ISEP (formerly IEMA) membership grades and Chartered Environmentalist

UK / international · Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (formerly the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment) · professional · unverified source

102practice questions written to this syllabus
8subjects

Format

Grades such as Associate, Practitioner and Full member are gained through competence-based application and, for higher grades, professional review interview; CEnv is awarded under licence from the Society for the Environment. IEMA/ISEP-approved training courses carry their own assessments.

Sections

Over the years

The old iema.net membership URL now redirects (301) to isepglobal.org, confirming the change of name; the ISEP page itself could not be loaded, so grade details are from general knowledge. Full membership has long been the standard senior credential for UK EIA and environmental management practitioners.

Official source: https://www.isepglobal.org/

Subjects this exam draws on

Sustainability Science: Concepts, History & Ethics15 questionsAgricultural Water Conservation, Water Footprint & Governance3 questionsCarbon Accounting & Greenhouse Gas Inventories13 questionsCarbon Markets, Offsets & Payments for Ecosystem Services5 questionsEnvironmental Management Systems, Auditing & Standards15 questionsSustainability Reporting & ESG Disclosure10 questionsSustainable Agri-food Supply Chains & Deforestation-free Sourcing14 questionsSustainability Transitions, Governance & Social Dimensions27 questions

Five practice questions, worked

Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.

1. Which essay contrasted a 'cowboy economy' with a 'spaceman economy'?

  1. Hardin's 'Tragedy of the Commons' (1968)
  2. Leopold's 'Land Ethic' (1949)
  3. Schumacher's 'Buddhist Economics' (1966)
  4. Boulding's 'Spaceship Earth' (1966)
Answer and working

D. Boulding's 'Spaceship Earth' (1966)

Kenneth Boulding contrasted an open, resource-unlimited economy with a closed system in 'The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth'. The others address commons, ethics and economics differently.

Sustainability Science: Concepts, History & Ethics · History of environmental thought: Malthus, Leopold, Carson, Limits to Growth

2. The blue water footprint counts water that is:

  1. Used to dilute pollutants to standards
  2. Falling as rain on pasture land
  3. Consumed: evaporated, incorporated or transferred
  4. Withdrawn from a river and then returned to the same river downstream
Answer and working

C. Consumed: evaporated, incorporated or transferred

Withdrawals that return to the same catchment are not blue footprint; rain on pasture is green; dilution volume is grey.

Agricultural Water Conservation, Water Footprint & Governance · Water footprint: green, blue and grey water

3. A cold store tops up its refrigeration system with 5 kg of HFC-134a to replace leakage. Using the AR5 GWP100 of 1,300 for HFC-134a, what Scope 1 emission is reported?

  1. 6,500 t CO2e
  2. 6.50 t CO2e
  3. 7.15 t CO2e
  4. 0.005 t CO2e
Answer and working

B. 6.50 t CO2e

Leakage replaced = emissions: 5 x 1,300 = 6,500 kg = 6.50 t CO2e (a fugitive Scope 1 source). 7.15 uses the AR4 GWP of 1,430; 0.005 ignores the GWP; 6,500 forgets kg-to-t.

Carbon Accounting & Greenhouse Gas Inventories · GHG Protocol Corporate Standard: boundaries, Scopes 1 and 2

4. Which ordering of the carbon credit life cycle is correct?

  1. Registration, issuance, methodology selection, validation, retirement, monitoring, verification
  2. Issuance, validation, registration, verification, monitoring, methodology selection, retirement
  3. Methodology selection, validation, registration, monitoring, verification, issuance, retirement
  4. Validation, issuance, monitoring, registration, retirement, verification, methodology selection
Answer and working

C. Methodology selection, validation, registration, monitoring, verification, issuance, retirement

Design to an approved methodology, validate, register, monitor, verify results, issue credits, then sell and retire. Credits are never issued before verification.

Carbon Markets, Offsets & Payments for Ecosystem Services · Voluntary carbon market structure: standards, registries, buyers

5. Which pairing of ISO standard and topic is correct?

  1. ISO 14046 — carbon footprint of products
  2. ISO 14064 — water footprint
  3. ISO 14051 — material flow cost accounting
  4. ISO 14006 — environmental performance evaluation
Answer and working

C. ISO 14051 — material flow cost accounting

ISO 14051 covers material flow cost accounting. ISO 14046 is water footprint, ISO 14067 carbon footprint of products, ISO 14064 greenhouse gas inventories and verification, and ISO 14006 eco-design; performance evaluation is ISO 14031.

Environmental Management Systems, Auditing & Standards · The ISO 14000 family

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