Environmental awareness

I will give my opinion on two levels. The first is more practical the second is more conceptual.

Let us go to the practical level: Before thinking on risks and opportunities I like to start with expected results. ISO 14001:2015 definition 3.2.10 and its Note 1 support viewing risk or opportunity as a deviation from the expected due to uncertainty. So, for energy use, for example, your organization may expect to become more efficient and reduce unitary consumption. What can go wrong and make you miss the target? 

For example, perhaps people are not motivated to adopt energy saving practices, this is a risk. 

For generation and disposal of waste your organization expects to minimize waste generation and waste contamination. What can go well and make you better than target? 

For example, one of the workers follows a practice that allows him/her to be much more efficient in the use of raw materials. Perhaps that practice can be generalized for all workers that program CNC cutting raw materials, this is an opportunity.

For example, you realize that the closer the waste bins are to place of generation of waste, the less contamination of wastes occur. Perhaps a new organization and distribution of waste bins can minimize waste 

Now, let us go to the conceptual level: when determining risks and opportunities in an environmental management system there are more than one way of doing it:

1. There are organizations that determine their environmental aspects and use a risk and opportunities assessment to determine its significant environmental aspects. (Please see the end of the second paragraph of Annex A.6.1.1 of ISO 14001:2015)

2. There are organizations that determine their environmental aspects evaluate them and determine the significant ones and use a risk and opportunities assessment to determine which ones need and action plan, and which ones need only to be monitored. For example, with your case, about habitat destruction, what can go wrong with your preventive measures system that can make the habitat suffer?

3. There are organizations that only apply the risk-based approach to the context part. In a certain way they are following the same approach as 1 without explicitly mentioning it.

The following material will provide you more information about aspects and impacts:

- Article - ISO 14001 risks and opportunities vs. environmental aspects - https://advisera.com/14001academy/blog/2016/06/06/iso-14001-risks-and-opportunities-vs-environmental-aspects/
- Free webinar - Free webinar - ISO 14001: Identification and evaluation of environmental aspects - https://advisera.com/14001academy/webinar/iso-14001-identification-and-evaluation-of-environmental-aspects-free-webinar-on-demand/
- Enroll for free in this course – ISO 14001:2015 Foundations Course - https://advisera.com/training/iso-14001-internal-auditor-course/
- Book – The ISO 14001:2015 Companion - https://advisera.com/books/the-iso-14001-2015-companion/