VIII Implementing environmental policies
9.57 We consider environmental standards should be set for the smallest area for which it is sensible and effective to do so (6.31).
9.58 We consider that, where a standard is set at European or international level, it should be set in a form that allows as much discretion about the methods of implementing it as is feasible without undermining its effectiveness (6.33).
9.59 Despite attempts to resolve the situation, there is still a need for an internationally agreed set of principles to deal with the potential difficulties caused by the overlap between the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) rules and trade provisions contained in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), and for ambiguities in the operation of the GATT to be clarified. Greater effort is needed by the international community to resolve the difficulties (6.12).
9.60 An essential condition for effective direct regulation is that there should be adequate inspection and adequate monitoring of compliance with limit values (6.37).
9.61 Numerical standards for concentrations of substances should always incorporate protocols for sampling and the analytical techniques or methods by which compliance is to be measured, and should require analyses to be carried out in laboratories which are participating in appropriate accreditation and proficiency testing schemes (6.38).
9.62 Every numerical standard should be specified in a way that takes full account of the nature of the substance to which it relates, the extent of statistical variation in the parameter to which it relates and (where it is legally enforceable) the requirements for verification. Many current environmental standards are defective in terms of these criteria, most often in not being verifiable. Where that is the case, it should be remedied by setting a supplementary standard for verification, with the aim that environmental standards should be, wherever possible statistically verifiable ideal standards. Reviews of existing standards should pay particular attention to this aspect (6.44).
9.63 The drawbacks of direct regulation and the tensions to which it may give rise mean there are considerable attractions in complementary approaches which seek to internalise environmental considerations within the decision procedures of potential polluters, either in financial terms or in cultural terms (6.55).
9.64 While economic instrument are not panacea, and administrative controls may be required as well, economic or financial incentives should be used wherever possible to reinforce the effect of direct regulation (6.59).
9.65 Well-designed economic instruments should be capable of achieving a better overall result for the environment, by providing incentives for the introduction of clean technology and other innovations, although improvements are likely to be differently distributed and the environment outcome in some areas might be inferior to that which would have been brought about by direct regulation. Use of economic instruments should also limit the cost of environmental protection, both in resources used and in transaction costs. They are especially valuable in controlling pollution from diffuse sources. Use of economic instruments does not dispense with the need for legislation, monitoring and criminal sanctions because a legal framework is required for their operation (6.68).
9.66 Many actions that benefit the environment are taken primarily or exclusively because individuals, either on their own account or as company managers, place a high value on protecting the environment (6.72).
9.67 One form of action that many people take is to buy products which they believe to have been produced in ways that are environmentally sustainable or to be less damaging to the environment than competing products (6.76). Many environmental claims for products are made in very vague terms, and may have only a flimsy basis. To be effective, standards for making environmental claims will have to be established on a European or global scale (6.79).
9.68 There is a need to clarify the relationship between labelling schemes and the GATT rules. More needs to be done to ensure that ecolabelling schemes do not disadvantage developing countries (6.14).
9.69 Firms should be strongly encouraged to install environmental management systems; in due course all firms above a certain size might be required to operate such systems, in a form which involves regular publication of information about their environmental performance (6.85).
9.70 Basic issues arise over how transparency and openness can be increased, and accountability maintained, in a system in which there is a substantial measure of self-regulation (6.91). New forms of standards, possibly in some cases with legal force, can help to make self-regulation function more effectively (6.95).
9.71 We believe that self-regulation and the use of economic instruments should be regarded, not as alternatives to direct regulation, but as complementary to it (6.93). In seeking to deploy the wide range of legal and quasi-legal instruments available in order to control pollution and enhance the environment, policy-makers should identify those strategies which will be most effective in influencing behaviour and the legal status that will best complement those strategies. To ensure transparency and openness, self regulation and use of economic instruments should take place within the framework of clear published targets for environmental quality set by government after taking into account all relevant considerations and on the basis of wide participation of all relevant interests (6.97).
9.72 Use of a combination of approaches in setting and implementing environmental standards is the best way to further general adoption of clean technology, whilst not putting at risk compliance with numerical standards to protect humans and the natural environment against specific hazards (6.100).
80. The Government supports the desire for as much flexibility in international and European standards as possible without undermining effectiveness. It agrees on the need to clarify the relationship between trade measures taken under multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and WTO rules, and between ecolabelling schemes and WTO rules, and it is pressing for these subjects to be included in a new round of WTO negotiations. So far as the relationship between MEAs and the WTO is concerned, it welcomes the conclusion of the recently-negotiated Biosafety Protocol which makes clear that the two agreements are of equal status.
81. The Government agrees that economic instruments and voluntary agreements are complementary to direct regulation and not alternatives. This is demonstrated in our approach to climate change, where we have introduced an economic instrument (the Climate Change Levy) alongside regulation (IPPC, building regulations, minimum appliance efficiency standards) and voluntary agreements (for example the agreement with the Chemical Industries Association on energy efficiency, or with European Car Manufacturers ACEA on fuel efficiency).
82. The Government agrees with the Royal Commission that numerical standards should be carefully specified. Although the report concludes that 'many current environmental standards are defective' in terms of the criteria proposed by the Royal Commission, the report nowhere identifies which standards the Royal Commission has in mind. If the Royal Commission regards this as a matter of serious concern, the Government would welcome further advice as to the priority areas for attention.
Published 21 November 2000
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