Green Dragon is a stepped Standard recognising effective environmental management. The Standard offers an environmental management system relevant to the specific needs of companies and organisations and rewards actions taken to achieve environmental improvements.
For many companies and organisations, the attainment of formal environmental management systems such as ISO 14001 can be very daunting, and in some cases not relevant to their business needs. Many companies and organisations aspiring to ISO 14001 do not receive any recognition for the steps they have made along the way and if they don't achieve all the elements for certification, they have nothing to show for their efforts. This is where the Green Dragon Environmental Standard plays an important part.
Within the Green Dragon Standard there are five levels, with each step contributing towards acheivement of the International and European environmental standards ISO 14001 and EMAS. During the appraisal and audit processes for the Green Dragon Standard, there is an evaluation of costs as well as environmental performance - this means that at each stage the company or organisation will have an outline environmental management system that relates to its bottom line.
Companies and organisations achieving any level of the Green Dragon Standard receive a certificate demonstrating the level of the company's achievements and commitment to environmental management.
Companies and organisations achieving Levels Three, Four and Five are also eligible to purcahse a plaque and are able to display the Green Dragon logo on their stationery and marketing materials. Displaying the Green Dragon logo demonstrates to customers and other interested parties that the company is committed to environmental management.
Companies and organisations who have reached Level Five may be successful in obtaining ISO 14001 or EMAS.
