Environmental management in a global economy

Environmental issues have evolved considerably over the last two decades. The main contributing factors, to name a few, have been the changing values of modern societies, the globalization of trade and its linkage to en-vi ronment, evolution and accessibility of information/communication technologies, better educated populations, climate change, long-range transport of toxics, and the increasing influence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and multistakeholders. As well, environmental management of mining operations had to he realigned in order to meet these new realities and to respond to more elaborated regulations oriented towards sustainability, Environmental management systems (EMS) have been introduced not to meet the assurance of conformance to regulations but also to prevent pollution and to apply continuous improvement of mining processes. EMS models have been developed and certification to international standards (e,g. ISO 14 001) is a common practice. Globalization has imposed challenges anti additional requirements to environmental management. Developing a mine in emerging countries implies dealing with international agencies, local communities, and a variety of government infrastructures to obtain a "license to operate," This paper presents the structure of Cambior's EMS and how it was adapted and implemented in the company's operations in South America.