Command-and-Control vs. Economic Incentive Policies

The two distinct approaches to environmental policy are direct regulation, or “command and control” policies, and regulation by economic or market-based incentives. This seminar addresses some of the following questions: Are incentive instruments more efficient than regulatory ones? Do regulatory policies necessarily have higher administrative costs? Are incentive policies more difficult to monitor? Are firms more likely to oppose market-based instruments or traditional regulation? Is Europe’s experience with these approaches comparable to that of the U.S.?

Our guest speakers, both from the Resources for the Future in Washington DC, will present several of the case studies from their new book, Choosing Environmental Policy: Comparing Instruments in the United States and Europe which will serve as the basis for a stimulating debate on the merits of these two approaches and their application on either side of the Atlantic.

Documents to download

Choosing Environmental Policy: Instruments and Outcomes

Water rights trading - Experiences from Australia, Lessons for the UK

The second UKNEE seminar was held at the EA offices in London on the 7th September on the topic of water rights trading. Presentations were given by Stuart Whitten from CSIRO (the main Australian Government Research Agency) who shared his experiences with water rights trading in Australia and Jonathan Fisher from the Environment Agency who presented an overview of the Environment Agency’s consultation exercise on water rights trading, and suggestions of what the UK can expect to learn from other countries’ experiences.

Documents to download

Accounting for water flows: Are entitlements to water complete and defensible and does this matter? (CSIRO)
Trading Water Rights – A Consultation Document (EA)
Jonathan Fisher and Rob Curry, Environment Agency
Stuart Whitten, CSIRO Australia
www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/waterres
www.ecosystemservicesproject.org

Do biodiversity offsets offer a viable and valuable basis for compensating impacts of development?

The first UKNEE seminar on the topic of biodiversity offsets took place on 28th June and was hosted by Defra. The seminar's guest speakers were Kerry ten Kate from Insight Investment and Joshua Bishop from IUCN.

Documents to download

Seminar announcement 
Biodiversity offsets: Mileage, methods and (maybe) markets
Producing and Trading Habitat
Protecting shareholder and natural value
Kerry ten Kate, Insight Investment
Joshua Bishop, IUCN
www.insightinvestment.com
www.iucn.org