REDUCING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF OUR ACTIVITIES

Published: 23 Jul 2008 - Do we really need to print everything? Could we replace travelling for meetings by video-conferencing? How could we increase energy efficiency in our offices? For the fourth consecutive year, the European Environment Agency has successfully passed an external audit, certifying its compliance with the rules of the Eco-Management Audit Scheme (EMAS).

'Thinking about environmental improvement at a European or even global level is part of our daily work', said Professor Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director of the EEA. 'This has naturally led to much discussion about the environmental impacts of our professional activities and how to improve our environmental performance as an organisation.'

The external auditors highlighted the fact that the electricity and paper reduction targets for 2007 were met. The auditors also reported that EEA staff were well informed about the environmental goals and that the internal communication system was successfully informing all employees of the developments related to the EEA environmental management system.

BackgroundThe EEA was the first European Union body to gain registration under EMAS (the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme). In 2004, the Agency introduced its own environmental management system to make sure it continued improving its environmental performance. Every year, the EEA proposes and carries out internal projects to reduce the environmental impact of its professional activities.