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Environment and Sustainability

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Abstract

This chapter aims to clarify the relationship between the surge of environmental policy started in the early 1970s and the surge of neoliberal policy strategy started in the early 1980s. The surge of environmental policy began under the pressure of the public opinion, but entered soon in conflict with the neoliberal approach. This produced a shift from the prevailing use of command-and-control policy instruments to a systematic use of market-based instruments. The latter were unable to interrupt the trend towards increasing environmental unsustainability, particularly in the energy system. This chapter argues that policy makers may find a way out from this unsustainable trajectory only by implementing a sustainable development model based on a modified technological paradigm.

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Vercelli, A. (2017). Environment and Sustainability. In: Crisis and Sustainability. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60069-1_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60069-1_7

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-60068-4

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