Analysing initiatives and their contribution to public environmental policy, this book improves our understanding of the role voluntary approaches play in achieving environmental policy goals by moving the debate away from narrow considerations to a broader framework that accounts for the goals to which environmental policy needs to be directed.

Voluntary approaches, such as corporate codes of conduct, have been widely advocated as alternatives to traditional approaches to environmental regulation. Yet concern remains that companies cannot be trusted to police themselves and that many of the putative advantages of self-regulation, such as reduced cost and increased flexibility, have not been realised in practice. The book systematically analyses three initiatives (environmental management systems, the Australian Greenhouse Challenge and the Australian mining industry's Code for Environmental Management) and their contribution to public environmental policy. By moving the debate away from narrow considerations of economic efficiency towards a broader framework that accounts for the multiple goals to which environmental policy needs to be directed, this book significantly enhances our understanding of the role that voluntary approaches can play in achieving environmental policy goals. The book is required reading for all those concerned with the design and implementation of modern environmental policy.

Part I: Introduction 1. Introduction 2. Evaluating Environmental Policy Instruments Part II: Literature Review 3. Environmental Policy Instruments Part III: Voluntary Approaches in Australia 4. The Australian Environmental Policy Context 5. Environmental Management Systems 6. The Australian Greenhouse Challenge 7. The Australian Minerals Industry Code for Environmental Management Part IV: Synthesis and Analysis 8. Discussion.