Jargon Buster

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From Access Economy to Zero Carbon – here’s the Jargon Buster Environment A-Z   The environmental industry can seem a little cliquey to the outsider. Maybe we talk in TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms!), abbreviations or just use words that are so outside the sphere of ‘normal people’. For years I have tried to avoid using the term ‘sustainability’ because it immediately turned people off – using ‘environmental’ (even though this is only one of the three elements of sustainability) makes it immediately more understandable. As experts we want to get it right, but we do have to consider our audience. The environmental news site edie has helpfully put together a Jargon Buster. This is a useful tool if you can’t tell the difference between carbon neutral & net zero; can’t get your head around biomimicry or biodiversity; want to get to grips with ISO 14001 & ISO 50001; or to differentiate between supply chain & value chain. This helps you cut through complexity and get straight...
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Remote Auditing Webinar

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Remote Auditing Webinar In response to substantial demand & addressing a significant need in the industry, I recently was part of a webinar put on by IEMA on remote environmental auditing. This was for IEMA’s “Adapting to COVID-19” series, helping environmental professionals adapt to new ways of working during the lockdown & beyond. I was part of the panel of experts, reflecting on my experiences of running remote audits – the benefits & pitfalls, plus also how to prepare. The webinar was chaired by Nigel Leehane, an experienced auditor & consultant. Myself & Neal Barker of WSP gave the auditor’s perspective, and we heard from the auditees: Nigel Sagar of Skanska & Matthew Goldberg of National Grid. We were also joined in the Q&A by Paul Greenwood of UKAS.   Remote Auditing - The Key Points The key points I shared, from an auditor’s point of view included: Test the technology – new systems, connectivity, security restrictions. Firstly – technology: Zoom, Teams, facetime, whatsapp. Does it work (for both...
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ISO 14001 & the SDGs

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ISO 14001 & the SDGs ... Can your EMS save the world? I was pleased to recently deliver a webinar for BSI & IEMA on Using ISO 14001 to support delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. A Trucost report showed SDG alignment generated $233bn in revenue for 13 of the world’s largest companies last year. But wider research by KPMG showed companies are struggling to get boardroom buy-in and PwC found 40% are still not meaningfully engaging with SDGs. There are clearly business opportunities, but do they know how to deliver the Global Goals within the organisation? My webinar examined how using a structured system like ISO 14001, this could be achieved.   UN SDGs - The Global Goals There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals, supported by 169 targets (see my blog for more info). 8 of these SDGs can be directly delivered using an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS), and 4 indirectly. I discussed the relevant targets for each goal & how they...
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Hear me speak

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Hear me speak (summer/autumn 2018) I have a number of speaking engagements over the next couple of months, including the following: 7th September: University of Sussex Business School conference Leading Organisations Through Change and Challenge - I will share my experiences of developing the vision for Gatwick Diamond Business & leading it through a significant period of change. Book here   17th October: Sustainable Business conference How to gain commercial benefit by putting the environment into the core of your business. Book here   22nd November: BSI webinar - ISO 14001 & the SDGs This webinar will examine how an ISO 14001 EMS can help your business deliver the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More details soon   I've been busy - here are some of my past events: 10th August: Sustainable Business Partnership breakfast What I learnt about Environmental Management Systems by riding a classic motorcycle over the Himalayas! 10th July: Gatwick Diamond Meet the Buyers seminar Opportunity Knocks: Growth through Innovation. You don't need to radically change your business to innovate; responding to customer's requirements for Environmental Management Systems can be enough....
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Getting Boardroom Buy-In

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Getting Boardroom Buy-In - my report back from edieLive Last week I attended the annual conference & exhibition edieLive at the NEC. It was a great mix of exhibitors, speakers, workshops & general networking. I met with clients & contacts - it’s always nice to have a catch up - plus I met plenty of new people - useful for collaborations, referrals, potential clients & simply learning from others. I also had a busy day in the Energy Efficiency Theatre, chairing & presenting two sessions. Here’s a summary of the main points I covered.   Getting Boardroom Buy-In Many environmental professionals have difficulties engaging with senior management, who may be too busy or simply not interested. So I gave some insights for getting boardroom buy-in. I first asked the simplest of questions - who are you trying to reach? This is Marketing 101 - you have to understand your target audience. I floated some ideas of what the Board wants & what’s important to a typical director. Then,...
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April 18 Newsletter – Risks & Opportunities

