EMAS Helpdesk: advancing sustainability management in Europe

The path towards sustainable growth presents considerable challenges for businesses and corporations. The development of an internal sustainability management system is one of these challenges. The EMAS-Helpdesk was created to support businesses with overcoming these obstacles, for instance through answering complex questions regarding the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). It further aims to raise public awareness about the content and dissemination of EMAS.

The EMAS-Helpdesk is accessible for all corporations, government agencies, environmental groups, researchers, trade unions and the general public inside and outside the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA). The Helpdesk compiles information on all participating organisations registered with EMAS and on all environmental auditors with accreditation.

adelphi and its partner organisations have jointly operate the Helpdesk since 2014. On behalf of the Directorate-General for Environment of the European Commission, they have promoted and disseminated information about EMAS for ten years. This includes organising events, updating the EMAS website, and creating communications and information material. Moreover, the Helpdesk conducts research on topics related to EMAS in order to improve its integration with other policies.

A large part of the project is about collecting organizing and, analyzing relevant data, in preparation of statistics for information and awareness raising purposes. For example, adelphi prepares the official statistics of the EU EMAS Helpdesk, such as organisation and sites per country and respective trends and outlooks published on the Statistics & graphs webspage: (https://ec.europa.eu/env…) . adelphi maintained and continuously improved the presentation of the statistics, such as presented graphs, highlighting progresss in specific sectors, in relation to SMEs, or by country. Furthermore, adelphi has been responsible for the annual news section, including the presentation of specific statistics on diverse topics where multiple statistics have been presented (e.g. the number of registrations and sites per Member State, total number of organisation and site registrations at the EU level and progress over the years, leading industrial sectors, leading service sectors etc.). adelphi has been preparing and presenting a statistical overview on the development of the EMAS scheme at EU level in a six-month period. adelphi has been in charge of the annual data check and support to assure the accuracy of the data.