The Role of Environmental Indicators in Environmental Management

Today, companies are facing with the process of sustainable development. We believe that only the companies which will implement interchanges of organisational renovation from the environmental viewpoint will be able to offer holistic environmental answers to the customer's needs and their preferences. For that reason it is important that company retains its ability of ongoing monitoring of organisational model of viewpoints of environmental management. High quality environmental information is indispensable for responsive and cost-effective policies. The OECD provides leadership in the development of indicators to measure countries' environmental performance and provides harmonized data on environmental progress in OECD countries. It advises on methodologies for environmental indicators and accounting systems; it issues recommendations that help countries improve their environmental information systems and produce reliable environmental data. The purpose of this contribution is to study and define the most important indicators influencing environmental management effectiveness and efficiency in enterprises, focusing on Slovenian enterprises. The focus is on environmental indicators as the result of environmental management, environmental policy and a strategic direction towards achieving environmental goals as well as constant and continuous training and awareness-raising in stakeholders, employees, customers, suppliers and wider social community.The research objective was to set or determine and prove the role and significance of environmental management indicators in an enterprise's operations. The reflection included interdisciplinary thinking which enables us to understand and manage the process of environmental management in terms of sustainable development. Based on the assumption that an enterprise respects and complies with environmental legislation, it was analitically examined what types of environmental indicators and measures contribute to a constant and continuous improvement in terms of sustainable development. Environmental indicators are powerful tools that serve many purposes, useful as tools for performance evaluation and public information. The development of indicators is a dynamic process that is constantly subject to updating and improvement.