GreenPolicyGuide
From People and Planet
From the People & Planet Going Green report... a good environmental policy will:
Contents |
[edit] Management
- Lay out the university's vision, beliefs and aims regarding its environmental performance and how it should be managed.
- Assert the environmental responsibilities of all staff and students.
- Commit to continuous, durable improvement of environmental performance and attaining or surpassing legislative and regulatory requirements.
- Provide mechanisms for the creation of objectives, targets and action plans, the selection of indicators, prioritisation of actions and ensuring policy compliance.
- Provide mechanisms for how environmental factors are to be integrated into the decision-making processes.
- Reference previous commitments such as signing relevant environmental charters such as the Talloires Declaration or Copernicus Charter.
[edit] Communication
- Commit to ensuring awareness of the policy among staff and students.
- Reference national and international commitments to sustainable development.
- Promote co-operation with other universities and external bodies.
- Commit to the publication of environmental targets, objectives and other relevant documentation.
- Include information on environmental reporting content and frequency.
- Explain how complaints and enquiries are to be handled and provide contact details.
[edit] Operations and Facilities Management
- Commit to reduce waste and greenhouse gas production, adopt renewably sourced electricity, increase energy efficiency and recycling, avoid environmentally harmful substances, materials and processes, use recyclable, recycled, reusable and sustainably sourced materials and use environmentally sensitive disposal.
- Commit to providing accessible facilities for recycling.
- Encourage the use of environmentally sound transport.
- Commit to adopting an environmental purchasing policy that assesses purchases on a whole-life basis.
[edit] Personnel
- Describe specific personnel responsibilities in overseeing the development and implementation of policy, or reference documentation containing these.
- Describe committee roles, composition and the minimum frequency of their meetings, or reference documentation containing these.
- Declare the need for training of staff and students.
[edit] Commitment
- Be signed by the Vice-Chancellor or Principal on behalf of staff, and by the head of the Students' Union on behalf of students.
- Include the date of acceptance of the policy, and intended date of revision
