The most important development for the next century may be the emerging interaction of international intergovernmental environmental law with transnational environmental law developed primarily by the private sector and nongovernmental institutions. Concerns about ompetitiveness and a level playing field cause both governments and nongovernmental actors to focus on environmental standards and practices in different countries and compliance with them. The European Union has long been concerned with differences in environmental standards among member states.
Increasingly industrial associations, multinational companies, and coalitions of business and environmental interests are the most important driving forces behind the new focus on developing common transnational environmental standards and environmentally sound business practices.
Within the last few years, industry associations have begun to formulate common environmental standards across industries. The most prominent of these organizations is the International Standards Organization (ISO), a hybrid governmental/private group with 97 member countries, 176 technical committees, and 2,698 subcommittees and working groups. While historically the ISO has been concerned with developing technical and manufacturing standards for products, in 1979 it began to develop global quality standards, which in January 1993 became mandatory for any company manufacturing or exporting products to the European Union. As environmental concern grew, the ISO formed the Strategic Advisory Group on the Environment (SAGE) to consider the need for standard environmental-management practices in five areas: management systems; audits; lifecycle assessments to determine environmental impacts; environmental performance evaluations; and labelling.
The development of these standards can have important influences on governmental control of business behavior. They may set standards for practices that governments never address; or they may set standards that precede government action or provide greater specificity; or they may set standards that are inconsistent with particular national standards. Within countries, the
standards could be used by federal and state authorities to determine appropriate responses to non-compliance with governmental standards, including criminal actions, or to assess the standard of care in common law damage claims.
Some efforts to develop common standards or processes outside the intergovernmental framework take place informally. Before the Rio Conference, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) drafted a Business Charter for Sustainable Development that contained sixteen principles of environment management. The World Industry Council for the Environment (WICE), a group of more than 90 international companies, has tried to ensure a strong voice for industry in setting governmental environmental standards by targeting the development of self-regulatory guidelines and an inventory of life-cycle analyses.
As large companies in the private sector increasingly regulate themselves as a way to project corporate good citizenship, to ensure a level playing field, and to pre-empt or modify governmental regulation, countries must face the question of accountability by the private sector to the public. This involves both questions of direct participation in formulating the standards and indirect influence from the market place. Consumers are expected to reflect their preference for environmental protection by buying products produced in an environmentally sound manner
or by refraining from buying products or materials that are environmentally unsatisfactory. But this assumes that the market works perfectly and that prices adequately reflect environmental costs and benefits, which they do not. In the next decade, governments and the private sector need to work together to ensure accountability.
Increasingly industrial associations, multinational companies, and coalitions of business and environmental interests are the most important driving forces behind the new focus on developing common transnational environmental standards and environmentally sound business practices.
Within the last few years, industry associations have begun to formulate common environmental standards across industries. The most prominent of these organizations is the International Standards Organization (ISO), a hybrid governmental/private group with 97 member countries, 176 technical committees, and 2,698 subcommittees and working groups. While historically the ISO has been concerned with developing technical and manufacturing standards for products, in 1979 it began to develop global quality standards, which in January 1993 became mandatory for any company manufacturing or exporting products to the European Union. As environmental concern grew, the ISO formed the Strategic Advisory Group on the Environment (SAGE) to consider the need for standard environmental-management practices in five areas: management systems; audits; lifecycle assessments to determine environmental impacts; environmental performance evaluations; and labelling.
The development of these standards can have important influences on governmental control of business behavior. They may set standards for practices that governments never address; or they may set standards that precede government action or provide greater specificity; or they may set standards that are inconsistent with particular national standards. Within countries, the
standards could be used by federal and state authorities to determine appropriate responses to non-compliance with governmental standards, including criminal actions, or to assess the standard of care in common law damage claims.
Some efforts to develop common standards or processes outside the intergovernmental framework take place informally. Before the Rio Conference, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) drafted a Business Charter for Sustainable Development that contained sixteen principles of environment management. The World Industry Council for the Environment (WICE), a group of more than 90 international companies, has tried to ensure a strong voice for industry in setting governmental environmental standards by targeting the development of self-regulatory guidelines and an inventory of life-cycle analyses.
As large companies in the private sector increasingly regulate themselves as a way to project corporate good citizenship, to ensure a level playing field, and to pre-empt or modify governmental regulation, countries must face the question of accountability by the private sector to the public. This involves both questions of direct participation in formulating the standards and indirect influence from the market place. Consumers are expected to reflect their preference for environmental protection by buying products produced in an environmentally sound manner
or by refraining from buying products or materials that are environmentally unsatisfactory. But this assumes that the market works perfectly and that prices adequately reflect environmental costs and benefits, which they do not. In the next decade, governments and the private sector need to work together to ensure accountability.