Environmental+Management

__**Environmental Management**__

__Ecologically sustainable development__ Refers to conserving and enhancing the community’s resources so that ecological processes and quality of life are maintained. It means not to overuse and exploitation of natural resources to achieve short term growth. The overuse and exploitation of natural resources to achieve short term economic growth. Achieving an unsustainable economic growth in exploiting the natural environment will lead to a fall in future potential output. It is important to state that the aim of both economic growth and environmental protection is to give people the best quality of life. However there is a conflict between satisfy all wants or to maintain the environment and aim a lower rate of economic growth but protect the natural environment with both renewable and non-renewable resources. Key principles of ecologically sustainable development
 * 1) 1. Integrating economic and environmental goals in policies and activities
 * 2) 2. Ensuring that environmental assets are appropriately valued
 * 3) 3. Ensuring fairness in the shifting of costs and assets within and between generations
 * 4) 4. Managing environmental risks with caution
 * 5) 5. Taking into account the global effects of environmental issues

__National and global context for environmental management__ //Regulations//: Environmental regulations are the traditional policy tool for achieving environmental sustainability goals. Regulations are laws or rules that govern economic behaviour. They can include prohibitions on persons conducting environmentally damaging activities, or may include specifying how a good or service is produced or consumed, such as rules relating to agricultural or mining techniques.

//Market-based policies:// Market-based environmental management policies have become more prevalent in the Australian economy and in other economies. Market-based policies that involve financial incentives and disincentives (such as subsidies and taxes) to influence the behaviour of households and businesses.

//Targets:// The aim of targets is to provide a definite and tangible goal to guide environmental management policies. Targets will be guided by a combination of what is acceptable or sustainable for the environment with what is achievable from an economic perspective.

//International Agreements:// Collective acton is often necessary because individual nations cannot successfully address global environmental problems on their own. One example of an international agreement is the 1987 Montreal Protocal Committee, in response to the depletion of the ozone layer.

E.g. Once national defense, street lights or a clean environment is provided, even non-paying consumers cannot be excluded || i. Public goods are non-rival – consumption of the good by one individual consumer does no reduce the quantity of the good available for other consumers E.g. One person’s ‘consumption’ of the benefits of public order does not reduce the ability of others to also enjoy this good ||
 * The Two Characteristics of Public Goods ||
 * i. Public goods are non-excludable – once it is provided the producer cannot exclude consumers from enjoying the benefit of the good even if they are not prepared to pay

__ Free riding __ behavior occurs when consumers or businesses benefit from a good/service without having to pay for its production or maintenance. The possibility of free rider behavior means that private markets either do not provide or under-provide public goods, since private firms would not be able to change consumers for enjoying the benefit of that good. The price mechanism cannot produce an equilibrium outcome that properly reflects the forces of supply and demand through setting a price to limit the consumption of this public good.

This incentive for free riders would tend to undermine any attempt by the private sector to clean up the environment or protect it from overuse or depletion. Due to this public goods tend to be provided by the government.