International equity in climate change policy

Equity discussions in climate change policy focus on mitigation. Climate change impacts, adaptation and decision making are also important. General equity principles can be related to specific proposals for equitable sharing of mitigation but no objective preference for any principle exists. Most promising are mixed approaches, that combine various equity principles in a process oriented setting. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Insights for climate policy in Europe

In this paper, the following key issues are addressed: the so-called “South” – the Group of 77 and China – and how to engage their interest and commitment; the purported savings if the flexible mechanisms are availed of, and the macro-economic impacts of meeting the Kyoto objectives; the associated issues of narrowing the extent and scope for such trading by setting a limit on how much can be traded, and “hot air” – the surplus quota above their own projected needs which Russia and most of the old Soviet Union have to offer; operational issues, including units to be traded, monitoring and enforcement, allocation of permits, competitiveness and risk management; in the case of emissions trading, the initial allocation of permits. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A review of EIAs on trade policy in China: Exploring the way for economic policy EIAs

During the discussion on the “Environmental Protection Law Amendment (draft)” in 2011, it was decided to drop the proposed clauses related to environmental impact assessments (EIAs) on policy, which means that there remained no provisions for policy EIAs, and China's strategic environmental assessment system stayed limited to the planning level. However, considering that economic policy making is causing significant direct and indirect environmental problems and that almost every aspect of governmental policy has an economic aspect, EIAs on economic policies are of the utmost urgency. The purpose of this study is to review the EIA work that has been carried out on trade policy in China through four case studies, and illustrate how trade policy EIAs can be helpful in achieving better environmental outcomes in the area of trade. Through the trade policy EIA case studies we try to argue for the feasibility of conducting EIAs on economic policies in China. We also discuss the implications of the case studies from the point of view of how to proceed with EIAs on economic policy and how to promote their practice.     

Mainstreaming ecosystem services in European policy impact assessment

The concept of ecosystem services as developed for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is currently the most extensive, international, scientific concept dealing with the interaction between the world's ecosystems and human well-being. The fundamental asset is seen in the relevancy of the concept at the science–policy interface. Albeit, the mainstreaming of ecosystem services into policy making requires a framework that allows the transition of the scientific concept into the rationale of policy making. We hypothesize that the procedure of policy impact assessment is a suitable venue for this transition. This brings up two questions: 1) where in the process of policy impact assessment can ecosystem services be mainstreamed? 2) How can the impact on ecosystem services properly be accounted for? In this paper we distinguish two groups of policy cases: explicit cases directly addressing ecosystem services, and implicit cases of policies that follow other purposes but may have unintended impacts on ecosystem services as a side effect. The second group covers a wide range of policies for which we set out a framework for mainstreaming of ecosystem services. The framework is exemplary designed for the instrument of ex-ante impact assessment at European policy making level. We reveal that the two concepts of the MA and of the European policy impact assessment are indeed compatible, which makes the integration of the ecosystem service concept possible. We conclude that the linkage of the scientifically validated concept of ecosystem services with the policy concept of impact assessment has the potential of improving the credibility of the latter.     

Anticipatory environmental policy impediments and opportunities

It is now generally recognised that much money and environmental damage can be saved if policies and decisions are geared to forestalling adverse environmental effects before they are implemented. This article looks at the arguments in favour of a more pro-active environmental policy regime, but cautions against too much optimism that it will occur quickly. There are a number of impediments in the way, mostly to do with separate implementing agencies, jealously guarded budgets and the sheer difficulty of persuading people to act ahead of scientific proof.