지속가능한 사회를 향한 환경규제정책의 발전방향

Abstract

The economic logic of governmental intervention to environmental problems is the market failures; the free market can not allocate environmental resources optimally, since the environment has the public good properties and the consumption and production of the environmental resources used to cause externality problems. To address the worsening environmental pollutions and ecosystem deterioration, most countries have introduced their own environmental policies since the late 1960s. With the proliferation of neo-conservative ideology which emphasizes the superiority of the market over the government, however, deregulation (or regulatory reform) has become hot policy agenda in many countries since the early 1980s. The collapse of Communist Block of Eastern Europe in part due to deepening inefficiency of the economy has further helped the expansion of the market superiority ideology. The environmental policy was not an exception in this trend. Many economists and policy makers have advocated the application of the marketization principles even for the environmental management problems caused by the market failures. Since the inauguration of Kim Young-Sam Administration in the early 1990s, the market superiority ideology has also landed in Korea and the deregulation (or regulatory reforms) has been a top policy agenda. In particular, the People's Government, which started along with the foreign currency crisis in the late 1997, strongly has pursued the regulatory reform policies. The government assumed the deregulation policy as one of the best alternatives to overcome the deep-rooted inefficiency of Korean economy and the corruption of the public sectors that were considered as the main causes of the economic crisis. This report addresses the environmental regulatory policies for the sustainable development of our society, in both theoretical and practical aspects. The ultimate goal of a governmental regulation is to create a new societal order that we assume it desirable. The purpose of environmental policy is to develop a society that can wisely use and conserve the precious environmental capital. Unfortunately, both the market and the government, this report argues, have their own inherent loopholes in handling the environmental pollution and ecosystem deterioration problems, ultimately the life-supporting function of the ecosystem. Considering the weaknesses of the market and the government and the inherent uncertainties of the ecosystem problems, this study develops a sustainability system approach to environmental policy. The sustainability system approach is designed to integrate economic growth and social development under the condition of the permanent conservation of environmental capacity. In order to pursue the goal of sustainable development, the ultimate goal of environmental policy should be the conservation of the life-supporting functions of our ecosystem. One should, however, always keep in mind that the conservation of environment's carrying capacity can not be achieved without the appropriate consideration of societal integrity and economic efficiency. In order to make the sustainable development possible, the future environmental policy should target to the conservation of specific ecosystems instead of concentrating on specific pollutant emission control. We can mitigate the high uncertainties of ecosystem problems taking advantage of a new governance structure with free information production and circulation. Accordingly, the environmental policy procedures should be designed to fulfill discursive democratic structure that evolve itself along with the changes of policy circumstance. Based on the above-mentioned sustainability system model, this paper evaluates the environmental regulatory reform efforts of People's Government. The outcomes of the government show mixed blessings. The government did make a lot of progress in the details of specific policy issues, in particular in the development of environmental governance structure and the choice of policy targets, but could not demonstrate the clear vision for the sustainable development to the people, To make the future environmental regulatory reform more acceptable from the perspectives of the sustainability system's criteria, this paper emphasizes following points. Firstly, environmental regulation should be strengthened to actually protect the environmental rights of people. Such policy tools as, the precautionary principle, environmental compensation system, environmental information disclosure, would be useful for this purpose. In particular, the responsibilities for environmental information provision should be transferred to environmental users rather than current environmental victims. Secondly, environmental regulation should be more flexible and efficient. Environmental regulatory system should be redesigned based on the principle of industrial ecology, and the voluntary approaches to environmental management should be extended. In particular, this study emphasizes the introduction of environmental accounting system and the ecologically friendly management of new investment through the financial sector. Thirdly, government should endeavor to make policies with heavy environmental impacts even greener. Such government policies as, energy and water resources development, national land and urban development, agricultural and fishery practices, etc. should be managed according to the sustainability principle. The full cost pricing and eco-tax reform would be good alternatives to induce sustainable production and consumption. Finally, on-time amendments of environmental laws and the re-shuffling of administrative structure are necessary to backup the evolution of the sustainability system. The legal and administrative reforms should be done according to the integration principle of environmental protection and resources management. It must be reminded that a well-designed feedback system in the environmental policy process would facilitate the iterative regulatory reform to address the intrinsic uncertainties of ecosystem problems. Regulatory