Voluntary Instruments Research Articles

Climate change transformation in built environments – A policy instrument framework

Built environments are key spaces for social and economic activities. They are critical sources of greenhouse gas emissions and will be important locations for adaptation to climate change impacts. To transform built environments to adequately address climate change, necessary policy instruments must be identified and activated. However, the application of ‘policy instrument’ typologies to empirical research and analysis of the built environment holistically is limited. We present a ‘built environment policy framework’ consisting of a policy instrument typology (strategies, laws, regulations, guidelines, voluntary instruments and programs) and a built environment policy setting (governance level, sector, property type, life stage, timeframe). The framework was tested in an Australian context, and used to map and visually represent built environment policy instruments. The results highlight the suitability of the framework for understanding the policy portfolio of a built environment context. The mapping identified that strategies were the dominant policy instrument. Fewer policy instruments were found to directly address the built environment's later life stages, and there were fewer at federal and international levels of governance. This new framework makes a theoretical contribution to policy instrument development for built environments – by applying a holistic and complex approach. It also makes a practical contribution, to assist built environment professionals and governments assess their current policy instrument portfolio to inform policy development that progresses climate change transformation.

Classification and Description of the Most Well-Known Environmental Approaches Used for the Maintenance and Improvement f Forest Management

"The importance of forests in our society is extremely significant, with multiple benefits for both the environment and people. Considering the high importance of forests and the need for responsible and sustainable utilization, various approaches have been developed to promote sustainable forestry in different ways. This paper focuses on identifying, classifying, and analysing these approaches in Romania and at the European level. Firstly, the legislative system, through its crucial role in establishing rules for different sectors, plays an important role in ensuring sustainable forestry. The entirety of laws that impact forests form the regulated tool of the state. On the other hand, organizations that benefit from goods and services provided by forests aim to assure customers that their activities do not have a negative impact on forests. Taking these factors into account, non-governmental organizations have developed different standards and policies to maintain and improve forest practices. These systems are not regulated by the state; rather, they are voluntary instruments. Their use depends on the willingness and interest of the forest owner or manager. Both types of instruments aim to improve forest practices and promote a sustainable approach to the utilization of forest resources. Keywords: Responsible forest management, voluntary system, reglemented system."

Global justice and EU climate policy in a contested liberal international order

Abstract Following the failure of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) in 2009 in Copenhagen, the European Union has significantly altered its negotiation strategy in the global climate regime. It moved from an emphasis on ‘leadership by example’ and an insistence on top-down, binding targets within a framework of strong global governance institutions (impartiality in global justice terms) towards a strategy of shared leadership, increased dialogue (mutual recognition) and acceptance of more voluntary instruments (non-domination). This article traces this shift through an examination of EU policy documents and makes sense of it by reference to learning effects of an EU with solidarist ambitions in a pluralist international society, and the changing power distribution and contestations of the post-Cold War liberal order on the global level. Furthermore, it assesses the consequences of the shift for international society (especially concerning different ‘solidarisms’) and global climate justice. We argue that while a changed EU approach has been vital to maintaining the EU's status as a relevant actor and to secure the Paris Agreement, too much emphasis on the pluralist dimension and non-domination may also hinder effective global solutions to climate change. It is therefore vital that the EU continues its solidarist ambitions by pushing for rigorous measures of accountability, but also by alleviating structural domination in the climate regime and particularly by better recognizing and including civil society actors from the global South.

Drawing lessons from mineral and land use policy in Europe: Crossing policy streams or getting stuck in silos?

While mineral resource extraction is a contested land-use under increased societal scrutiny, it is tremendously important for clean energy transition and societal economic development. Despite increased demand, access to mineral resources is, however, subject to different stakeholder interests often reflected in competing forms of land-use and institutional complexity of two policy streams of minerals and land use planning. During the last decade public policy responses in Europe introduced new instruments such as protection of minerals deposits or valorisation schemes for minerals development, both aiming to link or integrate these two policy streams. While policy studies focus on the mineral and geological background, they lack the contextualisation in the broader (land-) policy and governance discourse. This article closes this gap and contributes to the interface between mineral resources, land policy and spatial planning. It provides insights into 1) what policy instruments are assembled to policy mixes for integrating minerals and land use planning policy, and (ii) in how far these instruments are fit for purpose in the respective land-use planning system. In our analysis we portray the diversity of policy instruments to better integrate policy domains of mineral and LUP, but are only deployed in a 13 European countries. The instruments are assembled to policy mixes combining regulatory, strategies and guidelines, as well as information-based or voluntary instruments with horizontal policy integration representing on average high degrees of integration compared to vertical integration. Considering diversity of European planning systems and different context of mineral resource challenges, we conclude that it is the “contextual match” of what (instruments) works where (land use planning system) that matters. In our research we clearly indicate this contextual match on two levels: First a planning system and decision-making match for vertical integration, and, second, a policy cycle match for horizontal integration, where minerals or LUP topics/issues, respectively, are considered in preparation or design stage of land-use plans, zoning documents or mineral planning documents. For policy decision-makers the array of identified instruments provides solutions fitting to different socio-spatial contexts of mineral and Land use planning policy as well as different planning systems.

