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T1 The Application of Economic Instruments in Environmental Policies in Brazil, China and South Korea: A Synthesis Report
A1 United Nations Environment Programme, 
A2 Panayotou, T.
K1 market economy
K1 environmental management
K1 green economy
K1 sustainable development
K1 legislative process
K1 environmental policy
K1 Sustainable Development
YR 1997
FD 1997
LK https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/30345
UL https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/30345
NO The motivation behind the growing interest in economic instruments in Brazil, China and South Korea, as in other developing countries, has been to some extent similar to that of OECD countries but with the added urgency of environmental crisis, severely limited financial resources, weak institutional structure, and lagging enforcement capability. At the same time, they must be content with rapidly advancing resource depletion and environmental degradation, due in part to rapid economic growth and structural change and partly to the relative ineffectiveness of command and control regulations under developing country conditions. Thus, the context in which economic instruments have been introduced and are increasingly being used in the countries under review has been one of pressing and even growing environmental problems and severely limited resources to enforce environmental standards. Hence, the focus has been on using economic instruments as revenue raising mechanisms to finance the monitoring and enforcement of regulations, to undertake public environmental investments (e.g., waste treatment facilities) and to subsidize private environmental investments. While the motivations in OECD countries were similar and economic instruments have been used mainly as revenue-raising devices rather than as incentive systems for changing behaviour, it is fair to say that economic efficiency and even cost effectiveness have been even less of a concern and a motivating factor in developing countries.
DS UN Environment Document Repository
RD Sep 17, 2026