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The effect of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. However, the indirect effects of environmental policies in the process were not sufficiently considered. This study uses a panel threshold methodology to examine the nonlinear impact of environmental policy stringency on the relationship between FDIs and GHG emissions in 25 OECD countries. Our results show a negative relationship between FDIs and GHG emissions if the countries have environmental policy stringency index above a threshold level of (2.22). The results are also supported by the fixed effects model, which indicates a threshold effect of (2.88). The threshold effect is mostly due to the stringency of nonmarket-based environmental policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Administrative traditions have become a central concept in public policy and public administration research. Despite substantial insights gained, it is still unclear how administrative traditions affect the effectiveness of public policies. This paper addresses this shortcoming. It analyzes whether the effectiveness of a specific type of public policy, namely direct regulation, varies by a country's administrative tradition. Empirically, the focus is on regulations in the area of environmental protection. By analyzing the changes in air pollutant emissions of 14 OECD countries over a period of 25 years, the article finds that the effectiveness of environmental regulations is higher in countries with a managerial administrative tradition. While both managerial and legalistic bureaucracies can successfully implement minor policy reforms, it is primarily managerial systems that can effectively handle more ambitious regulations. Overall, it thus seems that a major benefit of managerial systems is the more flexible approach towards policy implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SSI1 April 2022Scottish Landfill Tax (Standard Rate and Lower Rate) Order 2022 (SSI 2022/46)This Order specifies the standard rate and lower rate for Scottish landfill tax for disposals on or after 1 April 2022. ht EU LEGISLATION AND TEXTS Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/648 of 15 February 2022 amending Annex XI to Regula... This Regulation sets out the amount of money each Member State will receive from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development to invest in common agricultural policies, as set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 between 2023 to 2027. When, as part of the authorisation procedure for a program or project, the competent national authorities determine that it is likely to cause "deterioration", within the meaning of art.4(1), under a), i), of this directive and as interpreted by the Court, of the state of a body of surface water, this program or this project may only be authorised if the conditions provided for in art.4(7)(a) to (d) of that directive are fulfilled. Keywords: Environmental law; Environmental policy; EU law; Subject; Environment; Other related subjects: European Union EN Environmental law Environmental policy EU law Subject Environment Other related subjects: European Union 136 167 32 06/07/22 20220601 NES 220601 EDITORIAL A lively parliamentary start to 2022 saw a litany of Bills introduced into the UK Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly and Scottish Parliament. [Extracted from the article]

Keywords: Environmental law; Environmental policy; EU law; Subject; Environment; Other related subjects; European Union EN Environmental law Environmental policy EU law Subject Environment Other related subjects European Union 52 81 30 03/22/22 20220301 NES 220301 EDITORIAL The government's beleaguered flagship I Environment Act 2021 i has finally received royal assent. Https://www.bailii.org/scot/cases/ScotCS/2021/2021 CSOH 112.html EU CASE LAW PlasticsEurope v European Chemicals Agency, Appeal C-876/19 P, Judgment of the Court (Ninth C... The European Court of Justice dismissed a final appeal by the trade association PlasticsEurope against EU regulators' decision to class bisphenol-A (BPA) as a "substance of very high concern" due to its endocrine disrupting properties. Https://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?language=en&td=ALL&num=C-373/20 Biofa AG v Sikma D. Vertriebs GmbH und Co. KG, C-29/20, Judgment of the Court (First Chamber)... This request for a preliminary ruling concerned the interpretation of Articles 3(1)(a) and 9(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 concerning the making available on the market and use of biocidal products. [Extracted from the article]

