Potential Benefits of Combining Environmental Management Tools in a Local Authority Context

Today, there are many environmental management tools available to support integration of environmental perspectives in decision-making processes. However, a single tool is seldom the answer to all queries. This paper shows potential benefits of using a combination of different environmental management tools in a local authority context. Three environmental management tools used in Swedish local authorities are examined — Substance Flow Analyses (SFA), Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), and Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) — from mainly a theoretical point-of-view. The tools are positioned according to their key characteristics, and their individual contribution to environmental management in local authorities is explored. For the local authorities, a combination of tools allows decision-makers to integrate experience from individual projects to overall environmental management, which helps decision-makers to deal with some of the challenges that different environmental management situations require.