The modern multi-sectoral economy is characterized by a significant number of enterprises that conduct their business activities in the face of creating a potential environmental hazard. In such conditions, an environmental audit takes on a special role. Environmental auditing is understood as independent monitoring and development of relevant provisions to ensure the activities of enterprises of increased environmental risk.
Eco-audit is a professional activity of specialists or specialized agencies in conducting independent audits of entities that operate in areas of increased environmental risk, as well as providing other services: preparation of declarations on the state of the environment and the consequences of the impact of economic activity on it, advising on environmental legislation; training, etc.
Actual goals and objectives of the audit in the field of ecology ultimately consist in the development by a third party of professional recommendations and suggestions of environmentally significant activity and bringing it into line with legal acts of environmental legislation. A study carried out by qualified groups of specialists, in strictly established terms, along with the development of environmental management systems , can significantly affect the environmental situation in the country, and first of all, at enterprises and industrial complexes of increased environmental hazard.
Given this, the goals and objectives of audit activities in the field of ecology should not focus only on the study of the environmental reporting of the enterprise, but also include the study of its activities in all aspects:
- clear development and establishment of environmental goals and objectives;
- development of an environmental program and company policy;
- monitoring, minimizing possible environmental damage in the form of emissions and discharges of various kinds of pollutants;
- rational use of resources, raw materials and their components, including hazardous reagents, above all;
- work to ensure the safety of personnel, including risk assessment and accident prevention;
- interaction with environmental control institutes, including non-governmental, for public monitoring of environmental licensing, insurance and certification;
- environmental awareness, education and staff training;
- reducing the risks of risks, as well as developing effective and fair measures to sanction violations of environmental standards.
The key role that determines the essence, goals and objectives of the audit in the field of environmental management belongs to monitoring. Its main tasks are as follows:
- monitoring the state of economic activity of an enterprise that poses a potential hazard to the environment;
- assessment and forecast of potential risks arising as a result of this business activity;
- development of operational measures to prevent violations of environmental laws.
The current environmental monitoring system, audit goals and objectives in this area still have a number of problems. Among the most important are, first of all, the underdevelopment of monitoring of the main sources of harmful effects on the environment. For example, environmental passports of enterprises contain information on no more than 15-20% of real sources of such risks.
The implementation of environmental goals and programs, environmental safety and the effectiveness of decisions taken are directly dependent on the interconnection of various types of environmental activities. For example, in the absence (insufficiency) of environmental impact monitoring, state (public) environmental control becomes formal and ineffective , which has a negative impact on both the development and substantiation of decisions, and their adoption and implementation. The absence or inefficiency of production control, in turn, makes monitoring sources of risks ineffective.
The absence of a general environmental impact assessment procedure, including state and public environmental review, leads to the adoption of ineffective solutions isolated from other priority environmental problems , both within specific industries and the country as a whole. That is why the goals and objectives of the audit should be holistic and universal in nature, providing an effective study of the situation in various sectors of economic production activity.
In addition, in order to transform our entire economy into an environmentally friendly system, the first thing to do is to take an inventory of the environmental status of each enterprise. And international experience convincingly shows and proves that, without a periodic environmental inspection (assessment) of the enterprise, the adoption of effective measures in the field of environmental management is almost impossible.