Which organisations saw their positions on two contentious issues reflected in the Irish climate law of 2015, and what role did advocacy coalitions play in the policy process? These questions are answered drawing theoretically from the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) and by conducting a network analysis of survey data collected from the organisations involved in the national climate policy process. The study finds that several institutionally important or economically powerful organisations, particularly those involved in the agricultural sector, as well as the government parties saw their preferences reflected in the law. This resulted in legislation that excluded binding emission reductions targets, differentiating it from similar laws introduced in other European countries. Organisations in favour of stronger regulation formed a coalition to advocate for their positions, but they largely failed to get their way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, China has been facing serious water pollution crises. To address this problem, discharge standards for wastewater treatment plants in China are becoming more and more stringent. Also, the sewage charge for compliant emissions and the penalty rate for non–compliant emissions have increased significantly. This paper comprehensively investigates the economic and environmental implications of such wastewater management policy in China. In this paper, a general framework for the analysis of WWTPs’ behavior and the resulted economic and environmental consequences is presented, and the impacts of discharge standard, charge rate, and penalty rate are analyzed. The trade–offs between the operational cost, environmental impact, and pollutant emissions are identified. This study also provides some insightful management implications for concerned policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing carbon emissions from the transport sector has become a critical imperative for public policy as our understanding of the impacts of the mobility system on the environment has developed. This paper contrasts policy development in three cities (Aberdeen, Bremen and Malmö) that collaborated as part of a European Union knowledge exchange programme designed to share innovative approaches to carbon reduction in the transport sector. We identify a number of critical aspects of governance, including the approach to policy formulation and implementation, and the status of consensus and cohesion, as key determinants of transport outcomes. We conclude that the degree of institutional alignment evident in each city’s governance network is crucial in explaining their appetite for the pursuit of low carbon policies, and in turn the real potential for policy transfer to occur as envisaged by European Union collaboration frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Paris Agreement, an international agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and mentions India's commitment towards achieving the goals set by the agreement. Topics discussed include a brief description of the Paris Agreement, the India's intended nationally determined contributions to reduce emissions, and recommendations for effective implementations of environmental policies for climate change mitigation among developing countries.

The paper explains the findings of the MC3 Project (Meeting the Climate Change Challenge). This project brought together over 100 researchers, practitioners, civil-society leaders, and policy-makers, led by researchers from Royal Roads University, Simon Fraser University, and the University of British Columbia, with 12 major research partners from the public and private sectors, including the Union of British Columbia municipalities. Researchers conducted a detailed evaluation of 11 leading, yet different, municipalities across the province to identify the leading innovators and innovations on climate action. The case studies revealed the following key drivers of innovation, in order of prominence: the legislative and policy framework, supported by provincially led incentives and tools, access to partnership funding and intermediary support, and framing the issue as critically important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The total quantity control and trading of carbon emission permits (CEPs) are important means to promote the development of a low-carbon economy, and the key is the initial allocation of the CEPs. For the initial allocation problem of CEPs in China, we analyze the disadvantages of the existing free allocation method, namely, that it cannot stimulate the polluters to declare their real marginal-cost information and so it is difficult to achieve effectiveness in resource allocation. Considering these disadvantages, we design an incentive auction mechanism for allocating CEPs based on the theory and methods of a divisible-good auction, to achieve the optimal supply strategy of the government and the equilibrium bidding strategies of polluters. The theoretical proof shows that this auction mechanism has properties such as stimulation of information and validity of allocation.The auction mechanism is applied to the problem of CEP allocation in fourteen cities in the Hanjiang River Basin in China. From the allocation results of this application example, we make some suggestions for improving the implementation of the CEP trading system and the design of future environmental policy in a low-carbon economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the proposed goal of India to reduce the emissions intensity of its economy, or the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of gross domestic product, by between 20% and 25% by the year 2020. Topics discussed include the country's climate pledge, or Intended Nationally Determined tribution (INDC), per capita emissions, carbon intensity, and annual emissions.

