Approach economic problems for the global environment

The general principles for international measures to deal with problems related to the global environment as international public goods were set at the Rio Summit, the Johannesburg Summit, and so on measures taken by countries to cope with various problems, including the burden of resolving problems, are left to the negotiating table for the various treaties. Although many international agreements have already been concluded, most of the provisions requiring only that efforts be made and have little legally binding provisions.

Major issues for the global environment policies for the future include the post-Kyoto Protocol negotiations on global warming and the realization of the goals set in the Millennium Development and the Plan of Implementation Johannesburg, in particular measures for problems related to poverty reduction in developing countries (access to potable water and sanitation facilities, and to reduce the number of slum dwellers), expansion partnerships and the strengthening of governance in the international environment.

The principle of the burden of costs to be paid by each country enforces measures to solve the problems above means that the burden borne by the developed countries is inevitably greater than that of developing countries, which is consistent with the "principle common but differentiated responsibilities ". One key element is "the polluter pays", but the scope of such a burden is still under discussion. There are arguments about whether or not a preventive approach is an established principle. In recent years, there has been a growing trend to the company's request to accept responsibility as shown in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Global Compact.

A major administrative issue for all countries is to implement comprehensive measures to environmental problems with a minimum of economic and social costs. The average expenditure in OECD countries on environmental measures is already about 2 per cent of GDP and is expected to rise further. It is possible to reduce by at least 25 per cent of the costs incurred by the OECD countries through the use of means that are economically efficient, much more than the current average.

Many voluntary agreements are concluded in order to achieve the goals of environmental protection policy, but the economic efficiency of such agreements is extremely low compared to other economic means. The cost of monitoring by the regulations are often high. The OECD recommends that the economic means, such as environmental taxes, surcharges and unloading, which fully utilize the advantage of the market economy, require the lowest cost and are effective in achieving environmental goals . In addition, the OECD called for the elimination of various subsidies that have a negative effect on the environment.

The Kyoto Protocol global warning to prevent various problems left unresolved, including self-serving charges set for developed countries. Enough discussions on the participation of developing countries in the form of agreements, methods to allocate burdens and how to deal with techniques are necessary for the reform of the post-Kyoto Protocol negotiations, which will focus on implementation of economic measures.

Economic Means were not used in most Japanese measures against air pollution and global warming. Japan should use more economic means such as environmental taxes, surcharges and unloading operations, as recommended by the OECD.