The impact of environmental information disclosure on green innovation in extractive enterprises: Promote or crowd out?

Environmental information disclosure (EID) is an essential manifestation of a firm's Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy. However, there is no consensus on whether EID can improve extractive enterprise green innovation. Drawing on data from Chinese-listed extractive industries companies for the period 2002–2017, this paper disentangles the complex impact of EID on green innovation by using the difference-in-difference method. The results show that the EID policy improves the overall green innovation performance of the extractive firms, but this improvement is mainly driven by the utility model patents rather than green invention patents with higher innovation levels. The dynamic effects show that the green innovation effect of EID has an upward trend after a three-year lag. Moreover, the green innovation effect in regions with high information disclosure intensity and state-owned enterprises is more prominent. Moreover, the mechanism tests reveal that although the resource crowding-out effect will hinder green innovation activities, EID can stimulate firms to conduct green innovation activities by alleviating financing constraints, increasing internal incentives, and imposing external pressure. Our findings provide the necessary empirical support for the government to promote the voluntary instruments.

Green Public Procurement and the circularity of the built environment

The case study presented in this paper is a demonstration of the success of a green public procurement (GPP) model that allows to build buildings in accordance with the principles of the circularity by ensuring sustainable consumption and production.The relevance of green procurement has lately become a focus of research because of public institutions’ growing interest in circularity for built environment investment. The case study of a school gym presented in this paper is emphasising the role the public authorities are playing in promoting the transition to the circularity of the built environment through sustainable procurement. Despite being a voluntary instrument, GPP also plays a significant part in the global efforts to develop a more resource-efficient economy. It can help to develop a critical mass of demand for more sustainable buildings that would be difficult to bring to the market otherwise.The challenge of convincing public-sector institutions to use GPP across nations, to become ‘normal practice’ continues and will drive the market for environmentally friendly buildings. The case study presented demonstrate that the GPP model is widely replicable and leads to positive outcomes. It has already been applied for the Brancati secondary and high school project built in Pesaro, Italy, that has been awarded by the International Jury of the Green Solutions Awards 2020-21, Construction 21, the Prize for the Energy for the Temperate Climate International Platform category.

The Slovak forest policy arrangement: Post-1989 residues and changes

After 1989, Central and Eastern European countries with planned economies launched a process of transformation. In the Slovak forest policy, the main changes have been in the structure of forest ownership, increasing the share of governance mechanisms within the decision-making, and the organization of the sector. The aim of the paper is to analyse the current Slovak forest policy arrangement in relation to the socialistic political history, via the Policy Arrangement Approach. The analysis is based on literature search and consultations with forest policy experts. In total, 55 scientific publications were analysed. Subsequently, the results were consulted with four national forest policy experts. Despite the three decades-lasting transformation process, in Slovakia, forest policy is characterised by a strong influence of governmental actors, centralisation, and prevailing hierarchical use of policy instruments. Nature protection actors enter the policy arena, for instance, to expand protected areas. The top-down planning has an impact on the forest owners’ performance of rights to use their forests. Non-governmental actors attempt to enforce their interests through participation mechanisms, inter-ministerial commenting procedures, and voluntary instruments. Public opinion is turning towards nature protection and forestry as such has come under pressure with its traditionalist approach.