The European Union (EU) is widely assumed to be a global environmental leader, especially in addressing climate change, though this reputation suffered greatly when European leaders were sidelined during the 2009 United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen. Subsequently, however, the EU has made significant progress in extending its Emission Trading System to the aviation sector, one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and did so not only regionally, but also managed to get it onto the global policy agenda. This contribution investigates the EU's role in shaping the 2013 International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) resolution committing 191 government signatories to developing a global market-based measure to cap international aviation's carbon pollution. While not exactly setting new environmental standards or achieving definitive regulatory success, the case illustrates the agenda-setting capacity of the EU through leveraging its market power and adopting an explicitly extra-territorial rule to induce potential regulatory co-operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porter hypothesis states that environmental regulation may lead to win-win opportunities, that is, improve the productivity and reduce the undesirable output simultaneously. Based on directional distance function, this paper proposes a novel dynamic activity analysis model to forecast the possibilities of win-win development in Chinese industry between 2011 and 2050. The consistent bootstrap estimation procedures are also developed for statistical inference of the point forecasts. The evidence reveals that the appropriate energy-saving and emission-abating regulation will significantly result in both the net growth of potential output and the increasing growth of total factor productivity for most industrial sectors in a statistical sense. This favors Porter hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2008 New Zealand ( NZ) changed from a Labour-led to a National-led government, and this resulted in a shift to government's carbon emission mitigation strategy, including the abandonment of the Communities for Climate Protection ( CCP) and the Carbon Neutral Public Service ( CNPS) programs. Using deLeon's seminal model for program termination, the objective of this research is to determine why NZ's newly elected government discontinued these initiatives. This empirical research is investigative and probing, and comprises a series of semi-structured interviews with senior managers responsible for the delivery of the respective program within their organization. The architects of each program are also investigated. In the end, this study finds that while economic constraints and programmatic inefficiencies may have played a contributing role, political ideology is the primary rationale for the termination of the CNPS and the CCP-NZ programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new exhaust emission inventory of ocean-going vessels (OGVs) was compiled for Hong Kong by using Automatic Identification System (AIS) data for the first time to determine typical main engine load factors, through vessel speed and operation mode characterization. It was found that in 2007, container vessel was the top emitting vessel type, contributing 9,886, 11,480, 1,173, 521 and 1166 tonnes of SO2, NO x , PM10, VOC and CO, respectively, or about 80%–82% of the emissions. The top five, which also included ocean cruise, oil tanker, conventional cargo vessel and dry bulk carrier, accounted for about 98% of emissions. Emission maps, which add a new spatial dimension to the inventory, show the key emission hot spots in Hong Kong and suggest that a significant portion of emissions were emitted at berth. Scientific evidence about the scale and distribution of ship emissions has contributed in raising public awareness and facilitating stakeholder engagement about the issue. Fair Winds Charter, the world's first industry-led voluntary emissions reduction initiative, is a perfect example of how careful scientific research can be used in public engagement and policy deliberation to help drive voluntary industry actions and then government proposals to control and regulate marine emissions in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper compares the outcomes of policies that target vehicle holdings with those that target vehicle usage using data from the US Consumer Expenditure Survey. Results show that a higher price of gasoline shifts vehicle holdings towards more fuel efficient vehicles and reduces the annual demand for miles, whereas imposing a fee on vehicles or a feebate program only shifts vehicle holdings towards more fuel efficient vehicles and has little to no impact on the demand for miles. While it is relatively expensive to reduce CO2 emission through incentive-based policies, achieving any abatement level is more expensive through imposing fees on vehicles than gasoline taxes. In addition, the maximum amount of abatement attainable by a feebate program is relatively small and the same amount could be achieved by imposing a $0.73 gasoline tax per gallon. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper provides an analytical framework for investigating the effects of unilateral measures to control greenhouse gas emitted by the aviation industry. It is found that, unilateral efforts might lead to an increase in global greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, emissions taxes implemented as part of such measures could lead to larger negative impacts on home than on foreign airlines, possibly resulting in competitive issues. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

