Environmental policy

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Environmental policy is any (course of) action deliberately taken (or not taken) to manage human activities with a view to prevent, reduce or mitigate harmful effects on nature and natural resources, and ensuring that man-made changes to the environment do not have harmful effects on humans.

Definition

It is useful to consider that environmental policy comprises two major terms: environment and policy. Environment refers to a broad concept consisting of three main dimensions: i.e. an ecological (ecosystems) dimension, a social (quality of life) dimension and an economic (resource management) dimension. Policy can be defined as a "course of action or principle adopted or proposed by a government, party, business or individual" . Thus, environmental policy focuses on problems arising from human impact on the environment, which retroacts onto human society by having a (negative) impact on human values such as good health or the 'clean and green' environment.

Environmental issues generally addressed by environmental policy include (but are not limited to) air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem management, biodiversity protection, and the protection of natural resources, wildlife and endangered species.

Environmental policy instruments

Environmental policy instruments are tools used by governments to implement their environmental policies. Governments may use a number of different types of instruments. For example, economic incentives and market-based instruments such as taxes and tax exemptions, tradable permits, and fees can be very effective to encourage compliance with environmental policy.

Voluntary measures, such as bilateral agreements negotiated between the government and private firms and commitments made by firms independent of government pressure, are other instruments used in environmental policy. Another instrument is the implementation of greener public purchasing programmes.

Often, several instruments are combined in an instrument mix formulated to address a certain environmental problem. Since environmental issues often have many different aspects, several policy instruments may be needed to adequately address each one. Furthermore, instrument mixes may allow firms greater flexibility in finding ways to comply with government policy while reducing the uncertainty in the cost of doing so. However, instrument mixes must be carefully formulated so that the individual measures within them do not undermine each other or create a rigid and cost-ineffective compliance framework. Also, overlapping instruments lead to unnecessary administrative costs, making implementation of environmental policies more costly than necessary In order to help governments realize their environmental policy goals, the OECD Environment Directorate studies and collects data on the efficiency of the environmental instruments governments use to achieve their goals as well as their consequences for other policies.

See also

• Environmental science
• Environmental Principles and Policies

References

External links

• Tellus Institute Nonprofit environmental policy research organization.
• Resources for the Future A nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that conducts independent research -- rooted primarily in economics and other social sciences -- on environmental, energy, and natural resource issues.
• ELUS not for profit subsidiary of Groundwork Trust offering environmental policy and law information
• EEA/OECD Environmental Policy and Natural Resource Management database

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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 15:10:14 PDT (GMT -0700)
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