Reform toward a Sustainable Society in Korea The economic logic of governmental intervention to environmental problems is the market failures; the free market can not allocate environmental resources optimally, since the environment has the public good properties and the consumption and production of the environmental resources used to cause externality problems. To address the worsening environmental pollutions and ecosystem deterioration, most countries have introduced their own environmental policies since the late 1960s. With the proliferation of neo-conservative ideology which emphasizes the superiority of the market over the government, however, deregulation (or regulatory reform) has become hot policy agenda in many countries since the early 1980s. The collapse of Communist Block of Eastern Europe in part due to deepening inefficiency of the economy has further helped the expansion of the market superiority ideology. The environmental policy was not an exception in this trend. Many economists and policy makers have advocated the application of the marketization principles even for the environmental management problems caused by the market failures. Since the inauguration of Kim Young-Sam Administration in the early 1990s, the market superiority ideology has also landed in Korea and the deregulation (or regulatory reforms) has been a top policy agenda. In particular, the People's Government, which started along with the foreign currency crisis in the late 1997, strongly has pursued the regulatory reform policies. The government assumed the deregulation policy as one of the best alternatives to overcome the deep-rooted inefficiency of Korean economy and the corruption of the public sectors that were considered as the main causes of the economic crisis. This report addresses the environmental regulatory policies for the sustainable development of our society, in both theoretical and practical aspects. The ultimate goal of a governmental regulation is to create a new societal order that we assume it desirable. The purpose of environmental policy is to develop a society that can wisely use and conserve the precious environmental capital. Unfortunately, both the market and the government, this report argues, have their own inherent loopholes in handling the environmental pollution and ecosystem deterioration problems, ultimately the life-supporting function of the ecosystem. Considering the weaknesses of the market and the government and the inherent uncertainties of the ecosystem problems, this study develops a sustainability system approach to environmental policy. The sustainability system approach is designed to integrate economic growth and social development under the condition of the permanent conservation of environmental capacity. In order to pursue the goal of sustainable development, the ultimate goal of environmental policy should be the conservation of the life-supporting functions of our ecosystem. One should, however, always keep in mind that the conservation of environment's carrying capacity can not be achieved without the appropriate consideration of societal integrity and economic efficiency. In order to make the sustainable development possible, the future environmental policy should target to the conservation of specific ecosystems instead of concentrating on specific pollutant emission control. We can mitigate the high uncertainties of ecosystem problems taking advantage of a new governance structure with free information production and circulation. Accordingly, the environmental policy procedures should be designed to fulfill discursive democratic structure that evolve itself along with the changes of policy circumstance. Based on the above-mentioned sustainability system model, this paper evaluates the environmental regulatory reform efforts of People's Government. The outcomes of the government show mixed blessings. The government did make a lot of progress in the details of specific policy issues, in particular in the development of environmental governance structure and the choice of policy targets, but could not demonstrate the clear vision for the sustainable development to the people, To make the future environmental regulatory reform more acceptable from the perspectives of the sustainability system's criteria, this paper emphasizes following points. Firstly, environmental regulation should be strengthened to actually protect the environmental rights of people. Such policy tools as, the precautionary principle, environmental compensation system, environmental information disclosure, would be useful for this purpose. In particular, the responsibilities for environmental information provision should be transferred to environmental users rather than current environmental victims. Secondly, environmental regulation should be more flexible and efficient. Environmental regulatory system should be redesigned based on the principle of industrial ecology, and the voluntary approaches to environmental management should be extended. In particular, this study emphasizes the introduction of environmental accounting system and the ecologically friendly management of new investment through the financial sector. Thirdly, government should endeavor to make policies with heavy environmental impacts even greener. Such government policies as, energy and water resources development, national land and urban development, agricultural and fishery practices, etc. should be managed according to the sustainability principle. The full cost pricing and eco-tax reform would be good alternatives to induce sustainable production and consumption. Finally, on-time amendments of environmental laws and the re-shuffling of administrative structure are necessary to backup the evolution of the sustainability system. The legal and administrative reforms should be done according to the integration principle of environmental protection and resources management. It must be reminded that a well-designed feedback system in the environmental policy process would facilitate the iterative regulatory reform to address the intrinsic uncertainties of ecosystem problems.