Meet our EcoPeople: Olvin Navarro

“Meet our EcoPeople” will periodically introduce one of the staff members who make up the EcoEngineers family. We’d like you to get to know us!  Read more about Compliance Auditor Olvin Navarro below.

Olvin Navarro

Olvin Navarro

Title: コンプライアンス監査役

What service area do you work? I work in Audit services, primarily with biodiesel clients. I am also helping in the implementation and accreditation of ISO 14065:2020 General principles and requirements for bodies validating and verifying environmental information.

Where are you from? I am originally from Honduras

What degrees or certifications do you have? I have an associate’s degree in environmental science and I am a certified Lead Verifier in both the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and Oregon Clean Fuels Program. In addition, I am ISCC PLUS / ISCC EU International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Certified, and that allows me to conduct official ISCC audits throughout the entire value chain. 

Why do you do what you do?I know that the planet is sick due to the high environmental impacts that people are generating, and this job allows me to do something about it. I am coming from a country rich in natural resources. I grew up seeing beautiful forests, clear rivers, beautiful beaches, waterfalls, lakes, and a diversity of flora and fauna. I had the opportunity to connect with nature through the scouting program, internal family trips, and previous jobs. My current job gives me the possibility to help the biofuel industry protect the planet by conducting audits and ensuring that biofuel producers are doing the right thing for the planet by following USEPA guidelines and other environmental regulations such as the LCFS program, Oregon, among others. It’s a good feeling to know that my work and our reports push the biofuel industry to comply and work to reduce greenhouse gases.

What question do your friends or family typically ask about your job? The most common question is, “What do you do at work?” My common answer is: I perform environmental audits under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the biofuels industry inside and outside the U.S. Also, I work under the California LCFS, which focuses on GHG reduction in that state.

What is the biggest problem you solve? How would you describe it and your approach to fixing it? My biggest challenge happened in my home country of Honduras when I was working for a big company as the Corporate Manager in Safety, Health, and Environment. I needed to begin implementing and following the IFC Performance Standard due to the loan that the company obtained. My approach was to make the company comply with local environmental, safety and occupational health regulations. This would help later when complying with international regulations. At that time the company had a bad reputation in environmental, labor, social and everything associated with sustainability issues. I understood from the beginning that if we implemented the ISO14001 standards, OHSAS 18001|ISO 45001|, the company was going to achieve the credibility and prestige it was looking for. Based on our research in 2015, the company was the fastest (18 months) to get 28 certifications in an integrated management system under ISO14001 and ISO18001 from facilities with different scope of production. By 2018, this big corporation obtained 36 certifications as an integrated management system in ISO14001, ISO18001(ISO45001), and ISO9001 — including 4 certifications from ISCC EU and ISCC Plus from the palm oil industry. The president of the company above said the project was the biggest achievement in 50 years of the organization. The investment was more than $20 million, but the return was more than double. These achievements were the work of an entire team, including consultants and world bank staff. This company showed the world that there are influential firms in developing countries, too. In this process, there was a lot of personal and family sacrifice, tears, happiness, ups and downs, threats, and few hours of sleep — but finally great personal and professional satisfaction.

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