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Field of action "Environment"
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) contains both a social and an ecological component. Sustainable business conduct and environment management are the relevant criteria for enterprises' ecological responsibility. Two recognised guidelines for sustainable and ecological management are to be stressed: Firstly, international environmental standard ISO 14.001, which is a basis recognised worldwide for an environmental management system, and secondly the "Community system for voluntary environmental management and the environmental audit", known as EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme).
The audit system developed by the European Communities helps enterprises, authorities and organisations to improve their environmental performance. With the aid of EMAS, they analyse the environmental impact of their activities, products and services and publish an EMAS environmental statement on this.
The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety monitors and verifies sustainability reports which have been developed from the EMAS environmental statements. This procedure entails an ongoing evaluation of sustainability reports as to environmental aspects. The Ministry also keeps a list of enterprises which publish sustainability reports and observes the further development of the roughly 2,000 EMAS locations as to their sustainability management and reporting, and drafts guides for enterprises.
Two studies are currently underway on behalf of the BMU on the "Role of megatrends in corporate strategies" and on the "Connection between CSR and the innovativeness of enterprises", which are to be completed and published in the course of the year. Together with the Federal Environmental Agency and other partners, the BMU is hosting an EMAS conference entitled "EMAS and climate protection" on 2 December 2008.
Contact:
Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
Alexanderstraße 3
10178 Berlin
Internet: www.bmu.bund.de
Federal Environmental Agency
Postfach 1406
06813 Dessau-Roßlau
(Monitoring and verification of sustainability reports)
Internet: www.umweltbundesamt.de