From Voluntary Approaches to Mandatory Criteria: Sustainable Development under the CDM and Article 6.4 Mechanism

Sustainable development (SD) co-benefits have increasingly become relevant in the discussions about the performance of international carbon market mechanisms. Actually, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol always had the formal objective to promote SD. However, the principle of sovereignty has prevented mandatory rules to ensure the actual accrual of SD co-benefits. After increasingly strident media and NGO criticisms about CDM projects actually leading to negative impacts on SD, the UNFCCC CDM regulators provided a voluntary tool for SD benefit assessment. However, only a very small share of CDM activities has actually used this tool. The main drivers for ensuring SD benefits nowadays are the heightened political sensitivity about the linkages between climate and sustainable development since the adoption of the Agenda 2030 as well as differentiation of demand for international credits, with a number of buyers having prohibited the import of credits with perceived low SD contributions. For the new market mechanisms under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement (PA), the rules currently under negotiations foresee a continuation of the voluntary approach to SD contributions. It remains to be seen whether buyer power enforces a ‘de facto’ SD benefit regulation.

The aim of this paper is to present the main arguments around the concept of sustainable development as a business perspective and the influence that this concept has brought to firms and their operations. It explains relevant literature on sustainable development describing its foundations, their current challenges and some of the future directions along which the concept can achieve its intended purpose. The arguments suggest that before calling for a massive green campaign in business, there are unresolved issues around the concept of sustainable development, there is a particular need to understand the real motivation of firms for sustainable. For example, at the industry level, a firm’s behavior is a complex issue to control – either through pre-established legal parameters or through a voluntary approach. The interest in sustainable practices has created important implications for managers in almost every industry looking to better understand the arguments around the concept of sustainable development and the commitment that firms should make to address these environmental challenges. Research centered only on economic benefits or only on environmental issues can lead to an incomplete vision of the opportunities for firms that both approaches can generate if they are correctly combined.

This paper identifies two broad approaches to achieving sustainable development: (a) the voluntary approach and (b) legislative requirements. This paper concentrates on the limits of the voluntary approach. First, it examines the limits resulting from the way in which markets currently operate. It then goes on to look at four aspects of the voluntary approach: environmental policies; environmental management systems (standards); environmental charters and corporate environmental reporting –and notes the limitations of these methods in improving environmental performance. This paper argues that the voluntary approach will not deliver the increase in environmental performance necessary to bring about sustainable development and that this increase will result only from adopting a legislative approach. Copyright © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

The regulatory approach to CSR in Indonesia is mandatory through legislation, while in Thailand, it emphasizes a voluntary approach based on incentives, analyzing its impact on corporate behavior, sustainable development, and the effectiveness of CSR implementation. The purpose of this research is to analyze the differences in CSR regulations between Indonesia and Thailand, as well as to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each approach in influencing the implementation of corporate social responsibility towards society and the environment. This study employs a normative legal method with a legislative approach to analyze the differences in CSR regulations between Indonesia and Thailand, using primary, secondary, and tertiary legal materials analyzed descriptively, analytically, and comparatively. The research findings reveal that the differences in CSR regulations between Indonesia and Thailand reflect contrasting approaches in the implementation of corporate social responsibility. Indonesia mandates CSR through legislation, providing legal certainty and formal oversight, though often resulting in programs that tend to be formalistic and lack innovation. On the other hand, Thailand adopts a voluntary approach that promotes flexibility and creativity, enabling companies to focus more on long-term sustainability, although participation is often limited to large corporations. These differences highlight that Indonesia's mandatory regulation is more effective in ensuring compliance, whereas Thailand's voluntary approach excels in fostering innovation and local relevance.

Buildings could be led to adverse impacts on environment, such as generation of construction and demolition waste, and emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). Therefore, promotion on development of green buildings is in need. With the increasing awareness in sustainable development, various rating tools are promoted to evaluate the performance of green buildings. Nowadays, these tools function as a guideline for green building development. There are various green building rating tools developed worldwide, and various countries follow different rules, incentives and regulations. However, despite of promotion of green building rating tools, environmental issues from buildings are still significant in Australia. This research compared green building rating tools in Australia and other countries or regions around the world. This research found that rating tools in Australia lack of (1) mandatory criteria and (2) regulations and incentives. This paper recommended that governmental incentives should be promoted.

