This is an account of the Swan label’s first thirty years, written in chronological order with short chapters each illustrating various aspects of the scheme. There are few areas of public life in which there have been so many vague pronouncements as for environmental protection. Perhaps that’s because it’s so easy to agree on the goals, but sohard to find the right solutions and practise what you preach. Here at the Nordic Swan, we’ve done things properly from dayone by setting concrete, measurable environmental performance requirements and turning the environment into a competitive advantage. There have been many conflicts and disagreements, but no one can deny that ecolabelling has led to significant environmental improvements. The Nordic region with its 30 million people is the world’s twelfthlargest economy, and this makes a difference when businesses plan product changes and marketing campaigns. The label is a success far beyond the borders of the Nordic region.

This report presents the third evaluation of the Nordic Swan ecolabelling scheme. The evaluation is conducted from the perspective of the public administration, and it examines the role of the Nordic Swan in a policy context. Recommendations are presented for authorities in the Nordic countries and for the bodies operating the schemes on a Nordic and national level. The evaluation focuses on current opportunities and challenges in the operating environment of the scheme. It examines the relations between the Nordic Swan and the EU Eco-label in the Nordic countries, including their governance procedures, popularity and reception in the market. Other current topics addressed include the progress achieved by the Nordic marketing strategy for the Swan and some current governance issues in the scheme, including the grounds for public funding for the Nordic Swan. The report also analyses the relations between the Swan and other environmental information systems. In particular, the report investigates the opportunities and challenges ensuing from the current attention to climate issues for the Nordic Swan.

Eco-labelling is one of the key tools used by policy-makers in many parts of the world to encourage more sustainable production and consumption. By providing environmental information on products and services, eco-labels address both business users and consumers and range from mandatory approaches, such as required product declarations, to voluntary approaches, such as national eco-labels. Eco-labels can play an important role in environmental policy. They reward and promote environmentally superior goods and services and offer information on quality and performance with respect to issues such as health and energy consumption. Eco-labels fit well into a multi-stakeholder policy framework – as promulgated recently by the EU's integrated product policy (IPP) – since the development of criteria for labels and the acceptance in the market requires the involvement of a wide range of different parties, from government and business, to consumers and environmental organisations. However, many eco-labelling schemes have had troubled histories, and questions have been raised about their effectiveness. So, are eco-labels an effective tool to foster the development, production, sale and use of products and to provide consumers with good information about the environmental impacts of those products? Is eco-labelling useful to business as a marketing tool? What factors contribute to the development of successful schemes? More than ten years after its establishment, can the EU Flower be considered a success? Are national eco-labels such as the German Blue Angel and the Norwegian White Swan more effective? Should eco-labels be harmonised? Are eco-labels achieving their original aim of fostering sustainable production and consumption? For which product groups are ISO type I eco-labels appropriate and inappropriate? Are other labels, such as mandatory, ISO type II and ISO type III labels more effective in some cases? Are eco-labels focusing on the main environmental policy targets or just on "low-hanging fruit"? Are eco-labels really linked to other tools of IPP? The Future of Eco-labelling provides answers to all of these questions. Based on a major EU research exercise, the book plots a course for policy-makers to address some of the historic problems with eco-labelling, to learn what works and what doesn't and to move forward with schemes that can make a real difference to sustainable production and consumption.The book analyses the conditions under which eco-labelling schemes-both mandatory and voluntary-are or can become an efficient and effective tool to achieve given objectives; assesses previous experiences with eco-labels in different European countries and the relationship of these schemes with business strategies, IPP and market conditions; defines strategies aimed at linking eco-labels with other IPP measures; explores how eco-labels can be used to encourage sustainable consumption patterns, create green markets, foster innovation and development of green products and services, and implement multi-stakeholder initiatives; and sets out detailed recommendations for the future of eco-labelling.The book will be required reading for policy-makers, businesses involved with eco-labelling schemes and researchers interested in the development of sustainable production and consumption and IPP worldwide.

The role of the consumer has changed from seeking the most satisfaction from goods and services to reconciling consumption with active citizenship, which links consumption to modern social issues such as environmental protection, sound business ethics, and fair working conditions. Understanding consumers -- the way they buy products, the way they relate to questions of environmental importance, and the way they participate in public policy formulation processes –is of vital importance to modern society. In this book, eminent researchers examine contemporary issues related to the field of consumers, policy, and the environment.

