Introduction and principles - Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment - page 12

In the UK, the publication of This common inheritance: Britain's environmental
strategy (DoE et al. 1990) provided the country's first comprehensive White Paper on the
environment. The report includes a discussion of the greenhouse effect, town and
Figure 1.3 An EC framework for
sustainable development. ( Source:
CEC 1992.)
country, pollution control, and awareness and organization with regard to environmental
issues. Throughout it emphasizes that responsibility for our environment should be shared
between the government, business and the public. The range of policy instruments
advocated includes legislation, standards, planning and economic measures. The last,
building on work by Pearce et al. (1989), includes charges, subsidies, market creation and
enforcement incentives. The report also notes, cautiously, the recent addition of EIA to
the “toolbox” of instruments. Subsequent UK government reports, such as Sustainable
development: the UK strategy (HMG 1994), recognize the role of EIA in contributing to
sustainable development and raise the EIA profile among key user groups. The UK
government reports also reflect the extension of the scope of sustainable development to
include social, economic and environmental factors. This is reflected in the UK Strategy