed in a way that they can be used by future EMAS Global trainers; Trained environmental consultants will be able to pass their knowledge to multiple company sites in China (with different NACE codes), and registered verifiers will help making a business case ensuring the sustainability of the action. TARGET GROUPS The primary target group is enterprises within China located production sites; foreign owned enterprises, joint-venture enterprises, and Chinese. The second target group is Chinese consultants, which will be required to effectively penetrate the market in the short to mid-term and to prepare enterprises for EMAS. The third target group are European environmental verifiers, who will cooperate with Chinese consultants in official EMAS Global audits in China, when auditing international supply-chains.

4 results With the support of trained Chinese service providers, company sites in China will implement EMAS Global and continuously improve their environmental performance. The impact of EMAS Global registered companies/sites on the environment includes: Reduction of energy consumption (kwh, tons of coal, etc.) per production unit leading to improved energy efficiency. Reduction of raw materials (in tons) and other production means such as water (m3) per production unit and leading to improved resource efficiency. Reduction of emissions, in particular greenhouse gas emissions (COeq). Reduction of waste (such as hazardous waste) per production unit leading to less waste and more recycling. Continuously improving their environmental performance with EMAS Global will also have an impact on the competitive position of these companies/sites: Profound knowledge and skills on strategic and systematic environmental management. Fewer costs due to more efficient use of resources. Better reputation in the market e.g. due to the impact on the brand "made in China". Facilitated access to green supply chains of European companies. In addition, the introduction of EMAS Global, which goes beyond ISO 14001, will have an impact on the environmental management landscape in China by leading to a higher standard of environmental management practices and thus creating a new benchmark for all companies/sites in the country: Enhanced credibility of company sites in China through third party verification by independent environmental verifiers. Reduced numbers of breaches with environmental law and better risk management through full check of legal compliance with applicable legal requirements. Increased transparency and accountability through validated environmental statement incl. reporting on environmental indicators. Enhanced employee commitment through systematic employee involvement and training. Finally, as a result of the engagement with political actors in China and the EU the proposed action will have an impact on the institutional setting and procedures which allow for EMAS Global registrations of company sites in China: As a front-runner project the proposed action will establish a solid institutional and procedural foundation for future EMAS Global implementation in China. Through the introduction of EMAS Global trade relations between China and EU will be strengthened e.g. through more transparency (e.g. EMAS environmental statements), consistency (through application of systematic management practices) and credibility (e.g. validated environmental data). EMAS position in the market will be strengthened through its globalisation.

5 IMPACT SHEET SWITCH-Asia project EMAS Global China: Environmental Management for Companies in China impact in numbers economic impact Remove industrial practices, which are not in line with international agreed code of conducts; increasing resource efficiency, which, in turn, improves financial performance environmental impact Reduced emissions and other negative environmental impacts; less harm for neighbours to production site; prevention of environmental disasters social impact Improved working conditions Engagement of target group Enterprises within China located production sites Chinese environmental consultants for management systems Certification and verification experts and their organisations Policy Linkages Chinese and European policy-makers have been involved in the dialogue about developing an enabling policy in order to make official EMAS Global registrations of production sites in China possible

6 China Legend Eligible Asian countries for the SWITCH-Asia programme Non-eligible Asian countries for the SWITCH-Asia Programme Project implementation area City Region Country The boundaries shown on this map do not imply on the part of the European Union any judgment on the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Objectives The project aims to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns through the use of the voluntary, market-based EU Eco- Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). Duration 3/2012 2/ project total budget 1,234, (EU contribution: 80%) PROJECT CONTACT Dr. PENG Sizhen Ms. QIN Yuan No.8 Yuyuantan South Road Haidian District Beijing China /4881 PROJECT CONSORTIUM The Administrative Centre for China's Agenda 21 (ACCA21) Centric Austria International (CAI) adelphi research ggmbh (Adelphi) China Quality Mark Certification Group Co.,Ltd (CQM) China Environmental United Certification Center Co., Ltd (CEC)