Performance of the combination of decarbonisation policy instruments and implications for carbon neutrality in China

Decarbonisation is a complex systemic issue that involves multiple market failures. Thus, the integrated application of multiple policy instruments is required. This study used the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method to explore the causality relationship between decarbonisation policies with reference to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the decoupling elasticity of Tapio from a configuration perspective. We found that taxation and regulation are the critical drivers of decoupling, while information and public goods and services are ancillary. Three decoupled policy mixes were tabled, each focusing on a) taxation, b) taxation and economic instruments, and c) trading system and regulations. In contrast, the execution of information and voluntary instruments, as well as the non-implementation of the tax, are essential to non-decoupling. Three combinations that are negative for decoupling were also introduced: a) trade and economic incentives, b) trade, information and voluntary instruments, and c) information, public goods and services, and voluntary instruments. The most valuable policy mix for China is the implementation of taxes, trade, economic and regulations with the provision of auxiliary decarbonised information and public goods and services. The following processes are involved: a) integrate regulations with economic policies for more flexibility; b) introduce the carbon tax and a tax rebate policy to complement the carbon market policy based on research into the feasibility and cost-effectiveness; c) provide information and public services mainly on the consumption side; and d) recommend voluntary policies for innovative practices. On the basis of more cases and a configuration perspective, this study offers various policy mixes that are conducive or not to decoupling and suggestions for optimising China’s decarbonisation policy. We also offered a way to measure the intensity of the decarbonisation policy with respect to the carbon emission structure of sectors.

A Review of Green Public Procurement in the EU

Public authorities are major consumers in Europe. Each year they spend approximately 2 trillion euros, equivalent to some 19% of the EU’s Gross Domestic Product on the purchase of goods, such as office equipment, building components and transport vehicles; services, such as buildings maintenance, transport services, cleaning and catering services and works. By promoting and using "Green Public Procurement (GPP)" public authorities can drive the market to greener products and services, achieving an important reduction of the environmental impacts. Within the EU public procurement is subject to a number of sources of Community law. In addition, there are common criteria for the adoption of Green Public Procurement in specific sectors (i.e. copying and graphic paper, office IT equipment, cleaning products and services, transport, construction, etc.) and a number of sources of interpretation of the relevant laws and principles (i.e. the "Buying Green handbook"). On the review of GPP the work team firstly analyzed the EU strategic policy, and then chose a series of examples to evaluate the implementation of GPP, illustrate how public authorities have made greener purchasing a reality and provide guidance to others. The evaluation included some of the most interesting case studies related to different countries (i.e. Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Malta, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Latvia, France, UK, Germany, Greece, Finland, etc.) and collected by European Commission over the years. According to the results of the evaluation the benefits associated with GPP are not limited only to environmental impact, but can include everything from social and health to economic and political benefits. Today even if the concept of GPP has been widely recognised as a useful tool, it remains a voluntary instrument. Member States should be encouraged to draw up Action Plans for greening their public procurement. Among other, the coming years should be a growing political commitment at national, EU and international level.

A review of existing policy for reducing embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions of buildings

The building sector is a significant contributor to global energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions and thus has a major role in combating climate change. To date, efforts to address this issue have focussed on reducing energy demand during building operation, resulting in significant reductions in this area. However, recent studies have shown that substantial improvements to operational energy efficiency have increased the relative significance of indirect or embodied energy demands and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Subsequently, policies addressing this next frontier of energy and emissions reductions are emerging. To understand different approaches and inform future development, this study reviews existing policy mechanisms targeting embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector for four countries – Australia, Canada, USA and United Kingdom. The study found that voluntary instruments dominate the policy landscape, with regulatory measures largely absent at national levels and confined to inconsistent application across lower levels of governance. Signals of change emerging from the analysis include growing private sector investment and increasing quantitative targets for reduction. The study concludes with the challenges facing this sector of energy governance, alongside recommendations for regulated caps, mandatory LCA reporting, prerequisite requirements in voluntary instruments, data accessibility and resolving methodological inconsistencies.

Evolution of policy instruments for food safety risk management: Comparing China and Western countries

Using text mining and instrument qualification techniques based on 605 policy instrument texts issued by the China government from 1985 to 2019, this study quantitatively analyzes the total number, type structure, specific composition, and evolution of policy instruments for food safety risks governance. Overall, 1,193, 459, and 95 of these instruments were compulsory, mixed, and voluntary, respectively. The results found that the evolution of these instruments in China exhibits a strong similarity to those in Western countries. They both started with compulsory instruments alone, then turned to a combination of compulsory and mixed instruments, and eventually progressed to a mixture of compulsory, mixed, and voluntary instruments. The internal logic of this evolution is that the instrument type structure changes continuously in response to the changes in the stakeholder relationships among government, market, and society. However, unlike Western countries, China still relies heavily on the role of government, which results in the dominance of compulsory instruments and insufficiency of mixed and voluntary instruments, reflecting high path dependence. Implications are discussed. • Using text mining and instrument qualification techniques. • The internal logic is with the relationship among government, market, and society. • The evolution of instruments in China is similar in Western countries. • China exist structural imbalance among instruments.

