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Panel Discussion on Economic Environmental Questions,Some General Remarks on Economic Environmental

Policy.Statement

by

Bernd Meyer

1 Gesellschaft für Wirtschaftliche Strukturforschung mbH Heinrichstr. 30, D – 49080 Osnabrück Tel.: + 49 (541) 40933-0, Fax: + 49 (541) 40933-11 Email: lutz@gws-os.de, meyer@gws-os.de, jungnitz@gws-os.de Internet: www.gws-os.de

European Forum for Science and Technology, Prague. May 22th, 2008

2 Universität Osnabrück Fachbereich Wirtschaftswissenschaften Rolandstr. 8, D - 49069 Osnabrück bernd.meyer@uni-osnabrueck.de Internet: www.makro.uni-osnabrück.de

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1. Targets

Environmental problems are so strong that environmental targets have to dominate economic targets

We need not only targets for the next thirty years, but concrete time paths.

Macro- indicators have to measure year by year the performance of policy.

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2. Strategies

The environmental protection policies of the past with filters and other end of pipe technologies can not solve the problems.

We need to reduce the extraction of resources by rising resource productivity.

This has to happen on all stages of production.

We need a technology revolution which changes the direction of technical progress from labour saving to resource saving.

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3. Instruments

All types of instruments economic instruments, information and communication instruments, technical standards

come into consideration

Choose that instrument or instrument mix that minimizes costs.

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4. Expectations

We can not wait. The change of the capital stock takes time, To install new technology paradigms takes time, No firm will invest money in new technologies without a

change in the economic framework that gives a chance for profits.

There is hope because of the concentration of the problems in some sectors and technologies

Example climate change: 30 % reduction target for CO2 in Europe in the year 2030: Model simulations show results between a win- win situation and economic costs not higher than a fraction of one years growth.