Rapporten præsenterer et studie af brugen af frivillige aftaler og forekomsten af miljømærker i de nordiske lande, inklusiv brugen af instrumenterne i et policy mix med andre policy værktøjer. Grundlaget for rapporten er fem landestudier, der hver især kortlægger brugen af de nævnte policy værktøjer i de fem nordiske lande og præsenterer identificerede evalueringer af konkrete frivillige aftaler og miljømærkeordninger. Fra evalueringerne uddrages konklusioner om omkostningseffektivitet samt gode og dårlige eksempler på anvendelse af frivillige aftaler og miljømærkeordninger i kombination med andre styringsmidler. Det primære formål er at udvikle anbefalinger, der kan understøtte og give input til justeringer af strategier for den fremtidige anvendelse af frivillige aftaler og miljømærker i de nordiske landes miljøregulering. Rapporten er udført af Plan Miljø og finansieret af Nordisk Ministerråd.

Many people believe that environmental regulation has passed a point of diminishing returns: the quick fixes have been achieved and the main sources of pollution are shifting from large "point sources" to more diffuse sources that are more difficult and expensive to regulate. The political climate has also changed in the United States since the 1970s in ways that provide impetus to seek alternatives to regulation. This book examines the potential of some of these "new tools" that emphasize education, information, and voluntary measures. Contributors summarize what we know about the effectiveness of these tools, both individually and in combination with regulatory and economic policy instruments. They also extract practical lessons from this knowledge and consider what is needed to make these tools more effective. The book will be of interest to environmental policy practitioners and to researchers and students concerned with applying social and behavioral sciences knowledge to improve environmental quality.

Product-related environmental information is an important policy instrument for a shift towards more sustainable consumption patterns, and such information helps consumers choose environmentally improved products. While ecolabeling has had a particularly strong breakthrough in Nordic markets, a number of other communication modes, such as environmental product declarations and producers' self-declared claims have been applied in both the consumer and business-to-business markets. This report comprises a summary of recent research on how Nordic consumers perceive, understand, and use product-related environmental information. A comprehensive literature review supplemented with expert interviews forms the foundation for this work. The report highlights well-researched areas and proposes areas where deeper knowledge and understanding is required. The research was conducted cooperatively between the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) at Lund University in Sweden; the National Consumer Research Centre in Finland; and Environice in Iceland with the purpose to obtain and present a comprehensive picture of the situation in the Nordic countries.

Environmental Sociology: From Analysis to Action illustrates how sociological perspectives can help us better understand the causes and consequences of environmental problems and provides examples of efforts to ameliorate these problems. The fourth edition of this environmental sociology reader includes 22 edited excerpts (10 of them new to this edition) that address, among other things, environmental inequalities, knowledge creation, media, and perspectives on disaster. The selected pieces use a variety of sociological perspectives, including environmental justice, power structure research, ecological modernization, ecological footprint, and more, to examine a wide range of environment-related topics. New Readings Include: Chapter 7. The Du Bois Nexus: Intersectionality, Political Economy, and Environmental Injustice in the Peruvian Guano Trade in the 1800s. Brett Clark, Daniel Auerbach and Karen Xuan Zhang Chapter 8. Ruin’s Progeny: Race, Environment, and Appalachia’s Coal Camp Blacks. Karia L. Brown, Michael W. Murphy and Appollonya M. Porcelli Chapter 9. Environmental Apartheid: Eco-health and Rural Marginalization in South Africa Valerie Stull, Michael M. Bell and Mpumelelo Ncwadi Chapter 12. Legitimating the Environmental Injustices of War: Toxic Exposures and Media Silence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Eric Bonds Chapter 15. Left to Chance: Hurricane Katrina and the Story of Two New Orleans Neighborhoods Stever Kroll-Smith, Vern Baxter and Pam Jenkins Chapter 17. Environmental Threats and Political Opportunities: Citizen Activism in the North Bohemian Coal Basin Thomas E. Shriver, Alison E. Adams, and Stefano B. Longo Chapter 19. Ontologies of Sustainability in Ecovillage Culture: Integrating Ecology, Economics, Community, and Consciousness Karen Liftin Chapter 20. Plans for pavement or for people? The Politics of Bike Lanes on the ‘Paseo Boricua’ in Chicago, Illinois Amy Lubitow, Bryan Zinschlag, and Nathan Rochester Chapter 21. Campus Alternative Food Projects and Food Service Realities: Alternative Strategies Peggy F. Barlett Chapter 22. From the New Ecological Paradigm to Total Liberation: The Emergence of a Social Movement Frame David N. Pellow and Hollie Nyseth Brehm