Environmental policy life cycle techniques

Interface Function of Concentration Techniques in the Environmental Policy Life Cycle... 

In the environmental policy life cycle, four phases can be discerned 1, calling attention to the problem 2, definition phase 3, formulation of the solution and taking measures and 4, control phase. The development of concentration techniques with an interface and control function is indispensable in phases 1, 2, and 4. This situation is illustrated in Figure 2. 

In the environmental policy life cycle (see Figure 10), the availability of concentration techniques plays a crucial role to define the nature, source, and extent of an observed problem before regulations and law enforcement can be formulated. 

A key requirement is for firms (at all levels in the production chain) to undertake, as a first step, a life cycle analysis of their products, and to monitor the behaviour of their suppliers and customers. This may well occur in conjunction with an internal environmental review or audit, which will prompt the firm to scrutinise closely all aspects of its operations. There are a range of complex issues concerning the identification and measurement of environmental costs and benefits, and the impact of environmental factors on the valuation of company liabilities and productive assets, which are only now being fiiUy addressed by new environmental accounting techniques. Part of the problem is that there is no legal requirement for companies to disclose environmental expenditures separately, or to report publicly on their environmental policy and performance, although this is likely to change in the future. 

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