For obtaining type approval in the European Union, light-duty vehicles have to comply with emission limits during standardized laboratory emissions testing. Although emission limits have become more stringent in past decades, light-duty vehicles remain an important source of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide emissions in Europe. Furthermore, persisting air quality problems in many urban areas suggest that laboratory emissions testing may not accurately capture the on-road emissions of light-duty vehicles. To address this issue, we conduct the first comprehensive on-road emissions test of light-duty vehicles with state-of-the-art Portable Emission Measurement Systems. We find that nitrogen oxides emissions of gasoline vehicles as well as carbon monoxide and total hydrocarbon emissions of both diesel and gasoline vehicles generally remain below the respective emission limits. By contrast, nitrogen oxides emissions of diesel vehicles (0.93 ± 0.39 grams per kilometer [g/km]), including modern Euro 5 diesel vehicles (0.62 ± 0.19 g/km), exceed emission limits by 320 ± 90%. On-road carbon dioxide emissions surpass laboratory emission levels by 21 ± 9%, suggesting that the current laboratory emissions testing fails to accurately capture the on-road emissions of light-duty vehicles. Our findings provide the empirical foundation for the European Commission to establish a complementary emissions test procedure for light-duty vehicles. This procedure could be implemented together with more stringent Euro 6 emission limits in 2014. The envisaged measures should improve urban air quality and provide incentive for innovation in the automotive industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concentration permits are regarded as an interesting policy tool for regulating emissions where, besides absolute amounts, also local concentration is important. However, effects of governance structure, trading system and possible policy interventions in the permits' allocation are not yet well analysed and understood. This paper explores in how far tradable fertilisation standards can be seen as a concentration permit trading (CPT) system which can be fine-tuned for further policy intervention. Indeed fertilisation standards such as obliged by the EU Nitrate Directive can be regarded as local nitrate emissions limits, and thus concentration permits. A multi-agent spatial allocation model is used to simulate the impact of defining the manure problem in terms of concentration permits rather than conventional emission permits. Impacts are simulated in terms of environmental performance and increased reallocation costs. The model is applied on the Flemish manure problem. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Beijing, the capital of China, has experienced rapid motorization since 1990; a trend that is likely to continue. The growth in vehicles and the corresponding emissions create challenges to improving the urban air quality. In an effort to reduce the impact of vehicle emissions on urban air quality, Beijing has adopted a number of vehicle emission control strategies and policies since the mid 1990s. These are classified into seven categories: (1) emission control on new vehicles; (2) emission control on in-use vehicles; (3) fuel quality improvements; (4) alternative-fuel and advanced vehicles; (5) economic policies; (6) public transport; and (7) temporal traffic control measures. Many have proven to be successful, such as the Euro emission standards, unleaded gasoline and low sulfur fuel, temporal traffic control measures during the Beijing Olympic Games, etc. Some, however, have been failures, such as the gasoline-to-LPG taxi retrofit program. Thanks to the emission standards for new vehicles as well as other controls, the fleet-average emission rates of CO, HC, NOX, and PM10 by each major vehicle category are decreasing over time. For example, gasoline cars decreased fleet-average emission factors by 12.5% for CO, 10.0% for HC, 5.8% for NOX, and 13.0% for PM10 annually since 1995, and such a trend is likely to continue. Total emissions for Beijing's vehicle fleet increased from 1995 to 1998. However, they show a clear and steady decrease between 1999 and 2009. In 2009, total emissions of CO, HC, NOX, and PM10 were 845000 t, 121000 t, 84000 t, and 3700 t, respectively; with reductions of 47%, 49%, 47%, and 42%, relative to 1998. Beijing has been considered a pioneer in controlling vehicle emissions within China, similar to the role of California to the U.S. The continued rapid growth of vehicles, however, is challenging Beijing's policy-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors present their thoughts on why cities should record and monitor carbon emissions at the level of streets, buildings, and communities. They suggest that scientists work with municipalities and city managers to increase awareness of detailed emissions data and how such information can inform climate and development policies. The benefits of an interdisciplinary approach are also discussed.

