1. Environmental Policy - Legal and Economic Instruments Presentation by Per Erichsen, Roskilde University, Denmark BUP Teachers Conference on Environmental Management, Poland 2006

2. The concept  Traditional command-and-control with recipient-orientation not sufficient to promote CP and prevention  A mix of instruments and dialogue needed  Traditional command-and-control important (binding minimum standards and emission limit values). Voluntary instruments => improvements beyond compliance  From one-way communication to continual information exchange between company and authority, maintaining requirements

3. Towards selfregulation

4. A shared responsibility  A responsibility of both company and authority  The starting point: The company’s accountability towards the environment  Bridging the gap between company and authority  The role of the regulation  Other regulatory instruments

5. The company as the starting point  Companies could commit themselves to introduce an EMS (thorough implementation crucial)  Companies may even apply other means where able to support their endeavour (eco- labelling, environmental management accounting/ triple-line accounting etc.)  Companies could keep an open dialogue with stakeholders – and involve them, if possible  The dialogue starts here

6. Networking  Companies can share experience in networks  The international level: World Business Council for Sustainable Development – not least image nursing  The local level: Green Network, Vejle County, Denmark (Glass wool)  Supply chain responsibility – both environmental and social – a question of ethics and goodwill

7. Shared responsibility  Environmental issues are the responsibility of both the companies and the authorities  Company and authority should engage in dialogue  Voluntary agreements could promote CP  Voluntary agreements may lead to improvements, which could then be required in conditions in the permit  Ensures economic considerations (e.g. timing according to the investment cycle)

8. Role for the regulation  The purpose of command-and-control: Only requirements and control or also a firm base for goal-setting for environmental improvements?  Regulation should support voluntary instruments (e.g. EMS) – only possible through dialogue, due to lack of information exchange

9. Environmental licensing & the IPPC directive  Focus on both input, output and throughput  Integrated assessment of environmental impacts – solving the shifting problem  Differentiation (site-specific regulation)  Awareness of the timing for the company to be regulated when requiring investment- based improvements (e.g. investment cycle)  Introducing Best Available Technique (BAT)

10. Best Available Technique  The best available environmental technique (technologies and other measures) – could be preventive  Originally BATNEEC (Best Available Technique Not Entailing Excessive Costs)  NEEC still part of the BAT thinking  Is it possible to make BREFs that will continously reflect recent developments?

11. Inspection  Two objectives: 1) Control; 2) Promotion of pro-active environmental investments  Dialogue about pro-active investments  Differentiation  Compliance programmes (both authority and company)  Compliance programmes ’light’ for SMVs

12. Enforcement  A just enforcement system has to be present, in case of non-compliance  Companies subject to enforcement: 1) Laggards; 2) Not as pro-active companies as the authority expected  Non-revenge  No mercy (but still giving the company a second chance to comply)

13. Economic instruments  Combination with other policy instruments  Objective: To make environmentally sound practices financially attractive  Taxes/subsidies to make it less economically attractive to behave bad, and more attractive to behave well environmentally  Emission trading – buying/selling pollution rights, making emission reductions where the cost is low  Ecological Tax Reform

14. Questions for discussion (1)  How do you understand ’environmental accountability’ – what role should the companies play in the regulation of themselves?  How do we make companies share experiences in the competitive context they work in?

15. Questions for discussion (2)  How could we make authorities cope with both enforcement and promotion of CP at the same time?  How pro-active do you consider BAT, in comparison to Cleaner Production, eco- efficiency and zero emission, in terms of promoting a sustainable industry? And how could BAT be improved in this respect?  How do we take the discussed ideals into our teaching? (applies to all 4 questions)