Abstract
Environmental management system (EMS) is rapidly becoming an integral part of an overall management responsibility of various organizations including not only business firms but also central and local governments. Over the last few years, business firms began to place greater emphasis on environmental activities as an essential element forming their corporate identity, and many local authorities also started an attempt to be “greener.” Such a trend, however, has not yet fully penetrated in smaller size firms, cities towns and villages. In this study, therefore, awareness and attitudes of enterprises and local governments about EMS are investigated. Questionnaires were sent to 1, 469 small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) and 97 local governments in Fukuoka Prefecture. Responses were received from 34% of enterprises and 56.7% of local governments. It is found that environmental awareness and attitudes of enterprises are dependent upon their size; smaller enterprises are less willing to take environmental actions largely due to the lack of information. Application of EMS to local governments is positively appreciated among themselves. Introduction of “green procurement” and recognition of ISO14001 as a qualification for tendering at local government would stimulate the introduction of EMS among enterprises.