Enhancing Internationalization by Labels and Certificates: The Power of Voluntary Policy Instruments

About ten years ago, an innovative instrument was developed to promote internationalization in European higher education institutions— a Certificate for Quality in Internationalization (Cequint). The initiative fits well the contemporary governance philosophy that promotes voluntary instruments, an individualized approach, and an orientation towards transparency instead of control. While labels and certificates are becoming popular, their effectiveness is often questioned. In this paper we examine critically the value of Cequint and its potential for enhancing internationalization . The empirical results confirm that certified study programs outperform their uncertified peers. Partly the effect is explained by self-selection as internationally inclined programs are more likely to apply for the certificate, but there seems to be also a significant independent effect of the certification process. The paper suggests that a voluntary certification scheme can support organizational improvement by three mechanisms: by enhancing motivation, self-awareness, and expertize.

Understanding the Access to Fuels and Technologies for Cooking in Peru

There is global concern regarding access to energy, especially in developing countries, as set forth in the Sustainable Development Goals. Although Peru is classified as an emerging economy and would be expected to have achieved full energy coverage, the status of the access to fuels in Peru is unknown. The objective of this study was to comprehensively document the instruments and the progress made on the issue of access to modern fuels and technologies for cooking in Peru to explain the current situation and to highlight the main challenges that the country must face to achieve total access to modern energy sources. A comprehensive literature review was carried out for this work, covering a wide range of publications from 1983 to 2019. A total of 18 political and economic instruments and 95 voluntary instruments were analyzed. It made it possible to build a historical series of the main events leading to access to modern cooking fuels in Peru and to identify eight key challenges. The results show that the country has made remarkable progress in recent years, but this progress is not enough to close the access gap. Therefore, seems advisable to act on the current policy framework, formulate more inclusive policies, promote unified institutional efforts and generate technological options that respond to territory and population as diverse as Peru.

Assessment of surface water management institutions: a case of public irrigation schemes in northern Algeria

Abstract The pressure on water resources that Algeria encounters is due to the scarcity and the water demand increase by different sectors of activity. This induces managers to reconsider the traditional supply management approach. The new water policies aim to adopt water demand management by improving the efficiency of its use in the agricultural sector, which consumes more than 59% of freshwater withdrawals. Economic, regulatory, and voluntary instruments have been adopted for better governance of water resources. This study aims to (i) define institutional arrangements on the exploitation of surface water in large irrigation schemes in Algeria and (ii) assess the effectiveness of the current water management instruments. Findings from farmers’ and water distribution agencies’ surveys suggest that objectives expected by the application of the different economic instruments are far from being achieved. Moreover, the absence of effective executive agencies for the implementation of regulations suggests that an improvement in the performance of public administration is necessary to achieve better governance of irrigation water in Algeria. At the local level, and despite a lack of farmers’ will to formally engage in a collective of farmers, they organize themselves around informal arrangements to overcome the challenges associated with water scarcity.

Typology of interventions for antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance in aquaculture systems in low- and middle-income countries

Indiscriminate antimicrobial use (AMU) in aquaculture to treat and prevent diseases is common and can lead to the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant micro-organisms, potentially impacting public health and connected ecosystems. This study aimed to develop a typology to classify and characterise interventions to reduce AMU in aquaculture and identify points of action. Seventeen aquaculture and animal health professionals in Asian and African countries were interviewed to gather information on characteristics of interventions in different contexts to develop a typology. Seven types of interventions were defined: (i) legislation and regulations; (ii) industry rules and standards; (iii) voluntary instruments; (iv) commercial technology and alternatives to antimicrobials; (v) on-farm management; (vi) learning and awareness-raising; and (vii) activities with co-benefits. Types were based on intervention function, scope of implementation, implementer, compulsion, strength of the intervention, AMU/antimicrobial resistance (AMR) objective and stakeholder to influence. For each type, examples were described and discussed. The most common interventions to address AMU and AMR were legislative and regulatory frameworks and voluntary instruments, including National Action Plans. Interventions addressing AMU/AMR specifically were scarce. Other interventions focused on indirect effect pathways to AMU and AMR reduction aiming to improve good aquaculture practices, disease prevention and improved management. Monitoring and evaluation of these interventions were found to be rare, only present for interventions driven by development projects and international agencies. The presented typology of existing strategies and interventions addressing AMU/AMR in aquaculture systems can guide evaluation of AMR-sensitive interventions that promote responsible AMU, and informs the design and implementation of future interventions.

