ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book explores the changing role of the regulatory state, and the evolution of a number of next-generation policy instruments intended to overcome, or at least to mitigate, the considerable problems associated with previous policy initiatives, and traditional forms of regulation in particular. Public voluntary programmes such as those described in the book fit the partnership model, with government offering technical support and public relations benefits in return for industry commitments to improved environmental performance. The ecological modernisation literature has resonance with a number of other perspectives described in the book, especially civil society, regulatory plural ism and, to some extent, reflexive regulation. The book demonstrates how a regulatory oversight role was crucial to the success of an industry self-management initiative in the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry, and that co-regulation, not self-regulation, provides the best hope of success.
