Smart (and Not-So-Smart) Mixes of New Environmental Policy Instruments

Abstract

The chapter analyses the adoption and deployment of traditional 'command-and-control' regulations and 'new' environmental policy instruments (NEPIs) as they occur in practice in five different jurisdictions, namely Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and United Kingdom (UK) as well as the European Union (EU) since the early 1970s. It focuses on three different types of NEPIs -informational instruments, voluntary agreements and market-based instrumentsand examines how and why they have become mixed in different jurisdictions.It argues that whilst there has been a significant uptake of NEPIs in all five jurisdictions, important differences have remained as regards the composition of instrument mixes in particular jurisdictions. Adopting a longitudinal perspective allows for the identification of leaders, followers and laggards for different types of NEPIs. Although there may be a theoretical 'optimal mix' of policy instruments, in reality patterns of adoption and deployment are very strongly influenced by a mixture of contingent factors which vary within and across jurisdictions, over time.

Challenges of Food Waste Governance: An Assessment of European Legislation on Food Waste and Recommendations for Improvement by Economic Instruments

“…Therefore, the effects of the discussed optimising regulatory options would be limited. At the same time, informational instruments such as eco-labels, voluntary measures or nudging measures to incentivise consumers to avoid food waste can be supportive (see e.g., [133] (pp. 72-74) [134] (pp.…”

The Challenging Paths to Net-Zero Emissions: Insights from the Monitoring of National Policy Mixes

“…First, there is the reporting year (see above). Second, we draw on the information provided on the policy sector, coded using the EEA's definitions (energy supply, energy consumption, transport, industrial processes, agriculture, waste, land use, land-use change and forestry [LULUCF], and/or crosscutting) (see EEA 2019b; Wurzel et al 2019). Third, we examine the instrument type, that is, whether the member states together with the EEA classified a given instrument as an economic, fiscal, voluntary, regulatory, information, education, research, planning and/or "other" instrument (EEA 2019b).…”

“…For example, one strand of work has focused on the coherence and consistency of policy mixes by looking at the characteristics of the individual policy instruments contained therein (Howlett and Rayner 2007). Another line of research involves assessing which instrument types have been applied, be they more traditional regulation (command-and-control), economic or information-based instruments, meaning policies that inform citizens or business actors about desirable actions or behaviour (Wurzel et al 2019). Other efforts have unpacked individual policy instrument characteristics, notably their intensity and technologyspecificity, to assess policy change (Schmidt and Sewerin 2019).…”

Environmental Mainstreaming in Greek TEN-T Ports

“…Nevertheless, as soft approaches, financing and 'new' environmental policy instruments will not yield desired outcomes-both in terms of results per se and in terms of a more rapid pace of environmental performance improvement-a recourse to hard regulatory interventions is considered probable. It is, however, reasonable to expect a combination of approaches and an effective instrument mix [62,63], continuously searching for a point of balance among them, which will be determined by the interaction of many different factors.…”