• Energy Research
• DK close
• Portuguese close

Voluntary environmental programs have been widely used as greenhouse gas reduction instruments in developed countries. However, their role in developing countries is understudied. Previous research has called for comparative case studies to build knowledge on this topic. Four case studies from Brazil, Vietnam, and India are analyzed by interviews and a document review. The main findings suggest that the programs’ quality criteria and the industry drivers for involvement are often varied. Although the study did not quantitatively assessed the programs’ effectiveness to reduce the participants’ greenhouse emissions, qualitative proxies have been used as an option for assessing the credibility of voluntary environmental programs as tools for reducing GHG emissions. The results suggest that industrial voluntary environmental programs in developing countries can be credible complementary policy instruments. Further, voluntary programs can increase their credibility and public acceptance under these conditions: are embedded in an institutional context which enhances their credibility, are matched with the appropriate command-and-control or market instruments, that the industry follows its own incentives to participate, and the program is designed with certain quality criteria.

Companies in Denmark and abroad are working increasingly to reduce human impacts on the environment and nature. At the same time there must still be a large focus on the creation of value for customers and consumers. This development gives rise to a huge potential for Danish companies, to create new business opportunities, where sustainable development and value creation are integrated early in the design of new products and services. There is a great opportunity for businesses to create a new and positive agenda, where the focus is on all the good that companies can do for the environment, society and economic growth. Such an agenda must, of course, be based on a high involvement of the competencies of the companies’ own employees, as well as those of partners in the value chain. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency and the Confederation of Danish Industry are cooperating to promote and aid the establishment of such a new agenda. We place our focus on how products and services can be designed so not to harm humans, the environment and nature. With this Guide to environmental improvement through product development, we take the first step in this collaboration. The Guide gives inspiration and a stepwise approach to integrating positive environmental effects into companies’ design and product development processes. The Guide is intended primarily for product developers who have the task of building environmental thinking into the product development process. However environmental staff, industrial designers, manufacturing staff and others can also benefit from reading the Guide. The Guide is based on a review of the environmentally-oriented methods used and product development activities carried out in Danish and international companies, as well as experience gained through a series of workshops with Danish companies. The Guide has been created by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and IPU Product Development, in cooperation with the Confederation of Danish Industry and the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. Development of the Guide was financed through the Danish Environmental Protection Agency’s company funding scheme. We hope you will be inspired!

Este artigo pretende fazer uma reflexão sobre metodologia a ser desenvolvida e utilizada num projeto de desenvolvimento local, através das ações protagonizadas pela própria comunidade. Para isso parte de uma discussão sobre o conceito de desenvolvimento sustentável, e a seguir propõe a busca de formas alternativas para entender os processos utilizados pelas comunidades para se adaptarem a seus processos de desenvolvimento quando são impactadas em diversos graus pelos fenômenos da globalização. Utilizando os conceitos de espaço e tempo, sob a ótica de Milton Santos, e trazendo como um dos fatores de analise a questão sócio ambiental, propõe que a mudança se inicie pelos próprios pesquisadores através da forma de incluir estas comunidades nos processos de decisão no que tange aos projetos desenvolvidos com e para elas. Propõe também que busquem capacitar diferentes lideranças para que as políticas públicas sejam gestadas a partir das comunidades, de suas necessidades e da forma como gerem seus próprios projetos.