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Policy makers around the world have started activities to reduce resource use while at the same time increasing economic and social well-being, a vision that relates to the notion of ‘sustainable consumption and production’ (SCP). A range of diverse instruments is already applied to further these goals. To address the complex underlying problems, governments increasingly combine different policy instruments in form of ‘policy mixes’ that aim at providing a sound framework for an increase of resource efficiency and the development of sustainable consumption and production patterns.
With this compendium, German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) and the Wuppertal Institute, with support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), aim to provide a quick, hands-on overview of selected SCP policy instruments for boosting resource efficiency. It builds on the recent discussions and practical experience with these instruments, both from developed and developing countries.
Whole Document
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Single factsheets
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- Regulatory Instruments
- Economic Instruments
- Research and Educational Instruments
- Cooperation Instruments
- Informational Instruments
Regulatory Instruments
Norms and Standards
Norms and standards are rules and targets set by public authorities (‘command’) that subsequently are enforced by compliance procedures (‘control’). Norms and standards include amongst others laws, directives, and technical guidance documents as far as these are of a legally binding nature.
Download "Norms and Standards" (pdf)
Case Study: European Directive on Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment
The Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive forms part of an overarching strategy to increase the responsibility of producers not only to finance recycling and disposal but also to provide incentives for minimising life-cycle impacts of electrical and electronic equipment.
Download "Case Study: European Directive on Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment" (pdf)
Environmental Liability
Environmental liability makes the causer of environmental damage (“polluter”) pay for remediating the damage he has caused and is one form of implementing the “polluter-pays” principle.
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Case Study: EU Environmental Liability Directive
After the publication of a White Paper on environmental liability (COM(2000)66) and an intensive conciliation process among EU Member States, the European Parliament and Council approved the Directive on Liability for Damage to the Environment in March 2004.
Download "Case Study: EU Environmental Liability Directive" (pdf)
Environmental Control and Enforcement
Environmental control and enforcement includes activities of the public sector to inspect companies or projects whether they comply with environmental regulation, laws and standards. It also includes authorities’ activities or services to grant permits to projects and operations.
Economic Instruments
Environmental Taxes
Environmental taxes - or ‘eco-taxes’ as they are commonly called- are taxes with a potentially positive environmental impact (EEA 2006). They can be collected from businesses, consumers or any other organisation. They usually have both an environmental and a revenue raising effect.
Download "Environmental Taxes" (pdf)
Case Study: Trade Tax Reductions for Cleaner Production at Municipal Level
A proposal for trade tax reductions at the municipal level in Paraguay was put forth within the framework of a Technical Cooperation initiative between the MERCOSUR trade organisation and Germany.
Download "Case Study: Trade Tax Reductions for Cleaner Production at Municipal Level" (pdf)
Case Study: United Kingdom Landfill Tax
The UK Landfill Tax was introduced by the government in October 1996 to help reduce the amount of waste being land filled in the UK, to promote re-use and recycling, and provide funding for research into more sustainable ways of managing waste.
Fees and User-Charges
Public authorities levy fees and user-charges for services provided (e.g. effluent or refuse disposal), or where the revenue is used for a specific purpose (e.g. funding clean-up or abatement measures).
Certificate Trading
Public authorities levy fees and user-charges for services provided (e.g. effluent or refuse disposal), or where the revenue is used for a specific purpose (e.g. funding clean-up or abatement measures).
Download "Certificate Trading" (pdf)
Case Study: Trade Tax Reductions for Cleaner Production at Municipal Level
A proposal for trade tax reductions at the municipal level in Paraguay was put forth within the framework of a Technical Cooperation initiative between the MERCOSUR trade organisation and Germany.
Download "Case Study: Trade Tax Reductions for Cleaner Production at Municipal Level" (pdf)
Environmental Financing
Environmental financing is an instrument used for promoting environmentally beneficial measures through financial institutions or independent funds. Loans and/or grants are provided to fully or partially finance measures beneficial to the environment on more favourable terms than those in the prevailing market.
Download "Environmental Financing" (pdf)
Case Study: Environmental Fund Tunisia - Promotion with grant financing
The Tunisian government initiated the industrial environmental fund (FODEP) with support of German Financial Cooperation.
Download "Case Study: Environmental Fund Tunisia" (pdf)
Case Study: KfW - Environmental Programme Promotion with preferential credit terms
The objective of the programme is to significantly improve the environmental situation in Germany and in adjacent regions as well as the environmental performance of German firms abroad.
