RIT Symposium Conclusions
May 28, 2008 by Brian Butler | Filed under: 1, 3-What Should Be Measured and Why?, Overview
For this workshop, the underlying assumption was that as a society we need to measure the environmental performance of every company, due in part to the concept that we cannot manage what we cannot measure properly. There were multiple examples of “what to measure” discussed during this workshop; for example, outcomes vs. drivers, absolute vs. relative indicators, industry specific vs. company specific, as well as measuring improvements over time.
To answer the “why” portion of this topic, the results of the workshop give the following examples of why to measure environmental performance: measuring performance can help to show the quality of the environment; regulatory compliance is another reason for performance measures; competitive advantage, as well as risk management (reduction of environmental liabilities) were also given as examples during this workshop.
With regard to the role of the environmental manager in performance measures, the workshops produced the following examples of how the environmental manager figures into this topic:
the EM is responsible for linking targets between environmental performance and corporate performance;
EMs must convince corporate managers on returns on environmental performance measurement and improvement;
EMs must communicate the results of performance measurement to stakeholders;
EMs must work toward organizing the performance management process;
EMs must also set attractive targets, specify indicators, quantify indicators, make reports for managers, and help to shift the corporate culture toward acceptance of environmental responsibilities.
You can view the symposium powerpoint HERE.
