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Environmental Policy-making (environmental + policy-making)
Selected AbstractsThe use of technical knowledge in European water policy-makingENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 5 2010Perry J. M. van Overveld Abstract Environmental policy-making often involves a mix of technical knowledge, normative choice and uncertainty. Numerous actors, each with their own distinct objectives, are involved in these policy-making processes. One question these actors face, is how they can effectively communicate their technical knowledge and represent their interests in policy-making. The objective of this paper is to identify the factors that influence the use of technical knowledge and its impact on decision-making in the European Union. This is done for case of water policy-making for organic micropollutants, such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals. These pollutants enter the surface water in many ways and although concentrations are low, adverse effects cannot be ruled out. Via the EU Water Framework Directive, legislation has been developed to reduce the emissions of pollutants that pose a risk to ecology or public health. Using the advocacy coalition framework, the formal EU decision-making processes are analyzed for the identification of priority pollutants (Priority Substances) and the derivation of maximum allowable concentrations (Environmental Quality Standards). To enable a detailed analysis, the focus is on three specific micropollutants that pose health risks via drinking water supply. The findings show the extent to which actors can influence the decision-making process with technical knowledge. Early involvement in the drafting process that is led by the European Commission is important to influence decision-making outcomes. For this, organizational capacity in coalitions to mobilize and coordinate the required targeted contribution of technical knowledge is crucial. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Is there anything like a citizen?ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 1 2010A descriptive analysis of instituting a citizen's role to represent social values at the municipal level Abstract Environmental policy-making can be challenging because of lobbying by strong private interests. This results in less consideration about what is best for the wider community. The main goal of this study is to evaluate to what extent it is possible to institutionalize a citizen's role in decision-support processes. While the literature makes a clear distinction between private and social values, very little research is undertaken on how the framing of the instituted process influences which types of value become legitimate. Two deliberative meetings with local inhabitants were conducted in a municipality in Norway focusing on land use policy in coastal areas. The meetings were framed to facilitate dialogue and to emphasize the most important values to protect, given the interests of the wider municipality in the longer run. A large majority of the participants found the framing appropriate. Analyses of the dialogues, letters written by participants before the meetings and individual interviews undertaken afterwards document that the format of the meetings influenced strongly which arguments were found legitimate. The setting favoured the identification and specification of social values for inhabitants of the involved municipality such as public accessibility in conserved nature areas along the coast. The data moreover give insights about how the framing influenced the process. Arguments in favour of private construction interests were present, but were found to be weak in legitimacy. The framing might, however, also have influenced which social values were emphasized the most strongly. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] ,Green alliances' of business and NGOs.CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2002New styles of self-regulation or, dead-end roads'? In recent years, so-called greenalliances between NGOs and business have become popular phenomena, both in practice as well as in academic literature. This is striking, as it concerns collaborative partnerships of agencies whose relationships were quite antagonistic in the past. The question then is how stable and effective these alliances can be, amongst others, in contributing to,or even substituting,environmental policy-making and regulation. To answer this question, the history and (potential) effectiveness of green alliances are analysed from a political modernization and policy arrangement perspective. With that, this paper has a strong theoretical focus. The intention is not to analyse empirical cases thoroughly, but to theorize about the history, strengths and weaknesses of green alliances. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [source] Greening the Swedish Defence Material Administration , a case study on the force of industry in environmental policy-makingENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 6 2004Johan Sandström This paper discusses the greening of the Swedish Defence Material Administration (FMV). As the national procurer of defence materials, FMV respondents categorized their organization as lagging behind business organizations. Greening was, hence, perceived as a process particularly influenced by an industry-driven institutionalization of greening and environmental policy-making. Building on the tensions in greening a defence organization and, to some extent, in copycatting an industry approach, the paper discusses the force of industry as policy-maker. In the conclusions, based on the case analysis, opportunities and threats in future environmental policy-making are addressed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF VOLUNTARY ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF FIRMS: A CRITICAL REVIEWJOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 3 2009Esther Blanco Abstract New trends in studies on the governance of natural assets include substantial consideration of the role of voluntary initiatives. A traditional economic view states that there is a trade-off between being green and being competitive. According to that view, no voluntary environmental action is expected to occur. To undertake an in-depth analysis of the scope for voluntary action, this paper reviews empirical literature that analyzes the relationship between manufacturing firms' environmental initiatives or performance and economic results. This review moves beyond the general test of the ,pay to be green' hypothesis, preferring instead to systematize empirical results in more specific research questions. Empirical findings of the reviewed literature generally support that there is no penalty for being green. In addition, the typology of firms, the methods utilized for implementing environmental initiatives, the intensity of abatement efforts and stockholders' valuation of green firms have all been shown to have a sizeable influence on the actual economic results of environmental action or management. Consequently, the findings of this paper challenge the traditional strategic theory that predicts widespread free-riding; it holds major implications for environmental policy-making and environmental business decisions. [source] The Western Australian Regional Forest Agreement: Economic Rationalism and the Normalisation of Political ClosureAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 2 2007Martin Brueckner This article explores the constraints imposed by economic rationalism on environmental policy-making in light of Western Australia's (WA) Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) experience. Data derived from interviews with WA RFA stakeholders shed light on their perceptions of the RFA process and its outcomes. The extent to which involvement of science and the public RFA management enabled is analysed. The findings point to a pervasive constrainedness of WA's RFA owing to a closing of the process by the administrative decision-making structures. A dominant economic rationality is seen to have normalised and legitimised political closure, effectively excluding rationalities dissenting from an implicit economic orthodoxy. This article argues for the explication of invisible, economic constraints affecting environmental policy and for the public-cum-political negotiation of the points of closure within political processes. [source] | |||||||||||||