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This paper discusses the relationship between planning, sustainable development and the environment in Ireland. The paper firstly explores the development of planning as a Concept. It then sets out the key 'actors' in Irish environmental policy. The paper goes on to describe the planning system in Ireland with a specific emphasis on its relationship to sustainable development and the environment. Irish environmental performance is assessed. Irish environmental policy 'drivers' are then examined with a view to explaining the emphasis of Irish environmental policy. The paper demonstrates and explains the lack of influence of the planning system on key areas of environmental policy but emphasises its importance in addressing, in particular, urban and suburban environmental problems. The paper identifies the following impediments to the effective operation of tile planning system in enhancing sustainable development: lack of consistency in government policy and legislation as regards sustainable development; poor public perception of planning and the role of political system therein; limited policy instruments and the emphasis on regulation; and lack of research for evidence-based policymaking.

AbstractTwo key components of people's quality of life are the quality of the environment in which they live and the quality of the environment in which they work. Without intervention by policymakers, the market economy will fail to provide an adequate level of health and safety and environmental quality. However, policy with regard to each area tends to be made independently of the other. This paper examines the linkages between environmental and health and safety policy. The available instruments to enhance both the environmental and health and safety performance of firms is explored using a Focus Group of representatives from Irish and German firms. In particular, the potential conflicts and complementarities between initiatives and policies in both areas are examined. The primary objective of the paper is to examine the scope for a more integrated and balanced approach to environmental and health and safety policy in Europe. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment

Despite the impressive development of the field of spatial economics, some have criticised the lack of policy applications. In addition, the literature has not yet identified the relevance of new economic geography, and spatial economics generally, for national spatial planning. This is surprising considering the interest in spatial planning policy in Europe. By combining old theories of trade and space with new economic geography, this paper applies spatial economics to national spatial planning and examines a case study of Ireland. The paper suggests that spatial economics provides a useful theoretical framework for the analysis of national spatial planning policy but suffers from deficiencies in respect of its consideration of social and environmental aspects of planning and development.

Greening the Budget regards the fundamental cause of environmental degradation as government and market failure and proposes the use of budgets as an instrument of environmental policy to rectify this problem. The book focuses on the elements of the public budget which currently affect the environment and explores the scope for greening both revenue and expenditure through specific measures

The costs incurred in the design and implementation of planning policy instruments are not always considered sufficiently. In order to increase the efficacy of planning policy instruments, these transaction costs need to be taken into account. While such transaction costs are expected to vary according to their institutional design and arrangements, up to now there has been no systematic research concerned with how planners should consider transaction costs, and other institutional aspects, as evaluation criteria in planning policy analysis. This paper investigates how, and in which stages, these costs can be included in planning policy design and analysis. Using the literature of transaction costs and new institutional economics, this paper proposes a framework for integrating these costs into evaluating planning policy instruments. This framework consists of different factors that influence transaction costs in designing and implementing a planning policy instrument. Although some researchers have discussed the influence of factors concerning the characteristics of transactions and transactors, there has been limited consideration of the importance of factors related to the characteristics of a policy. This paper argues that policy characteristics, such as, simplicity, age of the policy, precision of the policy, policy approach, public involvement and participation, and policy credibility and consistency, can affect transaction costs in any policy. Therefore, the paper concludes that, in addition to transaction and transactor characteristics, a 'policy characteristics' category should be included to emphasise the importance of policy selection and design in transaction costs of a planning policy instrument. ; Environmental Protection Agency ; Irish Research Council

AbstractWe analyse environmental ratings and emissions scores for commercial airlines from several major environmental, social and governance ratings providers. Specifically, we investigate whether emissions scores capture and predict absolute carbon emissions and emissions intensity levels, and whether scores are consistent across providers. This builds on existing literature by evaluating the predictive ability of ratings over significantly longer periods than past studies, examining within‐industry ratings disagreement for carbon emissions scores, and using an industry‐specific emissions intensity metric. Data covers 57 airlines from 2012 to 2021. Cross‐sectional and panel regressions are estimated to investigate whether ratings capture and predict carbon emissions data. We find no evidence that emissions scores capture or predict reported carbon emissions, and find that scores from different providers diverge substantially. Persistent shortcomings may undermine trust in the ratings industry, create trade‐offs between emissions abatement and ratings improvement, and hinder the incorporation of climate‐related information in capital allocation decisions.

Natural hazards, such as major flood events, are occurring with increasing frequency and inflicting increasing levels of financial damages upon affected communities. The experience of such major flood events has brought about a significant change in attitudes to flood‐risk management, with a shift away from built engineering solutions alone towards a more multifaceted approach. Europe's experience with damaging flood episodes provided the impetus for the introduction of the European Floods Directive, requiring the establishment of flood‐risk management plans at the river‐basin scale. The effectiveness of such plans, focusing on prevention, protection, and preparedness, is dependent on adequate flood awareness and preparedness, and this is related to perception of flood risk. This is an important factor in the design and assessment of flood‐risk management. Whilst there is a modern body of literature exploring flood perception issues, there have been few examples that explore its spatial manifestations. Previous literature has examined perceived and real distance to a hazard source (such as a river, nuclear facility, landfill, or incinerator, etc.), whereas this article advances the literature by including an objectively assessed measure of distance to a perceived flood zone, using a cognitive mapping methodology. The article finds that distance to the perceived flood zone (perceived flood exposure) is a crucial factor in determining flood‐risk perception, both the cognitive and affective components. Furthermore, we find an interesting phenomenon of misperception among respondents. The article concludes by discussing the implications for flood‐risk management.