This report is part of a five-country study focusing on how environmental and human health related standards apply to the agricultural sector. The overall study is coordinated by the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI) in the Netherlands. The five countries include Australia, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand and the USA. Each country study provides an overview of its agricultural sector; explains government policy objectives; outlines public sector approaches to the various environmental and health-related issues confronting agriculture; details a comprehensive inventory of environmental and health-related regulations; and draws out key economic implications of complying with both current and prospective environmental and health-related policies, particularly as they impact on the international competitiveness. Until recently, Australia's farmers have been largely insulated from the demands of environmental groups and from government restrictions on their activities. Now, however, various local, national and international pressures are forcing policymakers to address agricultural environmental and health-related issues and to examine ways to promote more sustainable farming practices. Australian policy recognises that environmental and ecologically sustainable development issues must be dealt with at all levels of government if the resource base is to be used optimally. Australia has begun responding to this environmental challenge by committing to a process of adapting sustainable development concepts, programs, and policies to suit domestic socioeconomic conditions, including prevailing agricultural production, consumption and trade patterns. It also has been a keen participant in international agencies such as Codex Alimentarius, WTO, IOE and IPPC, whose foci are on global food safety and plant and animal health issues. Environmental and food safety management involves a mix of government regulations and voluntary approaches. Voluntary measures and agreements between governments, industry and community groups play a key role, with an increasing emphasis on economic (ie. price-based) instruments. For example, the current water reform agenda that is gradually being accepted across the country includes moves towards full cost pricing of water delivery and tradeable water rights. The Commonwealth Government is currently undertaking a comprehensive reform of the country's environmental law regime. The objective of this process is to deliver better environmental outcomes in a manner that promotes greater certainty for all stakeholders and minimises the potential for delay and intergovernmental duplication (DE, 1998). Fundamental to the reform package is the integration of environmental, economic and social considerations through the implementation of the principles of ecologically sustainable development. The precautionary principle and the principle of intergenerational equity are expressly recognised. Two other guiding principles of the reform process are the need to maintain and enhance international competitiveness in an environmentally sound manner and the adoption of cost-effective and flexible measures.

Air Transport and the Environment provides an overview of the main issues relating to aviation environmental impacts. It explains the challenge facing policymakers in terms of sustainable development, focusing on the importance of balancing the industry's economic, social and environmental costs and benefits, both for people living now and for future generations. Individual chapters review the current scientific understanding of the main aviation environmental impacts: climate change, local air pollution and aircraft noise. Various responses to those issues are also considered, including a range of policy options based on regulatory, market-based and voluntary approaches. Key concepts such as environmental capacity, radiative forcing and carbon offsetting are explained. In addition, the book emphasises the main implications of aviation environmental issues for policymakers and for the management of the air transport industry. Debates about the environmental impacts of flying often generate strongly polarised reactions, yet this book adopts a constructive approach to the subject and attempts to present the environmental issues in a clear, straightforward manner. It aims to provide a policy-relevant synthesis of a wide range of perspectives rather than advocating one particular viewpoint. Yet the central purpose of this book is to bring the sustainable development challenge facing the air transport industry to the fore, and so to inform effective policy responses. Air transport plays a critical role in supporting economies and societies that are increasingly interconnected by globalisation; this book presents the view that the vital economic and social benefits of the air transport industry should not be lost - and in fact could be distributed far more widely and equitably - but that the environmental impacts of air transport nevertheless require urgent and effective management. Air Transport and the Environment has been written primarily for professionals in the air transport industry, policymakers and regulators. It is also intended for use by academic researchers, students and others who are interested in the complex relationship between air transport and the environment.

Sustainable development approaches the concept of quality of life in all its complexity, from an economic, social and environmental point of view, promoting the idea of ​​the balance between economic development, social equity, efficient use and conservation of the environment. By its very nature, sustainable development represents the need for responsibility and education for environmental protection, and this aspect is reflected in the evolution of community policy in recent years, a policy marked by the transition from an approach based on constraint and sanction, to a more flexible, based one on incentives. Thus, it is acting in the direction of a voluntary approach, in order to promote this environmental responsibility and to encourage the use of environmental management systems. The environmental policy does not act independently, but reflects the interest of civil society in this direction, manifested by the creation of numerous environmental movements and organizations. Moreover, in some countries the creation and development of "green" political parties has been achieved, with real success in the political arena. However, resistance - or, more properly, the restraint and inertia that manifests itself, should not be forgotten, when environmental objectives seem to limit industrial competitiveness and economic growth; but this aspect only emphasizes once again the need for a concerted approach at European level and the need for an active and integrated environmental policy, capable of responding to the challenges that appear economically. The European environmental policy is based on the principles of precaution, prevention, correction of pollution at source and "polluter pays". The precautionary principle is a risk management tool that can be invoked if there is scientific uncertainty about a possible risk to human health or the environment, arising from a particular action or policy.

