In 1995, Indonesia introduced the first public environmental reporting initiative in a developing country, the Program for Pollution Control, Evaluation, and Rating (PROPER). Under this system, companies receive one of five color ratings based on their environmental performance, and the results are publicly reported.
Gold: clean technology, waste minimization, pollution prevention.
Green: exceeds minimum standards
Blue: meets minimum standards
Red: do not meet minimum standards
Black: no pollution control effort, serious environmental damage
Between 1995-1997, the 200 large water polluting factories that participated improved their compliance level from 34 – 51 percent. Shakeh Afsah, PROPER developer, conducted a survey of these facilities and found that accurate information and structured reports and ratings enabled the companies to identify and compare their performance with similar facilities.
Afsah is tailoring versions of the system for governments in Columbia, Thailand and India. In India, the Cement Manufacturers Association is modifying the program to focus on environmental performance, energy efficiency and carbon emissions. He is applying the principles to forest certification as part of a USAID project in Indonesia.
Shakeh Afsah, International Resources Group: safsah@irgltd.com
Source: Environment Health & Safety Newsletter: thunder@pipeline.com
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