Implementation of Voluntary Instruments by Czech Enterprises to Meet Sustainability and Competitive Growth

A responsible business reflects the fundamental values of a society and is important for all enterprises. It can improve their economic, environmental, and social characteristics from a short- and long-term perspective through innovative products and services, new capabilities, and stakeholder involvement. This study aims to identify the common convergent factors of voluntary instruments in management systems to achieve sustainable business and competitive growth. There are several tools aimed at achieving sustainability and competitiveness, an important component of which is the subject of this study: the voluntary approach. To determine the key factors of this approach, we used the online questionnaire technique of data collection (n = 183). We also conducted exploratory analysis with factors estimated by the principal components and orthogonal rotation using the varimax method. Relevant driving forces are identified in the development of the business models of sustainability and competitiveness, including the integration of quality, environment and occupational safety and health management systems, the environmental profile of the organisation for economic and social affairs, voluntary reporting of environmental activities, and evaluation of environmental impacts. These factors make a significant contribution towards improving environmental sustainability while ensuring competitive business. The ability to move quickly and successfully to these business models is an important source of sustainable competitive advantage.

How Hercules cleans up the Augean stables: differentiated implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive

AbstractRealising the goals of the European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive is difficult. The differentiation of water policies according to local conditions enjoys increasing attention and may be necessary to achieve good ecological status in all European waters. This paper seeks to explore to what extent and how local water quality determines the degree of coercion, i.e. the extent to which differentiated policies are voluntary or rather imposed upon policy addressees, of spatially differentiated water policies. It does so on the basis of seven cases in five EU Member States. For highly polluted waters, spatially differentiated policies tend either to make the use of authoritative policy instruments, i.e. coercion by way of formal regulation, or to rely on the threat to introduce such regulation. For preventing the deterioration of relatively ‘clean’ waters, voluntary instruments based on information and persuasion dominate, often supported by subsidies and/or the direct input of public resources. In relation to the spatial differentiation of water policies, issues of data demand, equality and legitimacy have to be taken into account.

One Planet Living and the legitimacy of sustainability governance: From standardised information to regenerative systems

The last two decades have seen the increased use and evolving forms of governance instruments seeking to promote sustainability across increasingly complex and varied contexts. These primarily voluntary instruments combine guidance on sustainability strategy and/or monitoring with marketable public information, such as certifications, ratings and reports, to incentivise take-up. Whilst they are typically based on standardised assessment criteria, recent academic literature emphasises more context-sensitive and systems-based, or ‘regenerative,’ approaches. We evaluate these differing approaches by adapting the concept of ‘legitimacy’, often applied to product certification, for this broader family of governance instruments. Prior research finds that standardised approaches have achieved success in take-up at the expense of other aspects of legitimacy, such as programme effectiveness and informational quality. Yet there remains a need for evaluation of established instruments based on a regenerative approach. We address this need through a focus on the One Planet Living framework established by Bioregional in the UK. Using practice-embedded, mixed-methods research, we identify achievements of the framework in terms of promoting effective, participatory and generally transparent programmes. Key limitations of the more bespoke approach concern take-up, resource requirements and the integration of measurement. Governance instruments for complex strategy and monitoring have, to date, struggled to combine programme effectiveness with scalability, suggesting there remains a need to develop more scalable regenerative approaches.

