The Effectiveness of Environmental Management System Standards

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of Environmental Management System standards (EMS standards), such as the ISO 14001, on the environmental performance of French manufacturing plants from 2001 to 2017. The impact of EMS certificates depends on the pollutant considered. For instance, adopters of EMS standards lower their water removals by 6.7% and they increase their production of hazardous waste by 8.6% directly after the certification, while there are no significant effects for the CO2 emissions and the water pollution. Moreover, EMS-certified firms reduce their energy bill by 0.6% per additional year following the certification. The absence of clear-cut conclusions regarding the environmental effectiveness of EMS standards question the efficiency of the eventual subsidies.