ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY: INSTRUMENTS, WHAT IS IT FOR - ARTE - 2024

The environmental policy is a coherent body of measures and legal and institutional decisions that are taken in order to preserve, protect and improve the environment. They can be adopted at the macro level by governments and international organizations, or by public and private companies and institutions.

These are intended to prevent human activities from having a negative impact on the environment or a particularly vulnerable ecosystem. By adopting an environmental policy, the legal commitment to protect the environment is acquired.

Environmental policy is established through constitutional norms or laws, decrees, regulations and other legal instruments. In this way, the observation, adoption and due compliance by the institutions and people that inhabit a territory or country is guaranteed.

The problems they are trying to solve are related to air, water or soil pollution. Likewise, with the management of solid waste, maintaining biodiversity and caring for ecosystems, and protecting natural resources, flora and fauna, especially species in danger of extinction.

The regulations of toxic substances (industrial waste, radioactive waste, pesticides) and the development and treatment of energy are subjects of environmental policy. The most urgent problems to be solved through these policies are food and water shortages, climate change and the so-called population paradox.

Instruments of environmental policy

Traditional instruments of environmental policy have focused on regulations, financial incentives, and state information. However, other instruments such as tradable permits and performance requirements have now been incorporated.

Regulation

Regulatory standards are used to establish minimum environmental quality requirements. Through these, an attempt is made to encourage or discourage certain activities and their effects on the environment; for example, those that involve emissions or the use of particular inputs in the environment.

This is the case of the handling of some dangerous substances, the concentrations of chemical substances in the environment, their exposure, risks and damages.

In general, the State imposes the issuance of permits for these activities, which must be periodically renewed; the aim is to be able to control the use and its effects on the environment.

Depending on the level of danger, they are issued by local or regional governments. When it comes to activities or the use of more dangerous substances by industrial plants or nuclear power plants, their control passes to the national government.

Financial incentives

To stimulate change in behavior or patterns of use, governments also often offer financial incentives through subsidies or fines. That is, offer tax discounts, penalties or charges to those who comply with the established rules.

These incentives serve to motivate and drive innovation in eco-friendly methods and practices, and to help promote and adopt the innovations. A clear example of the effectiveness of this policy occurred in Germany with the general subsidy for the use of solar energy.

Environmental reports

In order to measure the efficiency of environmental policies, cost-benefit analyzes are usually elaborated, an instrument that guides decision-makers is the environmental impact assessment (EIA).

The environmental impact is a necessary requirement in almost all countries to install factories, build roads, a dam, among other buildings.

According to the result of the EIA, the builders must adjust the project to avoid or mitigate its possible negative effects. When rigorously developed and applied, this type of study helps reduce negative environmental impacts.

Ecolabelling

On the other hand, there are the environmental management systems that serve to reduce the use of natural resources and costs of a project. The best known systems are those that use the ISO 14000 standards, issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Such standards help organizations to control environmental impact, while allowing the formulation and monitoring of the environmental objectives set, as well as constituting a test to demonstrate that the objectives have been met.

In many countries both eco-labels and certificates are required to inform and guide consumers. Companies apply them to their products and services to offer useful information to the buying public.

They are also used as a marketing strategy to highlight the safety they offer to the consumer, to the protection of the environment and health.

Negotiable permits

Negotiable permits are usually established between the State and private companies for certain activities that may affect the environment; for example, mining and the exploitation of hydrocarbons, the chemical or food industries.

These are very important and necessary areas for the population but they require supervision and special treatment.

Similarly, companies adopt their own environmental policies as part of market strategies or part of business philosophy, regardless of the public policy requirements that are demanded by the government in order to operate. In other words, they adopt their own environmental policy.

What is it for?

- Environmental policy serves to regulate and improve environmental governance with the aim of reducing damage to the environment.

- It is an effective means of directing and supervising human activities that can eventually be harmful to the environment.

- These types of policies are necessary in the countries because generally environmental values ​​are not taken into account in organizational plans and decisions, as a consequence of saving resources and the undervaluation of natural resources as essential goods.

- It serves to promote the sustainable development of the planet under the principles of environmental responsibility and prevention, coherence and cooperation.

- Seeks to replace dangerous and polluting substances with products or services with the same energy value but more efficient.

- It establishes responsibilities on companies and people that pollute the environment, making them pay to compensate or mitigate environmental damage.

- Environmental policy is based on the results of scientific research; therefore, it is safe, necessary and feasible.

Environmental policy in Mexico

It was not until the 1980s that the Mexican State began to pay attention to this issue and adopted the first lines of an environmental policy.

There were several reasons that led the government to take an interest in the growing environmental crisis. The environmental issue was incorporated into the political agenda due to several problems that coincided.

