Environmental Regulation and Governance

This chapter provides an overview of the recent new environmental governance (NEG) trend and maps the shifts in environmental regulation and governance that led us here. It also highlights recent debates and unresolved challenges for governing the environment. In such a short chapter, much of what will be discussed will inevitably caricature the wealth of global experience and debates. For example, this chapter primarily focuses on domestic Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions, but consideration is also given to related trends at the international level. The chapter commences with a brief discussion of traditional environmental regulation before examining the shift to markets, light‑handed approaches and early forms of partnerships. Finally, it turns to the recent NEG approach, discussing theory and examples, before highlighting recent debates, including whether NEG can deliver more effective, efficient and legitimate performance, and the relationship of NEG to more conventional regulatory approaches. As we will see, the shift between regulation, markets and NEG is ongoing and has not seen each stage entirely replaced with another. Rather, different phases very often coexist and relate to each other in a variety of ways. The chapter concludes with a brief summary and key references