Gearing Up to Meet Global Environmental Challenges

The environmental challenges facing industrial companies and governments throughout the world are numerous and complex. Most governments and industrial companies now clearly realize and embrace the paradigm that environmental issues are intertwined with social/ cultural and socioeconomic issues. In fact, social and cultural concerns may far outweigh all other factors as industry and government make critical decisions regarding environmental issues.

Governmental Concerns

Promoting economic growth with environmental and human health safeguards in place seems to be the path forward for most governments. Decades of environmental mismanagement have created severe legacy issues throughout the developed and developing world. At the crux of this challenge are the current energy policies: economic growth demands energy and the choices for government – e.g., fossil fuel-based energy, renewable energy sources, and hybrid systems – drive related environmental management strategies.

The two huge tasks facing governments are: (1.) determining how to clean up legacy problems, restore natural resources, and achieve human health protection; and (2.) designing strategies to allow for future growth, while protecting the environment, maintaining biodiversity, safeguarding human health, and preserving cultural/ social values. This results in a very complex decision network for governments with varied experiences. A regulatory framework that leverages good science yet is targeted at supporting each country’s social and cultural values is an essential ingredient.

At the very heart of these obstacles are several factors and events that reflect future environmental challenges: Some oil companies and the World Wildlife Fund agree to prohibit World Heritage site exploration The abundance and appeal of heavy oil resources in Canada and Venezuela and a new focus on producing those resources have collided with greenhouse gas commitments and waste disposal issues Aggressive “environmental liability management” has become the norm for major companies in dealing with legacy issues and in avoiding future liabilities The need to accurately measure and manage greenhouse gas emissions data for purposes of future internal and external trading is driving a U.S./industry push for “standardization” of management techniques Even as the consequences of global warming are becoming clearer - climate change impacts already recognized in the Arctic, with measurable disruptions to Aboriginal lifestyles, wildlife, existing communities, and industrial development —the exact causes are still debated, and in turn uneven global approaches have created unique business challenges There is a dire need to mitigate the worldwide loss of fisheries and underwater habitats due to overexploitation and collateral damage Activities in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea demonstrate the technical and cost benefits of oil company collaboration in addressing environmental research, and developing an environmental management strategy

Is the Western experience an adequate model for the developing world? Missteps in these arenas, as evidenced in some countries, have created uncertain processes and unpredictable development and investment scenarios for industry, thus retarding economic growth. The challenges faced by governments become even more complex when transboundary-multinational issues come into play, which is the case for issues ranging from global warming and invasive species, to marine transportation-oil spill accidents.

Industry Challenges

At the center of major global environmental challenges for industry are energy strategies, energy projects, other natural resource exploitation, and designing manufacturing life cycles to minimize future impacts. The mineral resource industries (mining and oil and gas) have generally embraced the concepts of sustainable development and preservation biodiversity, but putting sustainability and biodiversity concepts into play is a “work-inprogress” for most companies. How to deploy a uniform, yet adaptive corporate environmental strategy across many geographies has become a major challenge.

The economics of oil and gas exploration, production, and development are solid and the technology for operating in remote locations onshore and in deeper waters offshore have improved tremendously. Energy development and environmental protection can, in fact, coexist. Nevertheless, the industry still faces major challenges in balancing favorable economics with urgent and unrelenting environmental and social scrutiny. Uneven approaches to global warming mitigation and the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions define a new dynamic around define a new dynamic around the globe. Resource exploitation, largely unconstrained geographically in the past, has encountered a new complexity, where some locations may be “off limits” to hydrocarbon and mineral resource development. At the same time, the added dimension of today’s political and socioeconomic situation in the post-9/11 world has compounded an already complex set of stakeholder issues.

Looking to the future, national governments, nongovernment organizations, and industry are making great advances in meeting the environmental challenges, though difficulties and tensions remain common. Positive trends include ever-increasing stakeholder involvement; cooperative partnerships; active engagement of multilateral lenders; increasing multicompany collaboration in addressing regional concerns; and accelerating emphases on technology transfer, training, and capacity building through formal partnerships and alliances.

Battelle is working with its government and industrial clients worldwide to assist with foreseeing, understanding, and managing such complex environmental challenges. By strategically applying sound science and technology, technology transfer and capacity building, we continue to bring value to our clients’ diverse set of environmental challenges.

For additional information, please contact Dr. Paul Boehm at (781) 895-4862, boehmp@battelle.org.