[...]... Environment and Development, which was established by the UN in 1983 in view of the increasing role of global environmental issues The commission is named after its chairperson Gro Harlem Brundtland, a longtime Prime Minister of Norway In her foreword to the famous report of the commission, also called the Brundtland Report and published in 1987, H Wiesmeth, Environmental Economics: Theory and Policy in Equilibrium, ... national and an international level Direct links to theory in the form of markets for emission certificates, for example, are scarcely visible However, a thorough understanding of theory can help to structure and design environmental policies, which are needed to effectively reach a standard or a certain environmental goal Thus, environmental policy is about constructing, designing and applying allocation... pointing in particular to the persistence of certain environmental problems such as “pollution in towns and cities” Also, environmental issues seem less urgent, once citizens are asked to pay for cleaning up the environment These differences in the perception of environmental issues gain particular importance in the case of international environmental pollution Therefore, Chapter 3 6 1 Introduction investigates... These examples serve to indicate that many environmental policies do have theory content”, even if this may not be evident at first glance Thus, theory helps to understand the functioning of environmental policies, and knowledge of theory is required to design effective environmental policies As a conclusion to this section, ecology and economy, as well as theory and policy in environmental economics... global environmental commodities, addresses environmental effects of increasing globalization, and studies trade-related environmental issues The final section in this chapter then presents the international activities regarding sustainable development, which originated with the Brundtland Report in 1987 (cf Section 1.1), and which culminated with the “United Nations Conference on Environment and Development”... analyzed in Chapter 8, refer in particular to details of market structures, insufficient knowledge on hazardous substances and processes, and various aspects of international environmental policy One of the consequences of this incomplete information is the ubiquitous presence of environmental standards, which replace economic efficiency in the environmental context After these standards have been introduced,... the exemption of ethical preferences, these issues are investigated in a theoretical model which provides some insight into the interaction of trade and the environment The analysis also extends to questions of harmonizing environmental standards and leadership in environmental issues, and it discusses various policy measures in the sense of a principal-agent approach adapted to this context References... placing additional burdens on these countries in the form of polluting industries, urbanization and rapidly increasing quantities of often hazardous waste This first part of this monograph will therefore document the state of the environment in various parts of the world: the EU, the USA, China and India The factors and the circumstances leading to environmental pollution will be investigated, and the... question regarding the “most effective ways of tackling environmental problems” prioritize the “introduction of heavier fines for offenders”, which is with an acceptance rate of 36% in 2011 far ahead of “providing more information on environmental issues”, which gained only 26% Only 15% of those asked favor “introducing or increasing taxation on environmentally damaging activities” 91% of those interviewed... reasonableness of certain activities, for example recycling activities Section 9.3 investigates economically reasonable activities in the environmental context Chapter 10 addresses integrated approaches to environmental policy They constitute holistic policies which integrate signals along the product chain into environmental policy Prominent examples are given by extended producer responsibility, 8 1 Introduction . Springer Texts in Business and Economics For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/10099 Hans Wiesmeth Environmental Economics Theory and Policy. title of the monograph: Environmental Economics – Theory and Policy in Equilibrium , and the text was written with this concept in mind. This textbook is