Title: Globalisation of markets and products: a challenge for environmental policy

Authors: Anna-Lisa Linden, Annika Carlsson-Kanyama

Addresses: Department of Sociology, Lund University, P.O. Box 114, Lund SE-221 00, Sweden. ' Department of Industrial Ecology, Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 34, Stockholm SE-114 28, Sweden

Abstract: Production of products has increasingly been relocated to countries outside the western industrialised area. Consumption of the same products in the west has increased. Policy instruments, used with positive effects nationally, have become more or less ineffective or irrelevant. Some environmental problems related to production practices have been relocated to other countries, while the import of products involves new environmental and health impacts for consumers. In integrated product policy, including phases of design, production, distribution, consumption and waste management, the possibility of using policy instruments to address designing and producing actors are highly affected by globalisation. The globalisation of production is a challenge for environmental policy as regards defining policy instruments with international validity. Case studies, the integrated product chain for batteries, clothing and meat, are used analysing globalisation and policy instruments. The empirical materials include legislation, propositions, protocols and interviews with officials in ministries, authorities, production and distribution organisations.

Keywords: integrated product policy; policy instruments; production; consumption; batteries; clothing; meat; globalisation; environmental policy; integrated product chain; product design; distribution; waste management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESD.2007.016247

International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 2007 Vol.6 No.4, pp.473 - 487

Published online: 11 Dec 2007 *

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