Identify and evaluate the organisations significant environmental aspects and impacts

This standard describes the skills and knowledge requirements for those who identify and evaluate organisational significant environmental aspects and impacts. This standard also covers proposing management options to improve the environmental performance of the organisation.

An environmental aspect is an element of an organisation’s activities, products, or services that has or may have an impact on the environment.

Identification and evaluation may be carried out when an organisation first decides to evaluate environmental aspects and impacts, or as part of continual improvement.

This standard is suitable for:

·        An individual with a specific brief to identify and evaluate significant environmental aspects and impacts for the organisation

This standard covers the identification of activities, products, or services of the organisation, which have an impact upon the environment. 

Those involved in identifying and evaluating the organisations significant environmental aspects and impacts need to be involved in carbon accounting and Life Cycle Assessments of their products, services, and activities.  This will involve assessing their own carbon footprint of their products and services, as well as making decisions on who to purchase resources from, through evaluating their natural capital accounting and their cardon accounting.  Organisations need to be accountable for how they manage their impact on the environment, they need to become more sustainable.  The organisation needs to look at their carbon impact at global as well as a local level.  This will also involve assessing the impact.

It also covers the proposal of actions to control or manage the significant environmental aspects in order to improve the environmental performance of the organisation.

1. Use a relevant methodology to identify significant environmental aspects related to the activities, products, and services of the organisation
2. Use a relevant methodology to identify the environmental impacts arising from the identified environmental aspects
3. Use a relevant methodology to evaluate the environmental aspects and impacts to determine their significance
4. Engage relevant stakeholders, including those from protected characteristics, in the identification and evaluation of significant environmental aspects and impacts for the organisation
5. Record the environmental aspects and impacts and their significance using relevant format
6. Implement a suitable environmental management system (EMS), ensuring integration with other management systems such as quality and health and safety
7. Implement a periodic review of recorded environmental aspects and impacts and their significance as defined by organisational and regulatory requirements
8. Propose recommendations for the management of significant environmental aspects and impacts to improve the organisation’s environmental performance
9. Engage relevant stakeholders, including those with protected characteristics, in the development of the proposed recommendations
10. Propose actions for the implementation of recommendations for the management of significant environmental aspects and impacts, to improve the organisations environmental performance

1. The relevant legal and other (non-regulatory) requirements applicable to the organisation
2. The inputs, outputs, and operations of the organisation
3. The positive and negative environmental aspects of the organisation
4. The past, present and future environmental aspects of the organisation
5. The direct and indirect environmental aspects of the organisation
6. The potential types of abnormal and emergency environmental aspects of the organisation
7. How to identify significant aspects and potential impacts associated with the organisation’s activities, products, and services of the organisation
8. The importance of carrying out a life cycle assessment of all products when identifying the organisations significant environmental aspects and impacts
9. The importance of assessing the carbon footprint of a product, activity or service offered by the organisation when identifying it’s significant environmental aspects and impacts
10. The importance of assessing the natural capital accounting and carbon accounting of those you purchase goods and services from
11. How to identify and access sources of additional information and expertise available to assist with identifying the organisations significant environmental aspects and impacts
12. The relevant local, national, and global environmental issues facing society which affecting the organisation
13. The importance of improving the organisations environmental aspects and impacts, to assist with the climate change crisis and lower the impact on future generations
14. The different methods available for evaluating environmental aspects and impacts of significance considering qualitative and quantitative data and the reasons for doing so
15. How to identify and involve relevant stakeholders in the process of evaluating the organisations environmental aspects of significance
16. How to analyse and evaluating environmental aspects and impacts of significance and report your findings and proposed improvements to the organisations environmental performance
17. Those to whom the proposed improvements should be communicated
18. The types of Environmental Management Systems suited to the organisation
19. The benefits and limitations of introducing a formal environmental management system (EMS) into the organisation
20. The environmental practices suited to the organisation
21. The organisations commitment to an environmental policy or Environmental Management System
22. How to estimate the environmental, social, and economic benefits and costs of proposed improvements
23. The failure to manage the significant aspects for the organisation’s environmental performance
24. The risk of not applying the principles of continual improvement to the organisation’s environmental performance

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Protected characteristics:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage and civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race

• Religion or belief

• Sex

• Sexual orientation

Methodology for identifying aspects and impacts

• Grouping Methodology
• Surveying methodology
• Mass balance methodology
• Back-calculating methodology
• Potpourri Methodology