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WRITER'S PROFILE

Mr. Toru Tamura was formerly Senior Associate Programe Officer of the United Nations Environmental Programme-International Environmental Technology Centre in Osaka, Japan now recently assigned to the Global Environment Centre Foundation. Prior to this, he was Deputy Director for the Environment Protection Promotion Office at the Matsushita Electric Corporation's Headquarter, where he developed the companies worldwide corporation environmental strategic and international compliance handbooks, and was instrumental to the development of the company's worldwide environmental control policy.

He has a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from the applied chemistry department of Osaka City University, and has written numerous papers concerning environmentally friendly organic materials, published several books in his field, and is active as a lecturer in various training programs and seminars.

KEY TERMS*

Continual Improvement - Year-on-year enhancement of overall environmental performance, not necessarily an all areas of activity, resulting from continuous efforts to improve in line with environmental policy, and achieved by measures such as developments in products, services, processes and facilities; enhanced product quality, operational efficiency & resource utilization and the application of measures for reducing reverse environmental effects with economically viable application of best available technology.

Environment - Surroundings and conditions in which an organization operates, including air, water, land, natural resources, flora, faura, humans and their interaction.

Environmental Aspect - Element of an organization's activities, products or services which can interact with the environment.

Environmental Effect - Any direct or indirect impingement of the activities, products and services of the organization upon the environment, whether adverse or beneficial.

Environmental Impact - Any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from an organization's activities, products or services.

Environmental Management - Those aspects of the overall management function (including planning) that develop, implement and maintain the environmental policy.

Environmental Management Programme - A description of the means of achieving environmental objective's and targets.

Environmental Management Review - The formal evaluation by management of the status and adequacy of the organization's environmental policy, systems and procedures in relation to environmental issues, regulations and changing circumstances.

Environmental Management System - That part of the overall management system which includes organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing and maintaining the environmental policy.

Environmental Management System Audit - Systematic and documented verification process to objectively obtain and evaluate evidence to determine whether an organization's environmental management system conforms to the environmental management system audit criteria set by the organization, and communication of the results of this process to management.

Environmental Objective - Overall environ-mental goal arising from the environmental policy, that an organization sets itself to achieve, and which is quantified wherever practical.

Environmental Performance - Measurable results of the environmental management system, related to an organization's control of its environmental aspects, based on its environmental policy, objectives and targets.

Environmental Policy - Public statement by the organization of its intentions and principles in relation to its overall environmental performance which provides a framework for action and for the setting of it's environmental objectives and targets.

Environmental Target - Detailed performance requirements, quantified wherever practicable, applicable to the organization or parts thereof, that arise from the environmental objectives and that need to be set and met in order to achieve those objectives.

ISO 14000 - A general term that denotes the series of international environmental management standards developed by the International Organization for Standard-ization, and which addresses seven areas: environmental management systems, environmental auditing, environmental performance evaluation, environmental labeling , life cycle assessment, terms and definitions, environmental aspects of product standards and forestry.

* Based on ISO 14000 and Environmental Management Systems, BS 7750.

REFERENCES

ISO 14001: 1996 (E). Environmental Management Systems - Specification with Guidance for Use.

Environmental Management System Training Resource Kit. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC).

Sochi, Shuichi and Toru Tamura. Implementation of ISO 14001 in Japanese Local Governments. Unpublished paper. Japan. Global Environment Centre Foundation.

Tamura, Toru. 1999. An Outline of Environmental Management Systems. Paper presented at the International Environmental Management Training of the UNEP - International Environmental Technology Centre and the Philippine Government.

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