Environmental Safeguards for Industrial Parks

Abstract

This rapid review examined approaches that have been used to optimally enforce environmental policy instruments to drive green industrialisation. It begins with the discussion of environmental safeguards for industrial parks, followed by governance and management of eco-industrial parks. Final section discusses about organisations supporting environmental standards for industrial parks. Industrial parks are planned and developed for the purpose of industrial and associated commercial, infrastructure, and service activities. By grouping firms in a specific location, industrial parks offer collaborative and efficiency gains. However, whilst industrial parks may contribute to economic growth and social development, parks can also cause negative environmental and social impacts including: climate change, pollution, resource depletion, labour issues, and attendant community disruption. Accordingly, there is much discussion locally and internationally as to how environmental safeguards can be designed and implemented. Safeguard policies are tools to prevent or mitigate undue harm to people and their environment during the development process. In the context of industrial parks, these environmental safeguards define measures and processes to effectively manage risks and enhance positive impacts. In developing and emerging countries there are numerous difficulties in enforcing environmental safeguards arising from lack of experience, lack of awareness and lack of regulations and their enforcement. Given the number of standards and demands for their application in different industrial park contexts as well as the differing capacities of park management, implementation can be challenging. The review identified common barriers for the environmental safeguards including regulatory barriers, technological and socio-economic barriers, institutional and organisational capacity.