THE POLICY INSTRUMENTS OF STREET VENDOR RELOCATION IN SURABAYA BULAK FISH CENTER

The purpose of this study was to determine the policy instruments used by the Surabaya City Government to move street vendors to Bulak Fish Center. The background is because not all street vendors are ready to occupy the Bulak Fish Center. This study uses Howleet and Ramesh's theory to categorize policy instruments into three groups: Voluntary, Combined, and Compulsory Instruments. The research method used is descriptive qualitative with in-depth interviews. The research results reveal that the Surabaya City Government uses only five types of policy instruments. First, families and communities provide information to the community about the relocation of street vendors to Bulak Fish Center. Second, policies provide space to interact with street vendors, community leaders, and religious groups. Third, the policy of providing information and advice to all Surabaya local governments to keep Bulak Fish Center alive for a month. Fourth, the policy prohibiting selling in the old location. Fifth, the policy is to provide cleaning staff and transport vehicles directly to roadside vendors. However, 50 percent of the street vendors are still willing to occupy the Bulak Fish Center. Thus, the policy tools used by the Surabaya City Government have not been optimal, so that it has become a factor in the failure of roadside trade relocation operations.

生态治理政策工具对农户行为的影响差异研究——以宁夏盐池县为例

政策工具被认为是政府为解决某个公共问题采取的具体手段或措施，一项政策可以视作目标和多种政策工具的组合。在生态治理过程中，不同政策工具对农户行为的刺激程度不同，进而导致不同的政策效果。分离不同政策工具的影响，可为工具选择和政策优化提供科学参考。以盐池县为例，利用基于该县1983-2017年内出台的316份生态政策文本构建的政策工具数据集和VAR模型中的脉冲响应和方差分解方法定量研究了强制型、混合型和自愿型三大类政策工具及十种子工具对农户耕作、放牧、造林3种行为的影响。结果表明：（1）政策工具对农户行为的影响具有时效性，一般在政策出台后2-3年内影响最大，随后逐渐减小并消失，影响持续时间为7-10年。（2）总体来看，政策工具对农户行为的冲击力度较小，冲击范围在0-0.30之间，说明农户行为还受到其他诸多因素的影响。（3）10年累计影响从大到小依次为强制型、混合型、自愿型，其中直接提供和规制两种子工具的影响最大。放牧行为受到政策工具的刺激最大，耕作行为次之，造林行为最小。（4）直接提供工具对耕作行为具有最大正向影响，最大冲击为0.30；规制工具在短期内抑制牲畜数量增长，而直接提供和补贴工具促进牲畜数量增长，且由于冲击曲线存在正负波动，说明政府与农户在牲畜养殖上存在长期博弈；只有规制工具对造林行为具有积极影响，说明造林更多是在政府的主导下进行。建议充分利用政策工具的短期效应，凸显政府角色，及时做好政策效果评估工作，调整工具组合，助力生态目标的实现。;Policy instruments are considered to be specific means or measures taken by the government to solve public problems, and one policy can be regarded as the combination of objectives and various policy instruments. In the process of ecological governance, the degrees of policy instruments' stimulation to the behavior of local farmers are different, which further leads to different policy effects. The understanding of the influence of different policy instruments can provide a scientific reference for instrument selection and policy optimization. Taking Yanchi County as an example, using the data set of policy instruments constructed from 316 ecological policies issued by Yanchi County from 1983 to 2017 and based on the impulse response and variance decomposition method of VAR model, this paper quantitatively studies the impacts of various policy instruments that include mandatory instrument, hybrid instrument, voluntary instrument and ten sub-instruments on farmers' behaviors of farming, grazing, and afforestation. The results show that:(1) the impact of policy instruments on farmers' behaviors is time-sensitive, which would reach the maximum within 2 to 3 years after the instrument was implemented, and then gradually dwindle and disappear within 7 to 10 years. (2) Generally speaking, the impact of policy instruments on farmers' behaviors is relatively small, with an impulse response ranging from 0 to 0.30, indicating that the farmers' behaviors are also affected by many other factors. (3) The 10 years cumulative impact is in descending order of the mandatory instrument, hybrid instrument and voluntary instrument; The two instruments, direct provision and regulation, have the greatest effects. Farmers' behavior of grazing is most stimulated by policy instruments, followed by farming and afforestation. (4) The instrument of direct provision has the greatest positive impact on farming behavior, with a maximum impact of 0.30; the instrument of regulatory may inhibit the growth of livestock numbers in the short term, while the instruments of direct provision and subsidy may promote the growth of livestock numbers. There are fluctuations between positive and negative in the impulse response curves, indicating that there has been a long-term game between the government and farmers in livestock breeding. Only the instrument of regulatory has a positive impact on the behavior of afforestation, which indicates that afforestation is more under the leadership of the government. To realize the goal of ecological protection, it is recommended to make full use of the short-term effects of policy instruments, highlight the role of the government, and optimize the combination of instruments.