Reinforcing environmental thinking in standardisation
The members of the ENIS Team of CEN Strategic Advisory Body on Environment reiterated their support for the CEN Environmental Approach, at their meeting in Berlin on 19 May. The team comprises of representatives of the national standards bodies, CEN-CENELEC Management Center, national authorities, and civil society organisations including ANEC and ECOS.
The CEN approach on addressing environmental issues provides a horizontal framework to promote and ensure a better inclusion of environmental aspects in European standards for products and services. Six years after its adoption, the group committed to reviewing the Environmental Approach to ensure that it continues to effectively contribute to a greater environmental awareness of standardisers and improved standards. In particular, the group will report to CEN members on the actions undertaken as part of the implementation of the approach, and will attempt to evaluate the impacts of these actions.
As part of the CEN Environmental Approach, a dedicated helpdesk and e-learning tools have been made available, with tailored workshops and training regularly provided. The Approach has also led to the development of an environmental checklist as well as various guides aimed to assist CEN Technical Bodies with developing environmental requirements. In addition to the recently published CEN-CENELEC Guide 32, another Guide, currently under preparation by a project team involving ECOS, and the Austrian, Swedish and Spanish standard bodies under CEN lead, would also help standardisers address hazardous chemicals in product standards, with a view to limit exposure and reduce negative health and environmental impacts, potentially beyond legislation.
Although it may be too early to assess the impacts of these numerous actions, ECOS believes that the CEN Environmental Approach has given a strong signal that environmental protection should be considered in the development of standards, including as an overarching principle, for the benefits of both the economy and society. The tools it presents should continue to be actively promoted and potentially improved in order to deliver quality standards supporting competitiveness and innovation while ensuring a high level of environmental protection and societal welfare. We hope that the review of the CEN Environmental Approach will help achieve this goal.