This chapter will explore the ways in which voluntary standards for sustainability can shape urban and community development. It is argued that a flexible approach to identifying, implementing and amending standards for sustainable cities and communities will optimise both democratic participation and social learning while recognising that technological, bureaucratic and other interventions, although important, are by no means sufficient for ensuring liveable and ecologically sensitive communities to grow. Two specific guidance schemes exemplify this contention: first, the guidance for community sustainable development (BS8904) recently published by the British Standards Institute; and second, the stages, ‘ingredients’ and principles that have emerged from within the Transition Movement in the UK and elsewhere. Moving on, Sect. 25.2 outlines the demographic, social, political as well as environment context of urban growth and development in the first half of this century. Section 25.3 will interrogate the concept of risk and resilience as it is applied and developed in sustainable community development making key reference to the debates on risk and vulnerability and the ways in which the community based Transition Movement practically engage with them. Section 25.4 examines the relationship between sustainable community and liveability, particularly as this pertains to health. Section 25.5 shows how the design, moral ownership and commitment to voluntary standards may secure a sense of obligation sometimes understood as being an informal social contract. Section 25.6 examines the ideas, suggestions and prescriptions of BS8904. Finally, Section 25.7 offers some tentative conclusions and recommendations the main one being, the necessity for standards to be a stimulus for continuing social learning and creativity in practice avoiding the restrictions and limitations imposed of a managerialist culture that sees a standard as a box that must be ticked.

Environmental law and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are increasingly recognized as pivotal in advancing the principles of a circular economy, which emphasizes waste reduction, resource efficiency, and sustainability. This study examines the interplay between legal frameworks and CSR initiatives in fostering circular economy practices. It explores how robust environmental regulations, coupled with corporate accountability, can drive the adoption of sustainable production and consumption patterns. The analysis begins by highlighting the evolution of environmental laws aimed at mitigating the adverse impacts of industrial activities on ecosystems. These laws establish regulatory obligations for businesses to reduce emissions, manage waste, and conserve natural resources. Concurrently, CSR has emerged as a voluntary yet impactful approach that aligns corporate objectives with societal and environmental priorities. When integrated, these mechanisms create a synergistic effect, compelling organizations to innovate and adopt circular economy strategies. This paper investigates case studies across sectors, demonstrating how legal incentives, such as tax benefits and extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes, encourage businesses to design products with end-of-life considerations. Furthermore, it evaluates the role of international agreements, such as the European Union’s Circular Economy Action Plan, in harmonizing policies and fostering cross-border collaboration. The study also addresses challenges, including regulatory inconsistencies and the financial burden of compliance, which may deter businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), from fully embracing circular practices. Recommendations are proposed to strengthen legal frameworks, including the adoption of clear metrics for measuring circularity, fostering public-private partnerships, and enhancing stakeholder engagement in policy formulation. By assessing the impact of environmental laws and CSR on circular economy practices, this study underscores the necessity of an integrated approach. The findings contribute to the discourse on sustainable development, emphasizing the critical role of legal and corporate governance in achieving a resilient and resource-efficient global economy.

At a time when I had only been engaged in the palm oil sector for a few years and had supported the establishment of criteria and certification rules for the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), I thought I could check out any time I liked and move on to a next commodity sector. It was 2007 and I couldn’t have been more wrong; more than ten years later, I feel I can never leave. The involvement of an international social/development perspective in the palm oil sector remains highly needed, despite significant progress made through the voluntary standards approach, which is reaching a fragile but critical mass in the sector. This chapter will argue that in order to achieve positive impacts for both people and sustainable development, there is a need for continued efforts and for better embedding market transformation in wider sector changes and landscapes. There are exciting and encouraging new developments, for example, the financial sector providing an extra push and governments actually taking up their responsibilities.

Regulation of supply chains and associated actors has emerged as a predominant theme with the institutionalization of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development. Private, voluntary transnational standards and industry and corporate codes of conduct have grown in numbers, geographic spread and coverage across a range of commodities, products, services, themes and industry sectors. The phenomena of multi-stakeholder-based and certifiable voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) are amongst a class of voluntary regulatory approaches and a new model of governance. This chapter sets the context and lays the plan for the book. Specifically, it outlines the context for examination of the experience of VSS in India and broadly reflects on how the voluntary governance landscape is shaping in India and the roles played by policymakers, businesses and civil society organizations.

