GEO-5’s regional assessments identified policy
responses/instruments based on best practice adopted
successfully in one or more regions that would speed up
the achievement of internationally agreed goals include:
Freshwater
Integrated water resource management; conservation
and sustainable use of wetlands; promotion of wateruse
efficiency; water metering and volumetric-based
tariffs implemented at a national or sub-national level;
recognizing safe drinking water and sanitation as a basic
human right/need; effluent charges.
Biodiversity
Market-based instruments for ecosystem services,
including Payment for Ecosystems Services (PES) and
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
Degradation (REDD+); increasing the extent of protected
areas; sustainable management of protected areas;
transboundary, biodiversity and wildlife corridors;
community-based participation and management;
sustainable agricultural practices.
Climate change
Removing perverse/environmentally harmful subsidies,
especially on fossil fuels; carbon taxes; forestry
incentives for carbon sequestration; emission trading
schemes; climate insurance; capacity building and
financing; climate change preparedness and adaptation
such as climate proofing infrastructure.
Land
Integrated watershed (catchment) management;
smart growth in cities; protecting prime agricultural
land and open space; no till and integrated pest
management and/or organic agriculture; improved
forest management; PES and REDD+; agroforestry and
silvo-pastoral practices.
Chemicals/waste
Registration of chemicals; extended producer responsibility;
product redesign (design for the environment); life cycle
analysis; reduce, reuse and recycle (3Rs) and cleaner
production; national and regional hazardous waste
treatment systems; control of inappropriate export and
import of hazardous chemicals and waste.
Energy
Increased international cooperation in the area of
transfer and application of energy saving technologies;
promotion of energy efficiency; increased use of
renewable energy; feed-in tariffs; restriction on fossil
fuels subsidies; low emission zones within cities;
research and development, especially on batteries and
other forms of energy storage.
Oceans and seas
Integrated coastal zone management (ridge-to-reef);
marine protected areas; economic instruments such as
user fees.
Environmental governance
Multi-level/multi-stakeholder participation; increased
introduction of the principle of subsidiarity; governance
at local levels; policy synergy and removal of conflict;
strategic environmental assessment; accounting systems
that value natural capital and ecosystem services;
improved access to information, public participation
and environmental justice; capacity strengthening of all
actors; improved goal setting and monitoring systems.
Each region found, however, that even were such
apparently successful policies more widely implemented,
there is little confidence that some of the current
global environmentally adverse trends would be
reversed – innovative approaches are definitely needed.
Furthermore, alongside the wise selection of policies,
there is an increasing need to shift away from dealing
with the impacts of environmental degradation and
tackle the underlying drivers. Regulatory, market- and
information-based policies that actually change human
and corporate behaviour can become true levers of
transformative change. In addition, many of the policies
examined were successful, in part, due to the enabling
environment or local context. It follows, therefore, that
the transfer and replication of policies, although a
commonly observed approach, always requires careful
examination of the local context and a full sustainability
assessment before proceeding.