Business Strategy and the EnvironmentBus. Strat. Env. 10, 67–68 (2001)

BOOK REVIEW

ECONOMICS OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENTby Ans Kolk, 2000. Pearson, x+205 pp, £24.99 (pbk).ISBN 0-273-64238-3

The subject matter of this book differs from that sug-gested by its title. It covers those elements of environ-mental management that are taken to be central to theconcerns of the corporate sector. In attempting to ex-plain the functions of environmental management toeconomically literate corporate managers, the book laysclaim to a niche far less crowded than that occupied bytexts on environmental economics.

The graduate students and practitioners with a busi-ness background for whom this text is produced aregiven an international perspective on the role of corpo-rate environmental management. Examples are drawnfrom a wide range of individual nations in the OECDand developing world, as well as from a number of UN,multi-lateral and European Union initiatives. At the endof each of the main chapters there are brief extracts fromselected Financial Times articles illustrating specific casestudies. These extracts form the basis for questions fordiscussion, which often take the argument well beyondthe treatment afforded the subject matter in the relevantchapter.

Sandwiched between introductory and concludingchapters are two core sections, each of three chapters.The first section examines the way in which environ-mental concerns are incorporated into business deci-sions, and is given the general theme of ‘Betweenregulation and self-regulation’. This covers a range ofstatutory and voluntary approaches towards environ-mental compliance, but says surprisingly little about theobjectives of environmental policy. Instead, the subjectmatter deals with the effects of environmental regula-tion viewed from a business perspective; differences innational regulatory regimes; the merits of a voluntarycorporate approach; the implications for businesses ofmulti-lateral environmental arrangements and the linksbetween strategic and environmental aspects of corpo-rate management, with special reference to multi-ational enterprises. The second section, entitled ‘Fromtheory to practice’, covers some of the tools of environ-mental management, offering a corporate perspective onthe use of environmental management systems, environ-mental reporting and environmental managementaccounting.

The treatment in both sections imparts a strong busi-ness school flavour to its subject matter. Defining envi-ronmental management as ‘the way in which firms dealwith environmental aspects’ (p 3) offers a narrow inter-pretation of the contribution the discipline can make tothe environmental debate. The result is to minimize anywider consideration of the management of environmen-tal resources, such as strategic environmental objectives,or the role of market-based environmental instruments,and to marginalize concepts such as sustainable devel-opment, the polluter-pays and precautionary principles,ecological modernization, industrial ecology and cleantechnology, all of which attract considerable attention inthe academic and professional literature on the subject.Although the case study extracts do make some refer-ence to a number of these issues, the only one thatreceives any significant attention in the main text issustainability, and this is considered as an aspect ofenvironmental reporting.

The omission of serious discussion of economic in-struments such as eco-taxes, quotas and tradable per-mits limits the value of the review of multi-lateralagreements, and any discussion of the effects of environ-mental compliance on corporate competitiveness. Inwhat is a fairly lengthy consideration of the KyotoProtocol, for example, there is no mention in the maintext of emissions trading, how this might operate andthe difference between the costs of compliance with orwithout such trading, all of which are crucial issues forenergy intensive industries. However, the case studyextract at the end of the relevant chapter refers to suchtrading and is used to set questions for discussion,which include ‘to what extent can such an emissionsystem really be called a market instrument?’ (p 75).

Within its chosen framework, this book offers a help-ful study guide. Each chapter includes an annotatedbibliography, which includes internet as well as stan-dard sources.

Tony JacksonSchool of Town and Regional Planning,

University of Dundee, Scotland, UK

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW HANDBOOK, 3rd edn, byTrevor Hellawell, 1998. Law Society, x+222 pp, £19.95(pbk). ISBN 1-85328-449-1

This handbook provides a succinct overview of environ-mental law for those involved in property and corporatetransactions. The majority of the book is dedicated toCopyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.