• To provide for co-operative, environmental governance by establishing principles for decision-making on matters affecting the environment, institutions that will promote co-operative governance and procedures for coordinating environmental functions exercised by organs of state; and to provide for matters connected therewith.

Responsibilities in Environmental Management capacity

Employers are responsible for the following:

• Establishing an environmental policy that is appropriate;
• Determining the environmental impacts that are of significance, by means of identifying the environmental aspects arising from the past, present, or future activities, services, and products;
• Identifying all requirements, legal as well as other, to which the organisation subscribes;
• Identifying priorities and setting appropriate environmental targets and objectives;
• Establishing a structure and a programme for implementing the policy, meeting targets, and achieving objectives;
• In order to ensure that the environmental policy is complied with and that the Environmental Management System remains appropriate, planning, control, monitoring, preventive and corrective actions, auditing and review activities should all be facilitated; and
• Adapting to changing circumstances.