During this period, a series of natural catastrophes and others generated by the industrialization of the country with serious social consequences occurred. There was a decrease in state interventionism as a consequence of the neoliberal model that was implemented in Mexico.

The state lost influence in determining employment and wages, as it had traditionally been, while global trends towards green and the growth of an environmental market took hold.

From the legal point of view, in the previous decade and until 1984, the State handled the environmental issue very timidly through the Federal Law to Prevent and Control Environmental Pollution approved in 1971. The administration and environmental decisions emanated from the Undersecretariat Improvement of the Environment.

Then the Undersecretariat of Ecology was created and finally, in 1983, the Secretariat of Urban Development and Ecology, SEDUE.

Environmental plans and legal instruments

During the government of President Miguel de la Madrid, the 1983-1988 National Development Plan was approved, in which the environmental issue was included for the first time. It was mentioned as a factor in the social and economic development of the country.

The plan established strategies in three directions: promoting the rational use of natural resources, the adoption of new and more efficient technologies, and stopping the constant urban growth in the urban centers with the highest concentration: CDMX, Monterrey and Guadalajara.

However, in 1983 the conservation of the environment and the use of natural resources acquired constitutional status. The reform of article 25 of the Constitution established that the economic exploitation of natural resources should seek their conservation.

That same year, the Agreement for the Protection and Improvement of the Environment in the Border Zone was also signed between Mexico and the United States.

A year later, the first article of the Federal Environmental Law was amended; the commitment of the State was established in the approval of norms for the defense of the environment, which did not appear in the law.

In 1987 the State's obligation to preserve and restore ecological balance also acquired constitutional status. Articles 27 and 73 of the Mexican Constitution were amended.

Congress was empowered to pass laws aimed at establishing the respective obligations of the authorities in the preservation of the environment.

Environmental policy

These joint obligations covered all levels of government: federal, state and municipal. Since then, a very important stage for the development of Mexican environmental policy began.

In this sense, the definition of the different areas of action and responsibility of each level of government in caring for the environment helped a lot.

The constitutional reform allowed the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection to be enacted in 1988. This law was modified in 1996 and has been until now the legal instrument that governs the country's environmental policy.

Basic aspects of the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection

-Protect natural areas.

-Prevent and control atmospheric, soil and water pollution.

- Control the use and disposal of materials and other hazardous waste.

- Classify the sources of pollution and establish sanctions for the transgression of environmental regulations.

Along with the Federal Environmental Law, 31 state laws and five regulations were promulgated. Said laws deal with the environmental impact assessment, disposal and land transportation of hazardous waste, air pollution and emissions in the Metropolitan Area of ​​Mexico City.

Environmental policy in Colombia

Since Decree No. 2811 of December 18, 1974 was issued in Colombia, an environmental protection policy began to be developed in the country. Through this legal instrument, the National Code of Natural Resources was created.

In 1989, with the promulgation of Law 37, the National Forest Service was created and the foundations of the National Forest Development Plan were laid. The successive plans approved in subsequent years established the strategic framework for the incorporation of this vital sector in the sustainable development of the country.

Later, the provisions contained in the General Environmental Law of Colombia, known as Law 99 of 1993, allowed the introduction of institutional changes in this matter. This law established the guidelines for the creation of the Environmental Information System.

In addition, it created the Ministry of the Environment together with 16 autonomous corporations and five institutes. Later, Decree 1600 of 1994 allowed to regulate the conformation, coordination and direction of said Environmental Information System.

In 1997 the Territorial Development Law or Law 388 (different from the Territorial Planning Law of 2011) was approved. Through this law, the Territorial Ordering Plan was established, through which the municipalities can organize their territory.

At the same time, the social and ecological function of the property was defined for the first time, as well as the rational use of the land and the improvement of the quality of life of the population. The National Policy for Inland Wetlands was also issued, which aims at their conservation and rational use.

Rationale for environmental policy

The General Environmental Law of Colombia of 1993 summarizes the foundation of Colombia's environmental policy. Its general principles are as follows:

- The environmental policy is based on the universal principles on sustainable development that are contained in the Declaration of Rio de Janeiro (1992) on Environment and Development.

- Protect and sustainably use the country's biodiversity as a national and universal heritage.

- Right to a healthy and productive life that is in harmony with nature.

- Special protection of moors, water sources and aquifers and prioritize the use of water for human use.

- Environmental policies are governed by available scientific research, but that does not prevent initiatives to be taken to adopt effective measures.

- Promote, through the State, the incorporation of environmental costs and environmental impact studies, as well as the use of economic instruments in order to prevent, correct and restore possible environmental damage.

- Promote the conservation of renewable natural resources as well as the landscape as common heritage.

- Disaster prevention is a collective interest. The action of protecting and recovering the country's environment is a task that involves the State, the community, and organized civil society.

Environmental policy in Peru

The history of environmental problems in Peru is old, it goes back to colonial times with mineral and agricultural exploitation (rubber, guano).

