Capacity, incentives and integrated policies
Addressing pollution requires a mix of cross-sectoral policies, to support assessment of health risks and impact, fiscal reforms and prevention.
- Pollution toolbox
- Capacity building and institutional stregthening
- Policy mix to build incentives, correct market failures by aligning price signals and fiscal policies
- National action plans
- Legal and regulatory approaches
- Financing
Solutions
A pollution solutions policy toolbox
Policies and decisions that take into account both the environment and health aspects of pollution have proven to be highly effective. In addition to developing integrated environment and health risk and impact assessments, UNEP works with country government to disseminate existing methodologies and tools, and develop new ones.
The following resources are provided by UNEP to assist policy makers in addressing plastic pollution and support efforts in sustainable procurement:
1. Addressing Marine Plastics : A Systemic Approach- Stocktaking Report
3. Addressing Marine Plastics : A Systemic Approach- Recommendations for Action
4. Transforming tourism through sustainable procurement where procurement of alternatives to single use plastic in one of the four areas in focus.
5. Building circularity into our economies through sustainable procurement, which looks more broadly at how procurement can be leveraged to bring circularity into our processes and economies.
Furthermore, UNEP, IUCN and the Life Cycle Initiative have co-developed a National Guidance for Plastic Pollution Hotspotting and Shaping Action, the Guidance aims to provide a methodological framework for identifying "hotspots" of plastic pollution, finding the leakages and their impacts along the entire plastic value chain, including providing recommendations for action once the hotspots have been identified.
In 2018, the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment was launched by the Ellen MacArthur foundation in collaboration with UNEP. It unites businesses, governments, and other organisations behind a common vision and target to address plastics waste and pollution at its source. A list of resources aiming to support Global Commitment's government signatories in delivering the commitments can be found here.
The IOMC Internet-based Toolbox for Decision Making in Chemicals Management (IOMC toolbox)
The IOMC Toolbox is aimed at countries who wish to address specific national issues regarding chemicals management. The toolbox is a problem solving tool that enables countries to identify the most appropriate and efficient national actions to address specific national problems related to chemicals management.
Stimulate good practices through fiscal policy
Fiscal policy—as expressed through revenue-generating measures such as taxes and charges, or government expenditures—can provide cost-effective incentives to curb polluting activities and the use of polluting products. At the same time, by removing existing price distortions that generate perverse incentives, such as environmentally harmful subsidies, fiscal policy reforms could reduce pollution and the associated health impacts.
To support countries in developing effective fiscal policies, ongoing UNEP initiatives look at collecting and disseminating good practices on the effective use of fiscal instruments for pollution reduction, and evaluating the performance of fiscal policy instruments. Some of these initiatives are as follows:
- UNEP study on fiscal policies to address air pollution from road transport in cities and improve health: Insights from country experiences and lessons for Indonesia
- UNEP study on reducing pollution and health impacts through fiscal policies - A selection of good practices
- UNEP study on effects of taxes and subsidies on pesticides and fertilizers
Integrated cross-sectoral capacity-building on pollution, environment and health
Collaboration between the environment and health communities and other sectors can often be challenging. At the same time, preventive action on pollution could save lives, reduce the burden on the health system and health costs and enhance worker productivity. Countries also frequently struggle to identify pollution priorities, according to a World Bank report.
To address this issue, UNEP, in partnership with other United Nations entities, has developed the Chemicals Observatory Project - a capacity-building programme on prioritizing pollution concerns and developing policy and regulatory options for building infrastructure that prevents or reduces environmental degradation. Another goal of the programme is to build a network of partners that can provide policy and technical assistance to implement local solutions that demonstrate the highest economic, environment, climate and health co-benefits.