Spanish Businesses – The Most Ecological in Europe
Written by Allan on November 26th, 2008For the third year running, Spain leads the European table for the supreme award in ecological certification.
The ISO 14001 continues to be the seal of approval which assures company policy on commitment to the environment. There were no big surprises for Spain in this year’s annual list, published last week by The International Standards Organization which awards the certificates to each country. Spain continues leading Europe for the third consecutive year with a total of 13,852 certificates, 24.5% more than the previous year, widening the gap with Italy, which has the second most ecological companies in Europe.
Worldwide, Spanish businesses rank third in the list which is led by China (30,489) – a country which does not exactly ascribe a great deal of importance to ecological issues.
There are other green certificates in existence such as the C02 emissions compensatory scheme.
Some experts see the 14001 as a minimum requirement for companies.
The EMAS.
Experts consider ISO 14001 to be the minimum guarantee of environmental standards, although it continues to dominate the stamps of approval for quality in this field. “Several years ago, Europe launched the EMAS (Eco-management and Audit Scheme) regulations with the intention of substituting 14001. Although it was very successful in the beginning, only 10 – 15 % of companies now apply for it”, said Jose Angel Guerra, of the environmental division of the consultancy and certification company SGS.
AENOR (Spanish Standards and Certification Association), the institution which awards most ISO certificates in Spain, highlights the service and construction sectors as those where most environmental management certificates are awarded, followed by the chemical, oil and automotive sectors.
ISO 14001, with its more than 150,000 certificates in 148 different countries continues to symbolize an advantage for all those businesses competing in state or multinational company tenders. “Public administration services are putting more and more emphasis on the requirement of environmental certification in contract bidding. And this is not limited to 14001. The government has announced that companies with energy efficiency certification will have priority in tenders for public sector contracts”, said Jaime Fontanals, New Products Director at AENOR.
Green stamps are becoming more and more sought after and companies are demanding certification which values particular aspects of their activity. In response to this demand, AENOR has just launched its compensatory carbon dioxide emissions certificate applicable to events, companies, products, services, transport and buildings. The International Oil Congress held in Madrid this summer, and the International Pharmaceutical Congress held at the end of October, have been the first to adopt it.