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Environment

Enterprises should, within the framework of laws, regulations and
administrative practices in the countries in which they operate, and in
consideration of relevant international agreements, principles, objectives, and
standards, take due account of the need to protect the environment, public
health and safety, and generally to conduct their activities in a manner
contributing to the wider goal of sustainable development. In particular,
enterprises should:

1. Establish and maintain a system of environmental management
appropriate to the enterprise, including:
a) collection and evaluation of adequate and timely information regarding
the environmental, health, and safety impacts of their activities;
b) establishment of measurable objectives and, where appropriate, targets
for improved environmental performance, including periodically
reviewing the continuing relevance of these objectives; and
c) regular monitoring and verification of progress toward environmental,
health, and safety objectives or targets.

2. Taking into account concerns about cost, business confidentiality, and the
protection of intellectual property rights:
a) provide the public and employees with adequate and timely information
on the potential environment, health and safety impacts of the activities
of the enterprise, which could include reporting on progress in
improving environmental performance; and
b) engage in adequate and timely communication and consultation with
the communities directly affected by the environmental, health and
safety policies of the enterprise and by their implementation.

3. Assess, and address in decision-making, the foreseeable environmental,
health, and safety-related impacts associated with the processes, goods
and services of the enterprise over their full life cycle. Where these
proposed activities may have significant environmental, health, or safety
impacts, and where they are subject to a decision of a competent authority,
prepare an appropriate environmental impact assessment.

4. Consistent with the scientific and technical understanding of the risks,
where there are threats of serious damage to the environment, taking also
into account human health and safety, not use the lack of full scientific
certainty as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent or
minimise such damage.

5. Maintain contingency plans for preventing, mitigating, and controlling
serious environmental and health damage from their operations, including
accidents and emergencies; and mechanisms for immediate reporting to
the competent authorities.

6. Continually seek to improve corporate environmental performance, by
encouraging, where appropriate, such activities as:
a) adoption of technologies and operating procedures in all parts of the
enterprise that reflect standards concerning environmental performance
in the best performing part of the enterprise;
b) development and provision of products or services that have no undue
environmental impacts; are safe in their intended use; are efficient in
their consumption of energy and natural resources; can be reused,
recycled, or disposed of safely;
c) promoting higher levels of awareness among customers of the
environmental implications of using the products and services of the
enterprise; and
d) research on ways of improving the environmental performance of the
enterprise over the longer term.

7. Provide adequate education and training to employees in environmental
health and safety matters, including the handling of hazardous materials
and the prevention of environmental accidents, as well as more general
environmental management areas, such as environmental impact
assessment procedures, public relations, and environmental technologies.

8. Contribute to the development of environmentally meaningful and
economically efficient public policy, for example, by means of partnerships
or initiatives that will enhance environmental awareness and protection.