ABSTRACT
The Conservative Government generally paid only lip-service to sustainable development. Britain is unusual in the extent to which functions that are carried out primarily by government agencies in most countries are performed by private bodies in Britain. Britain has the oldest system of environmental protection of any industrialised nation and probably one of the most elaborate. In Britain, the central features of environmental policy and the policymaking process have, until recently, been characterised by continuity rather than change. The chapter describes the salient socioeconomic and geographical features which provide the context for understanding the type of environmental problems confronting British policy makers. It sets out the peculiar administrative and legislative traditions characterising the evolution of policy relating to environmental protection. The chapter analyses the various pressures for reform of environmental policy and regulation that have emerged and assesses the resulting changes in policy.
