Suchergebnisse

Details the decision-making processes regarding the legal acts approved by the European Union Council of Ministers on environmental issues during 1993 and 1994. Role of the Committee of the Permanent Representatives; Use of council presidency by member states; Significance of decision-making procedures.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY1.Although the 5th Environmental Action Programme of the EU in 1992 recommended the greater use of economic instruments such as environmental taxes, there has been little progress in their use since then at the EU level. At Member State level, however, there has been a continuing increase in the use of environmental taxes over the last decade, which has accelerated in the last 5-6 years. This is primarily apparent in Scandinavia, but it is also noticeable in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom.2.Evaluation studies of 16 environmental taxes have been identified and reviewed in this report. Within the limitations of the studies, it appears that these taxes have been environmentally effective (achieving their environmental objectives) and they seem to have achieved such objectives at reasonable cost. Examples of particularly successful taxes include those on sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in Sweden, on toxic waste in Germany, on water pollution in The Netherlands, and the tax differentials on leaded fuel and 'cleaner' diesel fuel in Sweden.3.Taxes as such have potential negative impacts on competitiveness and on employment, Most barriers to implementation, especially of energy (particularly on specific sectors or regions); and on low income groups can be overcome by: a) careful design, b) the use of environmental taxes and respective revenues as part of policy packages and green tax reforms, c) gradual implementation; d) extensive consultation and information. 4.As environmental concerns move from point-source emissions and problems, such as industrial emissions from pipelines and chimneys, to include more diffuse and mobile sources of pollution, such as solid waste, or from the agricultural and transport sectors, there is increased scope for the greater use of taxes, as well as other market based instruments, at both Member States and EU level.If environmental taxes are well designed and implemented to exploit the advantages described above, they could deliver improvements in four key areas of public policy: a) the environment; b) innovation & competitiveness; c) employment, and d) the tax system. These are the main conclusions of a report on environmental taxes by the European Environment Agency (EEA), requested by the European Parliament. The report provides an overview of the main issues involved in environmental taxes, with a particular focus on their environmental effectiveness and on the political barriers to their implementation. It provides illustrative examples of environmental taxes only; comprehensive reviews are available from OECD (1995).http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/92-9167-000-6-sum/page002.html [Summary available in 10 languages]

This book takes an innovative approach to studying international climate governance by providing a critical analysis of climate leadership, pioneership and followership across the globe.

The volume assesses the interactions between climate leaders, pioneers and followers, across multilevel and/or polycentric climate governance contexts. Examining the state and sub-state levels in both the Global South and Global North, as well as regional, supranational EU and international climate governance levels, the authors explore 16 countries across Asia, Australasia, Europe, and Central and North America, plus the European Union. Each chapter employs a comprehensive and consistent framework for analyzing leadership and pioneership, as well as followership. The findings provide new insights into the strategies and actions of sub-state, state-level, and supranational leaders and pioneers.

This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners in environmental politics and climate change governance, as well as those interested in political elites, EU studies and, more broadly, comparative politics and international relations.

We estimate economic benefits for seaside recreation and waterfront property when reducing nitrogen leaching to coastal water bodies. We apply impact pathway and benefit transfer methodology, linking total nitrogen concentration to water clarity (Secchi-depth). Ten catchments are analyzed comparing results for 2010 to a policy scenario that complies with the EU Water Framework Directive. The scenario reduces leaching with 5200 ton N, downstream discharges to estuaries by 35% and provide significant Secchi-depth improvements. Our integrated assessment predicts an annual economic benefit for local residents of €35 million, and co-benefits of up to €57 million. Benefits are catchment-specific and differ for downstream discharges from €1 to €32 per kg N, while for upstream discharge losses they range up to €10 per kg N. When expressed per unit of farmland the policy scenario displays economic benefits spanning €8–176/ha. The span reflects the different physical, biological and human circumstances of each catchment.

This case study analyses the effects of the Danish pesticide tax (1996-2013) on agriculture which was introduced as an ad valorem tax in 1996, doubled in 1998, and redesigned in 2013 as a tax based on the toxicity of the pesticides. The Danish pesticide taxes probably represent the world's highest pesticide taxes on agriculture, which makes it interesting to analyze how effective they have been. Here the effects of the ad valorem tax (1996-2013) are analyzed. The case study demonstrates the challenges of choosing an optimal tax design in a complex political setting where, additionally, not all individuals in the target group necessarily react to the economic incentives as predicted by economic modeling. It also demonstrates that a small first green-tax-step over time might develop into a better tax design.

Market-based instruments are becoming the environmental management tool of choice and have provided a new perspective on the conventional wisdom about policy instruments. This book analyses the complexities of designing and implementing market-based instruments using case study experiences from the Nordic countries, Japan, France, The Netherlands, Germany and Britain, where a range of green taxes have been introduced. The contributors examine the role of political processes in designing, introducing and implementing green taxes and charges and analyse the extent to which political concerns complicate the approach favoured by environmental economists. The authors then focus on the implementation of market-based instruments to achieve environmental objectives and offer an ex-post evaluation of different countries' experiences with economic instruments. This volume brings together contributions from political scientists and environmental economists and will prove invaluable for academics, practitioners and policymakers interested in the experiences of countries where market-based instruments are well established

As outlined in this chapter, the core analytical themes of this book are: the conceptualisation of pioneers, leaders and followers within multilevel governance (MLG) and polycentric (climate) governance structures. These conceptual framings are overlapping and mutually supportive in the quest for greater analytical purchase. Specifically, as most cases exhibit different forms of leadership and pioneership – and even, perhaps simultaneously, followership and possibly also laggardness – MLG and polycentricity permit such complex identities to be located and examined in detail, by enabling the multifaceted 21st century state to be examined from multiple angles. The theoretical insights and empirical findings obtained across this book suggest that while pioneership and leadership may be more commonly associated with the Global North – especially following the explicit allocation of primary responsibility for climate action to developed 'Annex I' states via the 1997 Kyoto Protocol – they may be increasingly found across the globe. Indeed, as the chapters in this volume show, there are instances of climate leadership and pioneership within the Global South and followership within the Global North, as well as the other way round. Although the 2015 Paris Agreement emphasises again the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR), it requires all parties to put forward voluntary pledges in the form of NDCs. Climate leadership and pioneership from countries in both the Global North and South will therefore be important for achieving the Paris Agreement's goal of keeping global temperatures to well below 2°C and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. In order to find instances of ambition, the book's use of MLG and polycentricity as guiding themes enables contributing authors to find climate leadership and pioneership beyond the 'usual suspects', and to acknowledge both the guidance of the state, and the importance of non-state actors.

This pilot study examines the effectiveness of wastewater policies and measures in six Member States in order to identify and understand the reasons for both the successes and the shortfalls in implementation. Two of these countries have almost fully implemented the directive, two have yet to do so, and two have only recently acceded to the EU and are therefore allowed more time to accomplish the environmental acquis. The report seeks to clarify the role of local authorities, policy instruments and financial mechanisms in securing effective implementation, and it also addresses the issue of cost-effectiveness. The report focuses on the extension of sewage plants with appropriate levels of treatment (biological or advanced) and trends in discharges to surface waters.