Environmental protection systems of Dutch government authorities, 2002
Seventy per cent of national government authorities have implemented environmental protection systems in their organisations in full or in part; this percentage is much lower for the other government authorities.
Environmental protection systems of central government
Seventy per cent of the government authorities that responded had internal environmental protection systems - for all or part of the organisation - that meet the requirements of ISO-14001 or the EMAS standard. The systems of 30% of the institutions have also been certified.
Environmental protection systems of provincial authorities
Four of the twelve provincial authorities (33%) had environmental protection systems for all or part of the organisation that meet the appropriate standard. On average, these environmental protection systems have been implemented in 7% of the organisations. One province also has a system that has been certified under ISO-14001.
Environmental protection systems of municipal authorities
Approximately 9% of the municipal authorities which responded (44%) have introduced environmental protection systems in full or in part that meet the ISO-14001 or EMAS standard. The systems have been implemented in 64% of the organisations. The environmental protection systems of 1% of the response group have also been certified. However, many municipal authorities have internal environmental protection systems which do not meet the required standard.
Environmental protection systems of water boards
Approximately 27% of the responding water boards (69%) have environmental protection systems that meet the ISO-14001 or EMAS standard. The systems have been implemented in 27% of the organisations. The environmental protection systems have also been certified at four water boards (13%).
Policy relating to government environmental protection systems
The national implementation programme "Prevention, the road to sustainable enterprise 2001-2005" was adopted in late 2001. It has been agreed that government organisations will have operational internal environmental protection systems no later than in 2004. These systems will be required to meet the requirements of ISO-14001 or EMAS (community environmental management and audit system). An environmental protection system makes the environmental activities of an organisation transparent, measurable and plannable. It should include the following elements:
- schedule set out in a programme or plan for the introduction of environmental protection;
- implementation and integration in operations and environmental coordination;
- measurement and evaluation by, for example, registration, internal audits and education, internal and external reporting and auditing of the environmental protection system as a whole.
Technical note
In the context of the monitoring and evaluation of government performance, the Association of Provincial Authorities (IPO) questions all provincial authorities annually about their environment policy. Approximately 50% of the nearly 500 municipal authorities replied in 2002. The indicator is based on the responses of these municipal authorities unless otherwise stated in Annex C of the annual report. It is not known whether the presented figures are representative for all municipal authorities.
In the context of the 'IPO Environment, Agriculture, Water and Nature Report', the IPO questions all provincial authorities annually about their environment policy. The figures presented are based on data from all the provincial authorities unless otherwise stated in the text.
References
- CCO (2003). Overheidsmonitor, Jaarrapportage 2002. Coördinatiecommissie Overheidsmonitoring, Milieumonitor Nr. 10.
Relevant sections and indicators in the Environmental Data Compendium
- Monitoring government performance
- Company environmental plans, 2000 (page is not available yet)
- Sustainable industrial estates in the Netherlands by province, 2001
- Guide to 'Permits' section
- Guide to 'Enforcement and implementation' section