The UN General Assembly declared 2021–2030 the “Decade of Ecosystem Restoration to Achieve the SDGs,” which means the need to unleash, strengthen and maintain the potential of soils not only for food production, but also for the conservation of water resources, biodiversity and the biosphere as a whole, reducing carbon emissions, increasing resilience in the face of climate change. Soil enters into the composition of all terrestrial ecosystems of a certain hierarchical level as a mandatory and irreplaceable subsystem or component. Russia has the largest soil cover area of approximately 14.5 million km2 – one sixth of the planet. The global importance of the country’s unique soil resources is increasing due to global processes of soil degradation and loss, as well as the impossibility of the soil cover of the world to carry out biospheric functions in the same volume. The authors have analyzed the legal framework for the implementation of sustainable development goals, taking into account the state of soils in Russia. There have been found no documents determining how much soil resources the country requires to conduct modern agricultural production and fulfill the SDGs. The lack of understandable, clear and long-term land policy leads to a lack of complete and objective information about the condition and fertility of soils used in agriculture. The monitoring being carried out at present does not provide monitoring of land plots and crop rotation fields as a production resource. It does not include a number of parameters characterizing soil fertility, which are essential for agricultural production. To implement the provisions of the concept of sustainable development, it is necessary, first of all, to introduce a full-fledged, scientifically based and legal (legally significant), general legal, accurate, unambiguous, definite, well-established, non-contextual definition of soil and its fertility as a fundamental unique property into the federal legislation. Soils, their condition and fertility should be among the mandatory criteria for the effectiveness of land policy and land management, which, in turn, should be defined as a set of measures for studying the state of soils, planning and organizing their rational use and protection. Ensuring national, environmental, economic and food security has interconnected goals. Sustainable development implies “climate neutral” agriculture, where reproduction of soil fertility is necessarily ensured, their degradation being completely excluded.

Regulatory and voluntary approaches for enhancing building energy efficiency

Author: BROWN, P.G.; Ethics, Economics and International Relations; Reviewer: James Connelly; Editors: DIEL, PAUL F. and GLEDITSCH, NILS PETTER; Environmental Conflict; Reviewer: Jon Barnett; Author: KURIAN, PRIYA A.; Engendering the Environment? Gender in the World Bank's Environmental Policies; Reviewer: K. Ravi Srinivas; Editor: CAVALCANTI, CLOVIS; The Environment, Sustainable Development and Public Policies: Building Sustainability in Brazil; Reviewer: Katrina Brown; Author: GARCIA-JOHNSON, RONIE; Exporting Environmentalism: US Multinational Chemical Corporations in Brazil and Mexico; Reviewer: Sarah Cornell; Editors: LAFFERTY, WILLIAM M. and MEADOWCROFT, JAMES; Implementing Sustainable Development. Strategies and Initiatives in High Consumption Societies; Reviewer: Detlef Jahn; Editors: GUPTA, JOYEETA and GRUBB, MICHAEL; Climate Change and European Leadership: A Sustainable Role for Europe?; Reviewer: Suraje Dessai; Editors: MOL, ARTHUR P.J.; LAUBER, VOLKMAR and LIEFFERINK, DUNCAN; The Voluntary Approach to Environmental Policy: Joint Environmental Approach to Environmental Policy-making in Europe; Reviewer: Graham Smith; Editors: EDER, KLAUS and KOUSIS, MARIA; Environmental Politics in Southern Europe. Actors, Institutions and Discourses in a Europeanizing Society; Reviewer: Hein-Anton van der Heijden; Editors: JOAS, MARKO and HERMANSON, ANN-SOFIE; The Nordic Environments: Comparing Political, Administrative and Policy Aspects; Reviewer: Mattias Ask; Author: LEES, CHARLES; The Red-Green Coalition in Germany: Politics, Personalities and Power; Reviewer: Geoffrey K. Roberts; Editors: SHARPE, VIRGINIA A.; NORTON, BRYAN and DONNELLEY, STRACHAN; Wolves and Human Communities: Biology, Politics, and Ethics; Reviewer: Markku Oksanen; Authors: BARRY, JOHN and PROOPS, JOHN; Citizenship, Sustainability and Environmental Research: Q Methodology and Local Exchange Trading Systems; Reviewer: Angel Valencia Saiz; Editors: FLYNN, JAMES; SLOVIC, PAUL and KUNREUTHER, HOWARD; Risk, Media and Stigma: Understanding Public Challenges to Modern Science and Technology; Reviewer: Manuel Arias-Maldonado; Author: DRUCKER, PETER F.; The Ecological Vision: Reflections on the American Condition; Reviewer: Eric Lafferrière