Abstract

The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) was established in 1993 in the European Union as a voluntary instrument facilitating the implementation of organisational environmental policies and management of environmental aspects. We present a comprehensive literature review on EMAS research, organized according to three broad questions: Why do organisations choose EMAS? How is the scheme implemented and adapted to organisational characteristics? And what results are achieved? We have built analysis matrices to critically review 80 articles published over the past two decades and to identify the recurrent research themes addressing each question. We found that the decision to adopt EMAS is motivated by a set of internal and external factors, compounded by the potential of an organisation to combine the scheme with other EMS standards and environmental management tools. These themes are the ones most extensively covered by existing literature. To answer the question on how organisations implement and adapt to the scheme, two themes have been identified covering EMS planning and operation issues and sectoral approaches. Results show that the focus has been put on development of methods for assessing the significance of environmental aspects, implementing environmental policies and developing indicators for tracking performance and elaborating environmental statements. The development of sectoral approaches that adapt EMAS to characteristics of different economic activity sectors is also emerging as a critical research development. Finally, the themes addressing results achieved with EMAS implementation have only recently surfaced in the literature. The achievement of sustained environmental performance improvements through EMAS adoption is both contested and supported in the reviewed studies. On the other hand, improvements in the relationships with stakeholders arise as one of the most important intangible outcomes of the scheme. We conclude our review by advancing a systematic set of future research opportunities in this field.

Highlights

  • Over the past 20 years, organisations have been adapting to more demanding societal pressures and stringent environmental laws

  • Figure o5rg. anNisautimonbsecrhooofsesetoleacdtoepdt EpMubAlSic(aat)i;ohnosw mdoosotrgraenliesavtaionnts timo peleamchentgEuMidAinSganqduaedsatpiot nit: toWhy do organisthaetiironacsticvhitoieoss(eb)t;owahdatopdot EorMgaAniSsa(taio)n; shaocwhiedveo boyrgimanpilesmateinotninsgimEMpAleSm(ce)nitnEthMeAtiSmeanpderiaoddapt it to their acbteitvwietieens1(9b93);anwdh2a0t12d. o organisations achieve by implementing Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) (c) in the time period between 1993 and 2012

  • Regarding our third research question—“What do organisations achieve by implementing EMAS?”—we found that there are two main streams underlying this research theme: studying the conditions for achieving continuous environmental performance improvements and the promotion of active stakeholders’ participation

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Summary

Introduction

Over the past 20 years, organisations have been adapting to more demanding societal pressures and stringent environmental laws. In the European context, EMAS has been playing an important role in the promotion of pollution prevention strategies, continuous improvement, and public disclosure of environmental performance in organisations. EMAS was initially adopted by the European Union (EU) in 1993. With EMAS II, a breakthrough in the integration with ISO 14001 was promoted and the requirements of this standard were adopted as the model for EMS implementation [3], along with other modifications to improve quality and acceptance by stakeholders [4,5]. From 2009 onwards, organisations from countries outside the European Union are allowed to register in EMAS and small and medium Enterprises (SME) have special conditions supporting their registration

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