Abstract: In this paper, we discuss the effect of refunding environmental charges. Taxes are often resisted by polluters because they imply both abatement and tax costs. When charges are refunded, the incentives for abatement are essentially the same as for a tax as long as there are many producers. The incidence and distribution of costs is however different. Lower net tax payments reduce resistance from the polluters and make refunded emissions payments politically easier to implement at a sufficiently high charge level to have significant abatement effects. We describe and examine the refunded emissions payment scheme as a policy instrument and compare it with taxes and permits with regard to allocative properties, distribution of costs, property rights, and, consequently, the politics of implementation. As an empirical example, the Swedish charge on nitrogen oxides is analyzed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

At various levels of environmental policy making there is a demand to translate polluting emissions into monetary units. In the so-called reduction cost approach, based upon policy targets, polluting emissions are expressed in monetary terms by determination of the marginal unit reduction cost at the emission target level. This approach provides shadow prices for emissions by which it can be established whether a certain measure or technology belongs to the most efficient set of measures by which the policy targets can be reached. This article argues that, if clear (generic) government targets such as national emission reduction targets exist for an emission, shadow prices derived by this method are to be preferred to shadow prices derived by other methods for decisions at the project (implementation) level. By application of the reduction cost approach, implementation decisions can be made that are both cost-effective and consistent with government policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the issue of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, organizations are involved with emergent markets for trading emission permits. Investment in equipment that reduces emissions may generate emission credits for sale in the market. This article applies real options analysis to actual case study information from British Petroleum-Amoco of a particular project that would generate emissions credits. We conclude that unless permits have a faster price rise than is generally anticipated, certain projects are not economically feasible. The policy implication is that planners may need to set more stringent regulations to bring about their desired result. Additionally, real options analysis in this market based regulatory policy is an especially important tool for the energy industry, which is disproportionately impacted by greenhouse gases policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of retrospective analysis on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules and regulations, including in gauging the accuracy of regulatory impact analyses (RIAs) on environmental policy. An overview of the use of RIA on the EPA's 1998 Cluster Rule, which was created to reduce pollutants and emissions from paper and pulp mills, is provided.

The authors discuss the debate around the approval process for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) "Summary for Policymakers" (SPM) document as of July 2014. Topics include the interactive learning process of scientists and policymakers, controversy over the report's grouping of countries by emissions levels, and the challenges of the IPCC's role in establishing climate policy.

The article reports that European Union (EU) Member States have individual emission limits to be achieved by 2010 for different pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) under the National Emission Ceilings (NEC) Directive.

The article offers the author's perspectives on the climate policy in the U.S. The author outlines the four approaches to climate change risk management, which is one focus of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Policy Program particularly on the reduction of emissions through pricing emissions. He also outlines the four approaches to pricing emissions including cap-and-trade which limits the quantity of emissions, emission fee and cap-and-trade that includes an upper-limit permit price.

In this article, the authors reflect on the importance of international cooperation in reducing climate risks. They state that it is essential for nations to set of governing rules, particularly on greenhouse gas emissions. They add that a mechanism such as linear compensation (LinC) aids in moving past political impasse and achieve international cooperation.

The authors discuss the the categorization of countries based on their contribution to global emissions, focusing on research for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group Three (WGIII) that was deleted from the organization's "Summary for Policymakers" (SPM). Topics include the growth in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions since the industrial revolution, the political tension between industrialized and developing countries, and the economics of emissions mitigation.

The article reports that steel producer BlueScope Steel Pty Ltd. received a penalty notice and a formal warning from the New South Wales (NSW) Environment Protection Authority (EPA) for breaching the conditions of its Environment Protection License at the Port Kembla Steelworks. Topics discussed include the company penalized in relation to wind blown dust emission incidents in August and October 2013 and requirement of the Environment Protection Licence for the site.

This article focuses on the termination of a package of programs designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by Canada's new Conservative government. Canada's Environment Minister Rona Ambrose says that Canada's Kyoto Protocol commitments are unachievable.

The article reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is extending the public comment period on proposed changes to the New Source Review (NSR) permitting program to February 17, 2006. The changes aim to provide consistency on how states implement the program for electric-generating units. The changes would work to standardize the emissions tests used in NSR to determine whether a physical or operational change at a power plant would cause emission increases that would require the plant to install additional pollution controls.