Promoting Better Environmental Outcomes
Roundtable proceedings
The Productivity Commission convened a roundtable Promoting Better Environmental Outcomes at Old Parliament House, Canberra on 19-20 August 2008.
Participants included government officials, academics, consultants, journalists and representatives of environmental organisations and agencies. Keynote addresses were presented by Professor Gary Libecap from the University of California and Professor Robert Stavins from Harvard University.
The Promoting Better Environmental Outcomes roundtable sought to address two questions central to developing good environmental policy:
- under what conditions can governments improve environmental outcomes?, and
- how should governments intervene to ensure effective and efficient results?
The roundtable proceedings are being published to enable a wider audience access to the information and insights that emerged. This volume includes papers by the speakers and a summary of the key points covered in the discussion sessions. The Commission is grateful to the speakers and other participants whose contributions made the roundtable such a valuable exercise.
Download the proceedings
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Preliminaries (PDF - 106 Kb)
Cover, Copyright, Foreword and Contents -
Chapter 1 Introduction (PDF - 63 Kb) - Gary Banks, Chairman, Productivity Commission
Session 1 Stocktake of the effectiveness of current approaches to environmental issues
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Chapter 2 Allocation of and investment in the environment (PDF - 81 Kb) - John Freebairn
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Chapter 3 Threats to effective environmental policy in Australia (PDF - 89 Kb) - Drew Collins
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Chapter 4 Letting markets work for the environment (PDF - 68 Kb) - Arlene Buchan
- General discussion (PDF - 22 Kb)
Session 2 Market and cooperative solutions: strengths, limitations and the appropriate role of government
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Chapter 5 Promoting better environmental outcomes through property rights and markets: opportunities and limits (PDF - 124 Kb) - Gary D. Libecap
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Chapter 6 On common ground: designing strategic spatial governance to advance integrated natural resource management and environmental outcomes (PDF - 382 Kb) - David J. Brunckhorst
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Chapter 7 Greenhouse gases and nutrients: the interactions between concurrent New Zealand trading systems (PDF - 61 Kb) - Suzi Kerr and Marianna Kennedy
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Chapter 8 Environmental policy for environmental outcomes (PDF - 74 Kb) David Pannell
- General discussion (PDF - 24 Kb)
Session 3 Institutions and incentives for promoting better policies and outcomes
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Chapter 9 Getting serious about global climate change: post-Kyoto international climate policy architecture (PDF - 82 Kb) - Robert N. Stavins
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Chapter 10 Institutions and incentives for promoting better policies and outcomes: challenges of achieving environmental outcomes that require coordination across multiple jurisdictions (PDF - 458 Kb) - Wendy Craik and James Cleaver
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Chapter 11 New policies create a new politics: issues of institutional design in climate change policy (PDF - 113 Kb) - Henry Ergas
- General discussion (PDF - 29 Kb)
Session 4 Reflections for public policy
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Chapter 12 Reflections for public policy: a drawing together and drawing apart. Comments on proceedings (PDF - 69 Kb) - Geoffrey Brennan
- General discussion (PDF - 38 Kb)
Dinner address
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Chapter 13 Lessons for climate policy from monetary history (PDF - 73.9 Kb) - Warwick McKibbin
Appendices
Printed copies
