ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
co-ordinate a national environmental strategy – NEPP acquired a legal basis
in 1993 – and significant political clout to enforce it. The co-operative process
of agreeing and implementing the plan also helped to integrate environmen-
tal considerations more effectively across a full range of public policies, and
provided a framework for ‘social learning’ so that policymakers in all sec-
tors ‘think environment’ routinely (Weale 1992 ). The ‘target group policy’ of
structured consultation and negotiation of targets in the form of voluntary
agreements (covenants) between government representatives and key indus-
trial interest groups aided implementation by encouraging target groups
toaccept more responsibility for environmental protection by developing
asense of ownership of the targets, whilst allowing them the flexibility to
achieve them in their own way.
One study showed that around half the targets set for 1995 were met and
that even where targets were not attained nearly every trend showed an
improvement on the pre-NEPP period (J ̈anicke and Jorgens ̈ 1998 : 45–6). Hanf
and van de Gronden ( 1998 )reported that cuts in key pollutants such as SO 2 ,
N 2 Oand phosphate had ‘achieved a marked reduction of pressures on and
threats to the environment’ (p. 178).
Nosingle factor explains the relative success of NEPP, but it benefited
from a fortunate congruence of two phenomena: one, the consensual style
of Dutch politics which places a high premium on avoiding conflict and
seeking negotiated solutions; two, the redefinition of environmental prob-
lems, encouraged by the discourse of ecological modernisation, as requir-
ing the participation of economic actors who were once seen as the cause
of environmental problems, but are now regarded as an essential part of
their solution (ibid.: 153). This situation persisted through the 1990s, partly
because successive Dutch governments provided sustained political support
for NEPP (backed by sympathetic public opinion), but also because funda-
mental clashes between economic and environmental interests were largely
avoided. One concern is that industry may have reached the limits of its
willingness to act voluntarily out of self-interest, particularly with regard
tothe fundamental changes required to meet climate change targets. With
declining public enthusiasm for environmental issues, the government has
increasingly struggled to follow through on the challenge of implementing
theambitious NEPP goals (van Muijen 2000 :172). Indeed, the fourth NEPP,
published in 2001, may be the last. In a speech announcing that NEPP would
be replaced by the ‘Future Environment Agenda’, the environment minister
identified a number of problems hampering progress towards sustainable
development, including a lack of public support and problems with the
Dutch economy. The minister also said (in an implicit criticism of NEPP)
that while many of the easier environmental problems had been addressed
successfully, the Dutch environmental record was ‘only average’, with little
progress in dealing with the intractable ‘wicked problems’ such as climate
change (Dekker 2005 ). Nevertheless, the NEPP remains a powerful model for
thedesign of green plans elsewhere.