Voluntary agreements as an environmental policy instrument in Finland

Abstract

This article provides an overview analysis of the use of voluntary agreements (VAs) in Finnish environmental policy. VAs are quite a new phenomenon in Finland. They have been implemented in relation to four different policy initiatives relating to the reduction of the usage of CFCs, the reduction of the amounts of packaging wastes, energy conservation and the remediation of contaminated soil. The usage of VAs has mainly been based on ad hoc practices and on individual cases rather than on planned or strategic decisions at the ministerial or governmental level. Nonetheless, the negotiative and consensual policy style associated with VAs is not a new phenomenon in the culture of Finnish environmental policy. It can even be argued that the traditional and quite successful consensual policy style or process of ‘negotiated rule‐making’ inside the formal regulatory system has prohibited the more active development of VAs. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment.

Negotiated environmental agreements in promoting material efficiency in industry – first steps in Finland

“…In Finland, the NEA instrument has had very limited use in environmental policy, with the exception of energy efficiency agreements [21][22][23]. In waste management the concept was tested in 1995 for the promotion of recycling of packaging waste.…”