Role of Governments In ISO 14001 StandardsAlthough ISO 14000 is a set of voluntary standards that individual companies may or may not choose to adopt, governments can clearly have a role in providing information, establishing the necessary framework and infrastructure, and, in some cases, helping companies to develop the basic capabilities to adopt ISO 14000. There are two particular areas in which government action would be useful: (a) providing information on the sectors and markets where ISO 14001 certification is a significant issue and assisting sector organizations to develop appropriate responses, and (b) helping to establish a certification framework, based on strengthening national standards organizations and encouraging competitive private sector provision of auditing and certification services. At present, the World Bank is having discussions with a number of countries about how assistance could be provided with these issues.
Governments should see EMS approaches as part of a broad environmental strategy that includes regulatory systems, appropriate financial incentives, and encouragement of improved industrial performance. Such encouragement can really only be effective where there is cooperation at the government level between the relevant departments, including industry and trade, as well as environment. There is a growing interest in integrating environmental management issues into productivity or competitiveness centers designed to promote SME performance, but little information exists on experience to date.
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