Environmental Management

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

by Antonio C. Antonio

November 22, 2012

Environmental Management refers to the deliberate human action to influence a certain number of conditions of the environment usually to favor particular human needs.  As all resources are finite, they need to be managed, protected and carefully nurtured to ensure that they continue to provide long-term and sustainable support to man.  To be more effective, there should be a partnership between government and private sector.  This partnership could be compared to a bird in flight… both left and right wings working together for a specific purpose.  Anything less will simply not work at all.

Environmental management is universal… meaning, a global concern and not only a particular country. All countries in the world must have an environmental management agenda (like the Philippine Agenda 21[PA 21])…

§  On the global level, all countries could adopt the principles and objectives of the Earth Summit;

§  On the country level, like in the Philippines, PA 21 was adopted.  Political will would play a pivotal role in the effective implementation of environment laws, rules and regulation.  Unfortunately, in the Philippines where political patronage and considerations seem to take precedence over the national good, PA 21 is just another not-to-be-given-proper-attention national agenda and sustainable development is just another oratorical punch line;

§  Local government units could implement their own environmental management ordinances towards in their own areas of responsibilities as the Cities of Las Pinas, Davao and Puerto Princesa are currently doing.  Again, the success or failure of such ordinances will depend largely on political will.  Given the 3-year electoral term of office of local government officials, nothing much could be accomplished as most environment-related projects and programs take decades to be realized;

§  Communities (neighborhood associations) could also formulate their own rules and regulations on the most mundane activities such as garbage collection, segregation and disposal; and,

§  Getting closer to man, environmental management should be an individual concern.  If everyone, with the capacity to discern, becomes aware of his/her environment and do whatever little thing to manage it, this world would be a better place to live in.  People have a tendency to think of spitting, peeing or throwing of candy wrappers anywhere will not harm the environment… but if everybody adopted the same mindset, we are certainly in for a major environmental disaster.

Carbon dioxide emission from the burning of fossil fuel is the primary cause of global warming and the greenhouse effect.  Governments must infuse more funds in developing projects and programs towards climate change mitigation.  To boost the environmental management effort exponentially, alternative sources of energy should be tapped like:

1.     Solar (Example of which could be solar panels presently being used to power street lights in Puerto Princesa City. As a future prospect, the Philippines being an agricultural country, has miles upon miles of irrigation canals.  Solar panels could be installed on top of these canal systems to: a) Make better land use rather than use grazing lands for this purpose; and, b) Prevent loss of water through evaporation as the solar panels will also function as a canopy for the irrigation canals.);

2.     Wind (Example of which are the windmills in Bangui, Ilocos Norte which produces electricity for the communities there.); and,

3.     Hydro/Water (Examples of which are the hydro-electric dams like Maria Cristina Falls, etc.  More hydro-electric-producing facilities should be planned in the national infrastructure program.

Sustainable Development (SD) is the framework for both the Earth Summit and PA 21.  It was in the Earth Summit where initial awareness of SD started to spread and, henceforth, have been used (oftentimes, loosely) as the general solution statement for environmental management.  SD is development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.  SD, as defined in the PA 21, is “harmonious integration of a sound and viable economy, responsible governance, social cohesion and ecological integrity, to ensure that development is a life-sustaining process.”

On the “how” and “what” of Environmental Management, there are templates provided by worldwide organizations as well as individual nations such as:

1.     Earth Summit or the United Nations’ Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 3 to 14, 1992 reached a consensus that the environment should be viewed as a support system for society and its economy.  This system, however, should be carefully studied to prevent and mitigate the ill effects of human intervention towards the environment for social and economic gains.  The concept of sustainable development was highlighted in this summit.

2.     Philippine Agenda 21 (PA 21) was approved by Pres. Fidel V. Ramos in September 1996.  PA 21 calls for the ecological and social resources found in the environment to be utilized to meet society’s higher economic needs but only to within the ability of the resource to keep their original characteristics.

The Earth Summit (1992) resulted in the following documents:

a)    Rio Declaration on Environment and Development;

b)    Agenda 21; and,

c)     Forest Principles.

Moreover, two important legally binding agreements were opened for signature:

a)    Convention on Biological Diversity; and,

b)    Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Principles contained in PA 21 are:

1. Efficiency:  Resources are not to be over-exploited; Resources should not remain unutilized; Utilization must prescribe full restoration; and, Must be aimed at achieving a high marginal return sufficient to “pay back” the cost of utilization and the value of the resources being utilized.
2. Sufficiency:  Resources are to be used only for absolutely necessary ends; Use of the resources must entail the use of a minimum unit of the resource; and, Must not exceed the minimum requirement to support a necessary end.
3. Consistency:  Ecosystems are to be managed to be compatible with each other;  A “landscape” (or system of ecosystems) approach is preferred to a “single ecosystem” management style; and,  Require that the use of resources be based on strengths and weaknesses of the ecosystem with emphasis on the weakness of the weakest ecosystem.
4. Precaution:  If the potential threat posed by an economic activity to ecosystems is serious, or where environmental damage due to it is expected to be irreversible, precautionary or mitigating measures should be undertaken.

Purpose of the Principles Contained in PA21:  Efficiency, Sufficiency, Consistence and Precaution are anticipated to lower the obtrusions of economic production and consumption on ecology and society.  The ecological and social costs of creating economic opportunities would be minimized.  This would be sound environmental management which promotes sustainable development.

The Goals of PA 21 are as follows:

1.     Poverty Reduction:  Poverty is a central concern of sustainable development. Poverty reduction includes measure to create enabling economic environment for sustained and broad-based growth; improve employment, productivity and income; and attain food security.

2.     Social Equity:  Social equity means the allocation of resources on the bases of efficiency and equity to achieve balanced development. Efficiency and equity mean the channeling of resources to developing areas where greater economic benefits accumulate and where there is greater need, distribution being dependent on the practicality and urgency of needs.

3.     Empowerment and Good Governance:  Empowerment is a precondition of informal choices and good governance is a necessary precondition to empowerment. These two are a defining element of each other.

4.     Peace and Solidarity:  The cycle of poverty and conflict goes on as the costs of war escalate in terms of various kinds of destruction while withholding funds for basic services, resulting in more poverty and underdevelopment.

5.     Ecological Integrity:   Enhancing the integrity of the ecological domain of the country will have to involve heightened and sustained implementation of environmental laws, as well as the continued pursuit of resource conservation, and environmental restoration/enhancement programs.

Just my little thoughts…