Mexico - The Guadalajara Environmental Management Pilot
Devarajan, Shantayanan | de Melo, Jaime
The Guadalajara Environmental Management Pilot Project (GEMP) is a practical tool to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to improve their environmental performance. The preliminary results of GEMP illustrate the key role environment management systems (EMSs) can play in improving performance. The GEMP model itself demonstrates the value added when using partnerships to target and support SMEs. The unanswered question is: what policy tools can be employed to best promote such initiatives? As these potential tools are considered, it is useful to keep two principles in mind: government can promote, but not require, the adoption of particular management methods within firms; and industrial environmental initiatives do not relieve industry of the responsibility to comply with basic regulatory requirements. A government's decision on how actively it should promote such a model should be subject to an evaluation of the significance of pollution from SMEs; and the potential benefits from bearing the costs of such an activity. A range of policy tools is available for governments to use. Low cost options include promotional activities for the creation of private sector EMS networks, public recognition of participating companies, reduced or accelerated administrative requirements, and efforts to harmonize environmental and other regulations with EMS implementation. Finally a number of World Bank instruments could be used, including stand-alone Learning and Innovation Loans (LILs).
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