Benefits for Business: Leveling the Field, Streamlining the Process

Industry leaders find that green plans work to their advantage in several ways: by streamlining government bureaucracy; by allowing businesses the flexibility to use their own methods to achieve agreedupon objectives; and by creating a long-term—and therefore predictable —regulatory environment. In addition, since businesses are working in cooperation with government and community groups, they are faced with less environmental litigation and its attendant costs.

Streamlining typically involves some sort of “one-stop shopping” for environmental permits, and often requires only one permit per facility. In the Netherlands, each company is assigned a government official with whom it will work on all the environmental issues concerning that industry. These reforms greatly reduce the money, time, and paperwork required of businesses in complying with government standards.

Another major incentive for businesses is that green plans tend to favor voluntary and economic measures that go beyond traditional compliance-oriented regulations. Green plans still require adherence to strict environmental standards within an established legal and regulatory structure, but green plans are goal oriented and they are more flexible regarding the methods used to achieve those goals. Rather than prescribing a particular technology for a particular problem, as most “command-and-control” regulations do, green plans allow a business to use the most efficient means possible to reach specified goals. As one Dutch business representative put it, “We’d much prefer to choose from our own menu than be told what to eat.” The flexibility granted to businesses fosters continuous innovation that can result in substantial cost savings as well as improved environmental performance. Innovative environmental strategies also serve to make businesses more competitive.

An increasing number of businesses are realizing that a sharp focus on the economics of environmental protection translates into improved performance and profits—through reduced use of raw materials and energy, waste reduction, and enhanced customer satisfaction. Green planning provides the necessary environmental goals, they are better able to plan for the future and can incorporate necessary changes within a predictable timeframe. The comprehensive green plan framework also establishes a level playing field to ensure that no one business or industry is penalized for cooperating with environmental goals.

Benefits for NGOs: Meaningful Involvement at the Outset

Non-profit and non-governmental environmental and community organizations play a key role in green plan development and implementation. No longer are NGOs faced with the prospect of playing a defensive, outsider role, relying solely on protest and litigation to effect change. Instead, they are actively involved in the process of shaping and implementing a shared vision for the future and tracking that process every step of the way.

This does not mean that environmentalists are no longer critical of the environmental protection process; rather, their continued role as critics and watchdogs of the process is essential to keeping it on course. It does mean that environmental and community groups can develop new roles, working with businesses and educating the public as well as helping develop priority goals and strategies.

Achieving sustainability becomes an integral goal of both the public and private sectors—built directly into the green planning process, not just tacked on as an afterthought. This provides environmental and community organizations with an unprecedented opportunity to focus most closely on ensuring the success of the process and not on a grab bag of incoherent policies that have little prospect of resulting in a sustainable future.

In the Netherlands, Dutch NGOs have achieved a remarkable level of sophistication in their advocacy activities and their collaboration with diverse interests. These groups engage in “strategic” cooperation to further environmental aims, choosing in some situations to work in partnership with government and businesses, and in others to oppose them and politicize an issue to build public support for stronger solutions.