CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 DEFINITION OF ENVIRONMENT:
Environment, according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English means surrounding. This definition fails to mention the extent of the surrounding is made up of. The environment, in fact, includes everything living and non living: air, water, land animals and plants among others. The environment also involves the ways living and non-living objects interact as well as what result from such interactions. Birds, for example, interact with rocks either by perching on them, or the building of nests in rock crevices. The environment and humanity are inseparable; this underscores the need for the conservation of the environment and sustainable development. From the above definition of ‘Environment’, one can see clearly that environment means much, much more than one’s compound or school premises or one’s village.
What does pollution means? Pollution is simply defined as the poisoning of the air, the land and the seas.
Now, degradation. The degradation of the environment means the wearing down of the environment by various processes such as the action of water, wind, ice or erosion.
By conservation of the environment we mean the preservation and protection of the environment against pollution and degradation.
In its report “Our Common Future”, the World Commission on Environment and Development, defined economic growth as necessary for sustainable development. But commission noted that growth alone is not enough, since high levels of productivity and widespread poverty do coexist and endanger the environment. Agenda 21 recognized that the private sector plays a major role in achieving sustainable development, both by fostering economic growth and by reducing environmental impact. The challenges for business and industries is to provide environmentally sustainable growth; they must devise strategies to maximize added value while minimizing resources and energy use. The need for clean, equitable economic growth remains the biggest single difficulty within the larger challenge of sustainable development.
Business in industrialized nations has begun to move from a pollution of limiting pollution and waste only in compliance with government regulations towards one of avoiding pollution and waste not just to be good corporate citizens but also to be more efficient and competitive. In response, the economies of the industrialized countries have grown even though the resources and energy to produce each unit of growth have declined.
Eco efficiency requires not only challenges in technology, but also in management; such issues as changes in the objectives and assumptions that direct corporate activities, and in the day-to-day practices used to reach those objectives. Managing for the environment is not a new idea but a systematic approach to it is now being developed.
The forthcoming ISO 14000 SERIES sets standards for corporate environmental management on an international level. These standards have been set not by some international regulatory body, but with the full participation of the private sector who will implement them. One of several advantages the standards will bring is the creation of a more environmentally sensitive industrial culture, which will result in a more efficient use of raw and waste material, reduction of emissions and increased investment in pollution control abatement and cleaner technologies.
1.2 THE NEED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (EMS)
An environmental management system (EMS) is interpreted as the organizational structure, including practices, processes, resources and responsibilities for implementing environmental management. Such a system should enable organizations to achieve and demonstrate on-going compliance with regulations. It should allow organizations to control the environmental impact of all activities, products and services taking into account the environmental impact of all activities, products and services taking into account a self-determined environment. The need for Environmental Management System are:
a. Organisation and facilities are increasingly aware of the need to achieve and demonstrate sound environmental performance by controlling the different aspects and the significant impacts of their activities, products or services on the environment. They do so in the context of increasingly stringent legislation, the development of economic policies and other measures to foster environmental protection, and a growing of concern from interested parties about the threats of industrialization to sustainable development.
b. Many Organisations have undertaken environmental ‘’reviews’’ or ‘’audits’’ to assess their environmental performance. On their own, however, these ‘’reviews’’ or ‘’audits’’ may not be sufficient to provide an Organisation with the assurance that its performance not only meets, but will continue to meet its legal and policy requirements. To be effective, they need to be conducted within a structured management system and integrated with overall management activity.
c. The Environmental Performance of an Organisation is of increasing importance to internal and external interested parties. Achieving sound environmental performance requires  Organisational commitment to a systematic approach and to continual improvement of the environment.
d. An EMS provides order and consistency through the allocation of resources, assignment of responsibilities, and continuous evaluation of practices, procedures and processes. An EMS is therefore: part of the enterprises enterprise’s overall management system. It includes the organizational structure, planning activities, practices, procedures, processes, and resources for implementing and maintaining environmental management. It includes those aspects of management that plan, develop pment, implement, achieve, review. Maintain and improve the companies environmental policy, objectives and targets.