LECTURE 6:
Environmental Auditing
Environmental Auditing
An environmental audit can be defined as: a
management tool comprising a systematic,
documented, periodic and objective evaluation of
the performance of the project and management
processes designed to protect the environment with
the aim of:
(i) Facilitating management control of practices
which may have impact on the environment, and
(ii) Assessing compliance with policies'.
Types of audit
Many types of audit can be done to protect the environment:
compliance audit - the most common type of audit consisting of checks against environmental
legislation and related other policies;
issues audit - an evaluation of how a project's activities relate to an environmental issue (e.g. global
pollution, energy use) or an evaluation of a specific issue (e.g. buildings, supplies);
health and safety audit - an assessment of risks and contingency planning
site audit - an audit of a particular site to examine actual or potential environmental problems
corporate audit - an audit of the whole company and its polices, structures, procedures and
practices;
due diligence audit - an assessment of potential environmental and financial risks and liabilities
activity or operational audit - e.g. energy or waste management and
Product or life cycle audit - an analysis of environmental impacts of a product throughout all stages
of its design, production, use and disposal, including its reuse and recycling (cradle to grave).
Environmental Audit
All environmental audits involve the collection,
analysis, interpretation, and presentation of
information which is used to:
Assess and measure performance against a set of
requirements or targets, related to specific issues
or against the requirements of an environmental
management system standard; and
Evaluate compliance with environmental
legislation and corporate policies;
Issues to be audited
Project identification and prioritization
Project screening
Institutional Performance:
Organization, Management and Leadership
Project Performances
Community participation
Environmental and socio-economic Impacts
Environmental and social management plans
Mitigation Measures
Monitoring Plan
Environmental Auditing Plan
Capacity building Plan
Purpose of EA
Environmental audits will be used increasingly to:
Provide baseline information to enable organisations to evaluate
and manage environmental change, threat and risk
Contribute to environmental management approaches which
become integrated with environmental impact assessment and the
management of predicted impacts, mitigation and monitoring
measures
Support the implementation and management of integrated
pollution control procedures and assist in the definition of ‘Best
Practicable Environmental Options' (BPEO)
Ensuring compliance, with laws, regulations, standards and with
own policies and the requirements of an Environmental
Management System (EMS) standard;
Purpose of EA cont’d…
Form the basis for initiating and monitoring the performance of
Environmental Management Systems
Enabling environmental problems and risks to be anticipated and
responses planned
To demonstrate that an implementing organization is aware of the
impact of its projects upon the environment through providing
feedback
Increased awareness amongst stakeholders and pass environmentally
responsible approaches to all stakeholders
More efficient resource use and financial savings and tackle external
off-site impacts which consider the broader environmental footprint
of the project’s activities
Processes of EA
The scope and style of audits vary, but common stages and activities include:
1.Preparatory/ Pre-audit Activities
•The fist stage which involve process planning and scoping
•Process planning and scoping is a key
•In setting overall goals, objectives, scope and priorities
•Selecting a team or a consultant to ensure objectivity and professional
competence
•To identify stakeholders and develop a work-plan.
•The work plan should cover:
• Problem identification and initiation of the Auditing
Programme
• Vision, goal and objectives
• Expected outputs
Processes of EA cont’d…
Scope of work and proposed approach
Scope of data gathering and analysis
Identify data limitations and uncertainties
Participation tools (workshops, surveys)
Conflict resolution and negotiation tools (advocacy) depending on degree of
controversy
stakeholders, opportunities for participation, needs for conflict resolution, and
needs for data and analysis)
Organizational arrangements and distribution of roles and responsibilities
Draft /design preliminary Mechanisms and Procedures for stakeholder
involvement and Public participation
Designing an action Programme: Draft preliminary work plan for the process
Budget for the Auditing Process
Processes of EA cont’d…
2. Audit Stage
Environmental Inventory / Environmental profiling
(What do we have?): developing a factual base of
environmental conditions
Data collection (review of documents and records; review of
policies; interviews; site inspection/ on-site audit using well
defined and systematic protocols or checklists)
Description and documentation
Analysis
Formulation of Audit Recommendations
Processes of EA cont’d…
3. Post-Audit Stage
Reporting
Implementation
Follow-up (Monitoring, Evaluation and Review)
Implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the
performance of the Audit recommendation
through an annual review, and make revisions and
updates /modification as needed
