Environmental Management System: Implementations, Voluntary Adoption, Issues, and Limitations in Australian Agriculture Sector

Running Head: Environmental Management System
Environmental Management System
Essay
System04104
9/11/2018

Environmental Management System
1
Environmental Management Systems: Implementations, Voluntary
Adoption, Issues, and limitations in Australian Agriculture sector
Environmental management system (EMS) plays a major role in Australian agriculture as
well as in the step taken by the government against the mass destruction of natural resources
and environmental pollution. The agriculture sector is an essential part of the Australian
economy and plays a key role in Australian development and its economic growth. The
agriculture sector helps in the processing of food, fibre, and ornate products. The EMS
system is a systematic approach of the Australian government that focuses on sustainable
development of agriculture sector along with other agriculture business such as fisheries,
beef, dairy, and cotton production and in its supply chain. Actually, EMS is a management
tool that works in cooperation with other Australian environmental programs and support
farmers, as well as many other businesses, depend on agriculture (Lewandowska, 2011).
EMS helps the agricultural sector and other industries to improve the efficiency in their
operations or in the production of goods by guiding, controlling, and managing their impact
on the environment and ensure there should not be any further damage to it. The Australian
government continuously spread awareness among the farmers to adopt the EMS system. The
ministry of agriculture and Resource management both working together and develop a
framework for EMS, that inspires people to voluntarily adopt and implement the EMS in both
agriculture and other industrial sectors.
1. What is EMS?
EMS is a system-based approach of the Australian government that focuses on proper
planning, implementation, reviewing, and improving the operations of a business or farmer
takes to meet its environmental obligation to improve the environmental performance under
any state, local, or federal government. Many organisation use international voluntary
standard ISO 14001:2015 as a model for an EMS. The ISO 14001:2015 includes several
guidelines that an organisation must follow to protect preventive to improve their
environmental performance (Nguyen, et.al, 2014). There are some other programs regulated
by government in order to take a preventive step against environmental pollutions are only
part of EMS system such as BMPs (Best Management Practices).

Environmental Management System
2
2. Key objectives of EMS
EMS both supports and controls the agriculture sector as well as agribusiness organisation
such as fisheries, beef, cotton, dairy etc. and supports these organisations to accomplish a
number of tasks including good product quality and safety, reducing expenditures, product
integrity, and protecting the environment. Although they key objectives of EMS are as
follow:
1. Analyse the impact of various agricultural and agribusiness activities for
environmental review.
2. Proper management of hazardous waste
3. Develop an environmental policy
4. Wildlife management
5. Environmental protection by reducing pollution
6. Cropland Nutrient Management
7. Protect the soil, water, and animals.
3. ISO 14001:2015 and 14040:2006
ISO 14001:2015 supports and specifies the obligation for an EMS system that can be used by
an organisation in order to improve its environmental performance. The ISO 14001:2015
supports those organisations, which are looking towards managing their environmental
obligations and accountabilities in a systematic manner, which helps to contribute to the
environmental pillar of sustainability. ISO 14001:2015 serve as the supportive program for
EMS that helps the organisations to achieve intended outcomes in order to improve their
environmental responsibilities. ISO 14001:2015 applies to any types of the organisation
regardless of their size, nature, or type of activities and applies the environmental aspects of
its activities, and product and services. ISO 14001:2015 does not consider any specific
environmental performance standards apart from EMS rather it supports the EMS program of
government (de Oliveira, et.al, 2017).
The ISO 14040:2006 covers life cycles assessment (LCA) studies and life cycle inventory
studies. It does not define the LCA system and procedure in detail, nor does it postulate
methodologies for the separate stages of the LCA. ISO 14040:20016 covers the basic
information about the life cycle assessment including its goals, scope, inventory analysis,
interpretation phase, impact assessment, limitations, and the relationship between two LCA