Capabilities
Communications & Market Research

Promoting the Financial Benefits of Environmental Management

Under a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contract, C&A, in partnership with Soyka & Company, promoted the use of environmental management systems (EMSs) in making underwriting, lending, and investment decisions. EMSs are voluntary structured approaches to managing enterprises’ operations to meet environmental goals and regulatory responsibilities. Using a two-way communications model, C&A engaged insurers, lenders, and investors in a serious dialogue about environmental risk assessment to address their opinions, needs, and wants as well as the benefits and barriers they perceive to change. C&A’s approach included learning from the financial community what information it needs to find in EMSs to make decisions regarding environmental risk; using this information to advance EMSs that balance compliance-oriented goals with financially meaningful ones; and identifying and publicizing private sector examples of well-designed EMSs reducing enterprises’ costs, inefficiencies, and liabilities while improving their financial performance, marketplace competitiveness, and public image. C&A also provided technical expertise and meeting support to a newly formed EPA steering committee tasked with exploring ways to harness the power of financial markets to stimulate EMS adoption.

A full report from the EPA EMS Steering Group is entitled Financial Incentives for Environmental Mangement Systems (EMS).


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