The Business Charter for Sustainable Development is a set of 16 principles of environmental management launched in April 1991 by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The principles are to: give corporate priority to environmental management through the adoption of policies, programmes and practices; integrate the environment with overall management; continuously seek improvement with regulation as the starting point; train and educate employees on environmental issues; assess environmental impacts of new and past activities; provide products and services that have no undue environmental impact; advise customers on environmental impacts of products and services; operate facilities taking into account inputs, outputs and environmental effects; promote research on environmental impacts of activities and products (life-cycle analysis); prevent serious or irreversible environmental degradation caused by products, services and activities; promote these principles with contractors and suppliers; develop emergency preparedness plans with authorities; contribute to the transfer of environmentally sound technology; contribute to the development of public policy and education; improve internal and external communications with employees and the public; measure environmental performance and conduct audits.