Download ;Case Study: KfW - Environmental Programme Promotion with preferential credit terms" (pdf)
Green Public Procurement
Green public procurement usually means that the acquisition of goods or services by the public sector takes environmental elements into account (when considering how to create the best possible value for taxpayers).
Subsidies
Governmental institutions can provide financial support to households or private enterprises to promote resource-efficient production and services.
Case Study: Promotion of Solar Home Systems in Bangladesh
The non-profit company Grameen Shakti is carrying out a programme to install solar PV systems in houses, enterprises and offices.
Download "Case Study: Promotion of Solar Home Systems in Bangladesh" (pdf)
Research and Educational Instruments
Research and Development
Research and development (R&D) can be defined as “systematic investigatory work carried out to increase the stock of knowledge and the use of such knowledge to devise new products and processes”.
Download "Research and Development" (pdf)
Case Study: Environment-driven Business Development in Sweden
This programme aimed to strengthen the competitiveness of domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through stimulating product and business development from sustainability perspectives.
Download "Case Study: Environment-driven Business Development in Sweden" (pdf)
Education and Training
Education and training for resource efficiency aims to build capacity on resource efficiency by education and training programmes.
Cooperation Instruments
Technology Transfer
Technology transfer is the process of acquiring technologies themselves as well as the necessary knowledge and skills to apply them from foreign parties.
Voluntary Agreements
Voluntary agreements aim to encourage single firms, groups of companies or industrial sectors to improve their resource efficiency and environmental conduct and performance beyond existing environmental legislation and regulations.
Download "Voluntary Agreements" (pdf)
Case Study: Voluntary Commitments in Chile
Since 1998 the “voluntary commitments for cleaner production” (Acuerdos de Producción Limpia, APLs) have been an integral part of Chilean economic policy.
Informational Instruments
Eco-Labelling
An Eco-Label is a type of label displaying information regarding the environmental performance of a certain product or service, in order to provide information to consumers, procurement officials and other stakeholders, e.g. retailers.
Download "Eco-Labelling" (pdf)
Case Study: European Union Energy Label
The European Union (EU) Energy Label rates electric household appliances from A (the most energy efficient) to G (the least energy efficient) within a class of products and provides additional information such as the volumetric capacity of the refrigerator or freezer and the washing and spinning performance of washing machines.
Download "Case Study: European Union Energy Label" (pdf)
Case Study: Forest Stewardship Council Label (FSC)
Forest certification is a particular form of eco-labelling. It is a voluntary and in most cases non-governmental scheme providing an incentive for improved forest management through awarding a certificate and product label.
Download "Case Study: Forest Stewardship Council Label (FSC)" (pdf)
Sustainability Reporting
Sustainability reporting can be defined as the public disclosure of information about an organisation’s ‘non-financial performance’ (also termed ‘triple bottom line’) – its management policies, activities, and the result of activities on economic, environmental and social issues.
Download "Sustainability Reporting" (pdf)
Case Study: The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was set up with the vision that “reporting on economic, environmental, and social performance by all organisations becomes as routine and comparable as financial reporting”.
Download "Case Study: Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)" (pdf)
Information Centres
Information centres provide information on resource efficiency and related topics to actively promote the concept.
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Case Study: Effizienz-Agentur NRW (EFA)
The Effizienz-Agentur NRW – abbreviated as EFA – is the first contact for small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SME) in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) for all questions regarding resource efficiency.
Consumer Advice Services
Consumer advice services are a very important component of a consumer protection system.
Download "Consumer Advice Services" (pdf)
Case Study: Quality Assurance Association of the Dry Cleaners in Hamburg, Germany
In the mid 1980s, the dry cleaners in Hamburg came under considerable public pressure concerning the use of halogenated solvents (PERC), which had turned out to penetrate through the walls into neighbouring apartments, workplaces, and food stores.
Download "Case Study: Quality Assurance Association of the Dry Cleaners in Hamburg, Germany" (pdf)
Case Study: Consumer Information and Protection in India
Consumer information and protection are becoming increasingly important on the political agenda in India.
Download "Case Study: Consumer Information and Protection in India" (pdf)
Environmental Quality Targets and Environmental Monitoring
Environmental quality targets are science-based indicators of environmental quality approved by public authorities. They serve as instruments for the quantitative performance measurement in the implementation of the concept of sustainable development.
Download "Environmental Quality Targets and Environmental Monitoring" (pdf)
This compendium was created in cooperation with
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with support from
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