Environmental Policy

As evidence of resource shortages, climate change and biodiversity loss grows in significance year by year, the urgency of changes towards greater sustainability in individual lifestyles, corporate strategies, national policies and international relations becomes ever more apparent. Environmental Policy explains how such changes can be brought about by examining how behaviour change can be encouraged through the carrots and sticks of policy. The second edition has been updated to take into account recent political developments, such as the 2008 US Presidential election, new publications such as the Stern Review, and developments in scientific knowledge, such as the 2007 IPCC Report. Within the overall context of sustainability principles, the book discusses the interaction between environmental and human systems. Environmental policy is proposed as a way to modify the operation of human systems that they function within environmental constraints. Key social scientific concepts (political, social and economic) are used to explain how effective environmental policies can be designed, implemented and evaluated. Environmental problems, the role of human beings in creating them, sustainable development and how this concept relates to environmental policy are all introduced. The book then considers environmental policy formulation, implementation and evaluation within three specific contexts: the firm, the nation state and at an international level, identifying a 'œtoolbox'� of environmental policy instruments and discussing their individual advantages and disadvantages. It also reviews the relationship of economics, science and technology to environmental policy and decision-making. It ends by reflecting upon the predicament of humankind in the twenty first century and the potential of achieve sustainable development through the use of the environmental policy toolbox. Environmental Policy is a lively and accessible text with a multi-disciplinary perspective. Detailed and topical case studies, updated for this new edition and drawn from a range of international examples, are used throughout to illustrate key issues. Climate change is the dominant theme for case studies in the new edition, but examples also illustrate other environmental issues, international trade, tourism and human rights. It is well illustrated and includes chapter summaries and further reading.