Although this is a handbook for policy and regulation, the major part of it is filled with data on the three heavy metals that served as examples: mercury, cadmium and lead. Their stocks, productions, prices, trade flows, uses and applications, recovery and recycling, as well as their (eco)toxicological characteristics have been collected and presented to their fullest extent.
In addition, they are thoroughly analysed for consistency, future developments and trends and, of course, their consequences for sustainable development and future policy and regulation.
The second part, on...

What is the role of government in environmental politics and policy? The answer to this question used to be relatively clear. Government was to regulate the environmental performance of state and non-state actors, to set standards, impose charges, and establish more or less stringent criteria of acceptable behavior. With the increasing appearance of the issues of globalization and global governance in the political science literature, however, the focus has turned to the role of non-state actors. Academic research and the popular debate have identified business, non-governmental organizations...

This book deals with voluntary approaches between farmers and water suppliers as an instrument to meet environmental standards, impacted by agricultural activities, more economically efficient and environmentally effective than by exclusive application of alternative instruments including command-and-control approaches. The book is based largely on the results of the research project 'Co-operative Agreements in Agriculture as an Instrument to Improve the Economic Efficiency and Economic Effectiveness of the European Water Policy', which was supplemented for specific issues by key experts. The...

The Kyoto Protocol is expected to give lead to the creation of an international market for greenhouse gas emission credits having an estimated volume of several tens of billions of dollars. The extent to which forestry projects will be accepted in this market is a matter of current discussion and controversy. In its evaluation of the contribution of forestry projects to climate change mitigation, this book draws together a number of relevant aspects, including the stability of international agreements, causes and consequences of deforestation, and the CO2 effect of forestry projects. This...

International climate change policy can be broadly divided into two periods: A first period, where a broad consensus was reached to tackle the risk of global warming in a coordinated global effort, and a second period, where this consensus was finally framed into a concrete policy. The first period started at the "Earth Summit" of Rio de Janeiro in 1992, where the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was opened for signature. The UNFCCC was subsequently signed and ratified by 174 countries, making it one of the most accepted international rd treaties ever. The second...

What is the role of government in environmental politics and policy? The answer to this question used to be relatively clear. Government was to regulate the environmental performance of state and non-state actors, to set standards, impose charges, and establish more or less stringent criteria of acceptable behavior. With the increasing appearance of the issues of globalization and global governance in the political science literature, however, the focus has turned to the role of non-state actors. Academic research and the popular debate have identified business, non-governmental organizations...

This collection of contributions from a diverse group of prominent international scientists and policy makers brings together their in-depth analyses and innovative ideas about how to resolve the energy for development predicament. It includes studies quantifying the role of energy in socioeconomic development, analysis of the interplay between supranational and national institutions in policy implementation, the energy implications of demographic trends such as urbanisation, and exploration of supply-side issues such as the potential role of nuclear energy and cleaning fossil fuel energy...

This book takes a long-term view of environmental policy in Poland, which thus serves as an example to increase our understanding of environmental policy making in general in the former Eastern bloc countries. The perspective adopted also includes the pre-transition period, since the transformation process cannot be understood without reference to the preceding period. The book investigates the driving forces underlying policy changes, both prior to and after the transition, and identifies elements both of change and continuity - topics that have hitherto been neglected in the literature....

Will major global environmental change take place in the 21st century? How much is known about the change? Can we find out more? Must we take it seriously? Should we do something now, or can we wait a decade or so? This book seeks to answer these questions. Scientists are reaching consensus that rates of change in many of the environmental indicators are already increasing in some cases, and are likely to increase even more rapidly in the 21st century. Although there are still uncertainties, the case is made that the consequences of not taking action are too great to take a chance that the...