ABSTRACT
This chapter moves on to consider policy responses to the environment–economy tension. These are divided into two types: regulatory measures (examples include outright bans, the introduction of quotas, rules about labelling), where government uses its political power to impose limits and requirements on economic actors; and incentive-based measures – including taxation or the introduction of permits. The chapter begins by reflecting on the policy discourse by discussing ‘ecological modernization’. It then compares the role that regulation and incentive-based instruments have played in controlling the economy’s impact on the environment before moving on to consider the problem of measurement, which is key to assessing the success of policies, and is especially problematic in the area of environment-related policymaking. The chapter then considers the issue of changing behaviour to reduce the need for policy interventions, before describing in detail one policy that includes some aspects of all the above policy types – the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive of the European Union.