The first actions to preserve the environment were taken in 1925. The government forced the mining companies to install recuperators to try to clean the air of harmful particles.

In the 1940s, legal provisions were also approved regarding the sanitary control of industries. Between the 1950s and 1960s, the first actions were taken regarding annoying odors and noise, and the disposal of industrial wastewater.

The first attempts to institutionalize the environmental issue in Peru began in 1969 with the creation by law of the ONERN (National Office for the Evaluation of Natural Resources). Its objective was to evaluate the natural resources available in the country to incorporate them into economic and social development.

Legal instruments

Then, with the approval in 1990 of the Code of the Environment and Natural Resources, Peru's environmental policy began to develop. Four years later the creation of the National Council for the Environment contributed to strengthening this process.

From there, the articulation of a coherent policy regarding the assignment of environmental competences began. Until then, these powers had remained dispersed among the different national, state and municipal levels.

However, in 1994 the protection and preservation of the environment had not yet reached ministerial status. In the 1970s the General Water Law was enacted together with the Sanitary Code, but it did not contain a clear environmental policy guideline that would truly allow the State to take control and direct the preservation of the environment.

During this period, the General Mining Law and the Forestry and Wildlife Law were also enacted. The National Office for the Evaluation of Natural Resources was created and initiatives were taken regarding the presence of chemical agents in work environments.

In 1979 the environmental issue began to appear in the constitutional text. The right of Peruvians to live in a healthy environment was recognized. This principle was later ratified in the 1993 Constitution.

Creation of CONAM

With the approval in 1990 of the Environmental Code, a clearer orientation was drawn up for the environmental issue, regarding its treatment in the productive activities of the country. The structuring of a normative body in a comprehensive manner began and general principles on environmental management were introduced.

These principles include prevention, sanctions for polluting factors, environmental impact assessment, policy guidelines and environmental regulation.

In 1994, the National Environmental Council (CONAM) was created as the governing body for national environmental policy.

This body is in charge of coordinating environmental actions between the different regional and local councils. It is also in charge of agreeing policies, norms, deadlines and goals with civil society organizations, in order to promote sustainable development.

In 1997, the enactment of the Organic Law for the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources defined the general legal framework for the use of natural resources. A few years earlier, a trust fund had been implemented to finance the National System of Areas.

Creation of the Ministry of the Environment

In 1981 the creation of the Ministry of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources was proposed, but it was not approved. Instead, it was declared necessary to approve the Code of the Environment and Natural Resources that was drafted that same year.

Later, in 1985, the National Council for the Protection of the Environment for Health was approved CONAPMAS (now NAPMAS). Five years later, the Environment and Natural Resources Code was finally approved.

On the other hand, the ministerial portfolio of the environment is of recent creation; It was in 2008 when this body was approved by legislative decree. It is in charge of the creation, execution and supervision of the national and sectoral environmental policy.

Fundamentals of environmental policy

The principles of Peru's environmental policy are governed by the following fundamental aspects or themes:

- Biological diversity is one of the country's greatest riches, which is why it seeks to promote the conservation of the diversity of ecosystems, as well as native species, genetic resources and maintain ecological processes

- Regarding genetic resources, it focuses on promoting a policy of conservation of native and naturalized genetic resources. Likewise, the promotion of research, development and sustainable use.

- Promotes biosecurity by regulating the use of living modified organisms, and the safe and responsible use of biotechnology.

- Values ​​the use of renewable and non-renewable natural resources from a rational and sustainable criterion.

- It seeks to take advantage of mineral resources taking into account the improvement of environmental and social standards derived from these activities.

- The preservation of forests and marine and coastal ecosystems, taking into consideration their ecosystem characteristics.

- The preservation of hydrographic basins and soils.

- Mitigation and adaptation to climate change through the application of effective measures with a preventive approach in each region of the country.

- Territorial development through an orderly occupation and a clear conservationist approach, together with the sustainable development of the Amazon.

References

1. Environmental policy. Retrieved June 11, 2018 from britannica.com
2. Environmental Policy. Consulted of unece.org
3. Colombian environmental policy. Consulted of encyclopedia.banrepcultural.org
4. SINA National Environmental System. Consulted of encolombia.com
5. Environmental policy in Mexico and its regional dimension. Consulted of scielo.org.mx
6. Environmental policy in Mexico: genesis, development and perspectives. Consulted from magazinesice.com
7. Environmental policy: what it is and examples. Consulted of ecologiaverde.com
8. National Environmental Policy - Ministry of the Environment. Consulted of minam.gob.pe
9. Environmental history of Peru (PDF). Consulted of minam.gob.pe
10. Environmental policies in Peru. Consulted of infobosques.com
11. Environmental policy. Consulted of en.wikipedia.org