Environmental Commitment : the EMS

The operation of our businesses magnifies our responsibility to manage environmental impacts. That is why Veolia Transport decided in 2001 to initiate the Environmental Management System (EMS) measurement protocol.

The EMS uses about a hundred indicators to track and transparently manage the environmental footprint of our operations and to continuously improve our performance by adjusting numerical targets and action plans.

Aligned with the requirements of international standards such as the ISO 14001 and the Global Reporting Initiative, whose main provisions it duplicates, the EMS focuses the attention of all our employees on environmental progress goals.

Veolia Transport applies the EMS across the company and monitors the indicators relevant to our business sector.

We prioritize EMS deployment at our most environmentally sensitive sites. To date, 86% of Veolia Environnement's facilities worldwide have been audited.

Our expertise is unique in the public transit world.

Transportation as a whole generates almost one-fourth of global CO2 emissions, compared with scarcely 7% for public transportation. Using its Environmental Management System (EMS), which has been deployed in 889 transportation systems in 24 countries since 2001, Veolia Transport can make very precise measurements of the impact of its activities and its environmental risk management. Cross-checking all the data obtained through this system helps us analyze our performance and set optimal targets. It also gives us tangible arguments with which to incite public authorities to develop their public transportation systems and encourage the general public to use them. A private car making the same trip will emit 2.5 times more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than public transportation. Raising environmental awareness is, however, only the "green" aspect of a much more comprehensive approach. Passenger safety and quality of service—be it comfort, on-time performance, innovation or information—are just as important.