What Is an Environmental Policy?

Environmental policy is a country's major political policy for protecting the environment, which is directly related to the country's environmental legislation and environmental management, and also directly related to the overall state of the country's environment.

The State Council's environmental protection normative documents (including decisions, measures, approvals, etc.) formulated and announced by the State Council or by relevant competent departments of the State Council, provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government are all classified as environmental policies. Environmental policy is an important basis and measure for promoting and guiding the sustainable and coordinated development of the economy and the environment, and it must be implemented in the work of environmental impact assessment. ^[1]

From the discovery of environmental problems to the formulation of environmental policies, there are a series of steps. The first thing to do is to identify, explain, and name environmental issues. The discovery and elaboration of environmental problems is mainly in the category of scientific research, and the naming is to distinguish this problem from similar problems or to separate it from the original big problems. On this basis, relevant scientific, technical, ethical or legal issues should also be studied. When problems are identified and scientifically recognized, environmental issues are presented to the public, but not all environmental issues are of public concern. This stage is mainly related to politics and media. When environmental issues receive public attention, the political agenda will be promoted. Of course, not all environmental issues of public concern will enter the political level. After entering the political level, various political forces began to fight, set the agenda, and take measures. The public and voters discuss the public agenda. Legislators and government officials mainly discuss the government agenda, and only a small part of the government agenda goes into the decision-making agenda. If the three agendas are consistent, with both legitimacy, public support, and government action, environmental policies will soon be introduced. But in general, the three are often difficult to fully synchronize. ^[2]

As a late public policy, some studies suggest that there are four main ways for environmental policy to enter the policy field.

The first is Greenwashing, which claims to comply with environmental requirements, but it is actually only a layer of environmental protection camouflage on the policy. However, some policies may initially be pseudo-environmental policies, but with the development of policies and participation of policy roles, they may become policies with real environmental protection content.

The second is the piggybacking policy, that is, the main purpose of the policy is not environmental protection, but there are some environmental protection contents intentionally or unintentionally. For example, the United Kingdom closed most of its coal industry in the 1980s and switched to natural gas, mainly to privatize, introduce competition and curb monopolies and industrial alliances, and adjust the economic structure to service and financial industries. Directive to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions. This type is still common today.

The third is the mainstreaming of environmental policies (Mainstreaming), which refers to the more serious, comprehensive and transparent integration of environmental goals into public policies. The government often works with environmental protection organizations to promote the mainstreaming of environmental policies, such as the British wind power policy, on the one hand, to develop green energy, and on the other, to achieve long-term goals of energy decentralization and reduction of fossil energy dependence. This is the mainstream and effort in the field of environmental policy today.

The fourth is pure environmental policy (Grecnstreaming), that is, through the efforts of the government and society, radically and thoroughly transform the current policy into a policy that fully meets environmental requirements. This type is still rare. ^[2]

There are three main types of environmental policies. The traditional top-down regulation policy is mainly to restrict the behavior of management objects through the establishment of environmental protection standards. Economic policy is mainly used to stimulate market participants to change their behavior. Education and information policy promotes environmental protection through ethics and public opinion pressure. Generally speaking, regulatory policies and the economy can directly affect behaviors. Regulatory policies are faster and more direct, but it is difficult to fundamentally change the cognitions and attitudes of actors. Education and information policies, although slow, have long-term effects. ^[2]

After the Second World War, with the gradual establishment of a new international order, globalization and global governance began. Some people think that globalization, especially free market capitalism, jeopardizes sustainable development. However, some people think that the invisible hand of the market can regulate itself to green development. Studies have suggested that at least in the area of environmental policy, global environmental policy proliferation is significant, with leading countries playing a leading and proliferating role. Of course, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Denmark and other countries are leaders in some areas of environmental policy, but they are lagging behind in other areas. Interestingly, energy, transportation, agriculture, and construction sectors, which are most under pressure from environmental policies, are not facing fierce global competition, because agriculture, energy, and construction depend mainly on domestic demand.

In 1970, the United States passed the world s first national environmental law, the National Environmental Policy Act, and in the same year established the world s first national environmental protection management agency, the US Environmental Protection Agency. Since the mid-1980s, global environmental policy has expanded rapidly. From the four important environmental policies of the number of countries, environmental legislation, environmental impact assessment system and national environmental planning, the global environmental policy expanded rapidly from the mid-1980s to the end of the 20th century. So far, most countries around the world have set up environmental protection management departments and corresponding environmental systems, although their capabilities and contents vary widely. ^[2]