Umweltpolitische Strategien und Instrumente bei neuartigen Waldschaeden. Ein Beitag zum Aktionsprogramm "Rettet den Wald"

1990

S. 153-159

32 Lit. Ang.

Unselbständiges Werk

200038860

1. The action progam "Rettet den Wald" (Save the Forest) of the government of the Federal Republik of Germany contains national and internahtional environmental policy instruments to reduce air pollutants caising forest dieback. Most of these instruments are administrative and regulative. Their implementation causes increasing marginal costs for further pollution control. 2. Competing uses of clean air as a public good lead to scarcity that ist not indicated by increasing prices. The social-market-economy needs an additional ecological framework in order to activate its self regulating capacity to solve environmental problems. 3. Due to long production periods, forestry should be increasingly interested in preventive, rather than reactive environmental policy strategies, such as technological innovation or structural changes of the socioeconomic system. 4. Regulative environmental instruments have the advantage of quick action, easy implementation and control, but the disadvantage of economic inefficiency and waste of resources. Dynamic stimulants can be given to the economic system by emission charges or taxes, and pollution licenses. They are reputed to be very flexible and efficient environmental instruments with minimal costs for achieving given aims in pollution contol. Positive examples of pollution licenses that limit the total quantity of tolerable emisions for an environmental medium in a political process are given in Japan and in the USA. 5. Changes of environmental legislation concerning liability rules for environmental offences are necessary in order to claim indemnification according to the "The-Polluter-Pays-Principle". 6. Consequences for foest politics are: the promotion of preventive dynamic environmental policy instruments; development of confidence in the functioning of self-regulating abilities of market-systems; inter- disciplinary cooperation of environmental lobbies and search for partners in democratic processes of decision finding.