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April 18 Newsletter - Risks & Opportunities Eshcon regularly sends out an e-newsletter to contacts – here’s the latest from April 2018.   ISO 14001 Deadline is Looming I’m getting a lot of calls from companies realising they need to act before the September deadline to update their EMS to the new ISO 14001 standard. Here’s how to turn hassle into success. Are you ready for MEES? From April 2018 the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard requires properties to have an EPC rating of E or better. A landlord or a tenant, this can affect you. Making ESOS Work for You To make your next ESOS Assessment run smoothly, it’s worth the effort now to put in the processes to gather good quality energy data. The better the information you supply to your ESOS Assessor, the deeper they can analyse it for energy saving opportunities. Here are 5 Top Tips to help your ESOS Assessor. FSB Awards – Eshcon is Green Business of the Year I was thrilled to be recognised as...
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Energy Efficiency Grants

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Energy Efficiency Grants Did you know that there are grants & other finance opportunities available for businesses? Grants of up to £10,000 are available for energy efficiency works & other business development, though these will depend on your size (usually for SMEs), location & sector. Here are two examples of grants schemes that I know of in the South East.   LoCASE – business support for low carbon sector LoCASE is a scheme administered by the University of Brighton’s Green Growth Platform to drive green business growth in East Sussex, Kent & Essex. There are two elements of the grants scheme, firstly to help SMEs in low carbon & environment sectors with business growth & R&D grants. Grants of up to £10,000 covering 40% of the cost, for projects to help grow your business or develop new products & services. Grants can fund: Energy efficiency measures Development finance - to enable expansion of the business (e.g. marketing costs) Plant & machinery - including re-tooling & installation of...
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ISO 14001 Deadline Looming

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The ISO 14001 Deadline is Looming - Turning hassle into success If you have an ISO 14001 EMS you need to think now about updating to the new standard. The deadline for this is September 2018. I see that many organisations are worried about the doing the transition - they don’t know what’s involved, how to do it or whether they have the commitment from their bosses. You know what it feels like - it's a hassle, like pushing a boulder up a hill. So they leave it for now … then suddenly it’s mass panic to get it done in time! Take one company I helped recently, they first put in their EMS to show their customers just how committed to the environment they are. They already did lots of good green stuff but it was a bit sporadic & they wanted to shout about their successes - hence a formal ISO 14001 system. But their certification audit was looming - they were feeling...
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Combining your EMS & QMS

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Combining your EMS & QMS Got quality, now want environment? A number of my clients have a functioning Quality Management System, often certified to ISO 9001, and now want to manage their environmental impacts. Rather than starting with a blank piece of paper, it would make sense to use the existing system & adapt it to meet the needs of ISO 14001. Many of the ISO standards have changed recently, deliberately using the same high level structure (HLS) so that management systems can now be more easily merged – processes, responsibilities & documentation can be fully integrated. This reduces the amount of time and effort needed to fulfil the requirements. While there are differences between the two standards (such as environment-specific requirements in ISO 14001), they revolve around 10 common clauses: Clause 1 – Scope Clause 2 – Normative references Clause 3 – Terms and definitions Clause 4 – Context of the organisation Clause 5 – Leadership Clause 6 – Planning Clause 7 – Support Clause 8 – Operation Clause 9 – Performance...
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News for 2018

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Environment in Business - News for 2018 All companies should be embedding the environment into their business to get the commercial benefits. I work with organisations to identify improvements, calculate carbon emissions & put in Environmental Management Systems (EMS), so that you become more efficient, reduce risk & win new business. This year, you should be aware of deadlines & legislation requirements that may affect your business.   ISO 14001 Deadline Does your organisation have an EMS (Environmental Management System) certified to ISO 14001? If so, then you need to upgrade to the new version of the standard by the deadline September 2018. There are some significant changes required, which need to be ASAP - including context of the organisation, leadership, risks and opportunities, life cycle & evaluation of performance. More info is here. I’ve helped a number of organisations with the transition - making it smooth & successful.   ESOS Phase 2 ESOS (the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme) is a mandatory energy assessment scheme for large organisations in the UK....
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Duty of Care

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Duty of Care - What Should I do with my Business Waste? All businesses are legally required to manage their waste. But recent research suggests that more than half of UK companies do not fully comply with Duty of Care and 94% of those are SMEs. Mostly this is because they don’t know what they need to do.   It is a legal requirement (Environmental Protection Act 1990 - Duty of Care Regulations) that the producers of waste must: Apply the waste hierarchy Separate and store their waste correctly Dispose of the waste using licensed waste carriers and disposal methods Keep waste documentation correctly. All waste Duty of Care paperwork must be held for a period of two years (three years for hazardous waste).   If you don’t use a licensed waste contractor, you risk them simply dumping your waste (fly-tipping) - if this is traced back to you, you are still liable for prosecution, even if you had acted in good faith.   Follow the waste...
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Top Tips on Surviving Certification Audits

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Top Tips on Surviving Certification Audits Whether you're experienced or it's your first time, Certification audits can be a nerve wracking experience. I have helped many clients achieve and retain certification to ISO 14001. Here are some top tips for surviving the audit.   Know your objectives - do you want to get through with as little hassle as possible or do you want the auditor to see it all & find areas for improvement?   Prepare well beforehand. Plan the agenda (including timings) and brief your colleagues about what is likely to be covered. Thus may be their first time being scrutinised - you don't want them to appear 'bunny in headlights'!   Get all your documentation together - you might want to have hyperlinks to their locations, saves you trawling through loads of folders.   Make sure you've addressed all the Non Conformities raised at the last audit.   Have you conducted the annual Management Review and did it properly involve top management?   Things auditors often look into: Duty of Care...
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10 Environmental Moments of 2017

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10 Environmental Moments of 2017 Well, 2017 has been an ‘interesting’ year dominated by Brexit and the US president. There’s been lots going on in the environmental arena too; I reflect here on just some of them.   Climate change - hurricanes, floods & wildfires You can't have missed all the news about the extreme weather experienced across the globe: Hurricane season in USA & Caribbean, dreadful flooding in Bangladesh, thick smog in China & Iran, wildfires in California. Thousands have been killed & millions affected, losing their homes, farmland & livelihoods; people’s health is deteriorating & business is being impacted. Climate change is just making these natural phenomena worse & more frequent. Renewable energy The rise of renewables in the UK has progressed, despite cuts to feed-in tariffs, this summer providing more than half of UK electricity for first time. National Grid reported in June that power from wind, solar, hydro & wood pellet burning supplied 50.7% of UK energy (include nuclear it’s up to...
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Jargon Buster

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From Access Economy to Zero Carbon – here’s the Environment A-Z The environmental industry can seem a little cliquey to the outsider. Maybe we talk in TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms!), abbreviations or just use words that are so outside the sphere of ‘normal people’.   For years I have tried to avoid using the term ‘sustainability’ because it immediately turned people off – using ‘environmental’, even though this is only one of the three elements of sustainability, makes it immediately more understandable. As experts we want to get it right, but we do have to consider our audience.   The news site edie has helpfully put together a Jargon Buster.   This helps you cut through complexity and get straight to the definition & then gives you related content (news stories, blogs & features).   Helpfully, for some of the more complex issues (e.g. science-based targets) they provide more in-depth analysis & how to apply it to your business.   So check out the Jargon Buster & get talking about these...
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Case Study – ISO 14001 Transition – Roffey Park

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Case Study – ISO 14001 Transition – Roffey Park Institute Eshcon helped Roffey Park transition its EMS to ISO 14001:2015, with a Gap Analysis, updating the system & then supporting the certification audit.   Roffey Park Institute is an internationally renowned leadership institute based in West Sussex, operating across the UK and in Singapore.   Roffey Park has had an Environmental Management System (EMS) in place for a number of years and was certified to ISO 14001:2004. There had been a change of staff, particularly those leading on the EMS so it was important to ensure all elements of the system were properly covered.   Work started with a Gap Analysis to identify where the EMS needed to change. This gave a RAG-rating for each issue and a transition plan, with actions & timescales. Eshcon then worked with the ISOe Group on the transition work, starting with a workshop on context, risks, opportunities, interested parties, lifecycle & the company’s strategic direction. The EMS itself was revised & streamlined;...
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My Why – Why I am an Environmental Consultant

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My Why I'm reading a lot of business books at the moment - strategy, marketing, sales & psychology. The latest is putting the WHY into our business…. in developing our strategy, we should Start with Why. For me it's about improving the environment.   I was mesmerised by the wonderful David Attenborough when I was a kid. I knew it was my calling - to improve the environment ... & to make a living out of it!   - Diverse ecosystems - beautiful places to visit & of course to live. - Healthy air, healthy people. - Fabulous plants & creatures. - You don't have to travel far & wide to see beautiful things. The world is an amazing place & we all have to look after it.   My consultancy Eshcon puts the environment at the core of business. Indeed it is my mission to make environmental management the business norm.   I didn’t want to change the world by being an environmental campaigner. I wanted to do it in more pragmatic...
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Increases in ISO 14001 numbers

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Increases in ISO 14001 numbers Each year the International Standards Organisation releases the results their research on take-up of ISO standards across the world. This year follows past upwards trends.   As usual the Quality standard ISO 9001 dominates the scene with over 1 million certificates in 2016 (current certificates, not just issued that year) - 1,106,356 up by 7%.   ISO 14001, the standard for environmental management, is the second most widely used with 346,189 certificates worldwide. This saw an 8% increase over the last year.   China has the most ISO 14001 certificates by far with 137,230, with Japan & Italy following with 27,372 and 26,655 respectively. This year the United Kingdom is down slightly (6%) & slipped one place in the league table to fourth, with 16,761 certificates.   It could be that this slight decrease is due to companies not knowing how to implement the latest version of the standard, ISO 14001:2015. Talking to certification bodies, they’ve told me that companies are worried about how...
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5 Top Tips on Writing an Environmental Policy

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5 Top Tips on Writing an Environmental Policy Your Environmental Policy is a written statement, signed by senior management, which outlines your organisation’s commitment to managing its environmental impacts.   Unlike H&S policies, there is no legal requirement for organisations to have an adopted environmental policy. However, it is essential if you want to implement an ISO 14001 EMS. It's also vital if you work with large organisations who often ask for EMS certification and info on your environmental improvements.   There is no standard content for an environmental policy, although they often contain the same themes; plus there are specific requirements within ISO 14001.   Top Tips -1-      The policy is meant for everyone to see, so make sure it's easy to read and understand - not too dry or filled with jargon. -2-      Make it realistic, achievable and relevant to your activities and practices. Readers should be able to understand what your main impacts are and how you are committed to managing them. -3-      It...
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Roffey Park’s ISO 14001 Success

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Roffey Park’s ISO 14001 Success I am pleased to say that another of my clients has successfully recertified to ISO 14001 - Roffey Park Institute is an internationally renowned leadership institute based near Horsham, operating across the UK and in Singapore.   The Environmental Management Systems (EMS) is used to manage impacts, reduce risk, identify opportunities for cost savings and address customers’ needs.   Key achievements include paper usage down by 22% this past year, electricity by 16% and oil consumption has fallen dramatically since the installation of a ground source heat pump. The extensive grounds are well managed and the kitchen garden even grows fruit and veg for the restaurant (see picture above).   The new ISO 14001 standard has extra requirements, including a strong focus on leadership and alignment to the business strategy. Eshcon guided Roffey Park through the transition process starting with an ISO 14001 Gap Analysis, improving the EMS documentation, conducting the internal audits & attending the certification. With a change of staff...
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EMS – Going a bit further…

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EMS - Going a bit further… What I like about networking is meeting new businesses & chatting about them, their activities, challenges & opportunities. We talk about the work I do & I often hear about their own environmental activities. It’s pleasing to hear how companies are recycling their waste or using low energy lighting.   They are beginning to see the benefits that putting the environment into the business generates. But they realise they’re not as successful as they could be. Energy prices are still spiralling. Legal issues keep cropping up. Customers want more & more information. Staff don’t seem to be engaged.   What they haven’t realised is that putting in an Environmental Management System can help address these problems. It gives the structure to manage impacts, find efficiencies & savings, get staff involved & communicate with their stakeholders.   Seeing as most companies get started on the environment because their customers demand it, it makes sense to put in an Environmental Management System &...
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