Environmental considerations are increasingly influencing business decisions. Firms have to deal with a range of regulatory authorities and can be affected by policy developments at the local, national and international levels. In the design, production, and marketing of products, safety and environmental issues are likely to become even more important over time. Although we have concentrated on the regulation of air and water pollution in this module, the student should be aware that environmental factors are central to the system of planning and development control which directly affects business expansion and location decisions.
Concern over global environmental problems such as the build-up of greenhouse gases, the depletion of stratospheric ozone, and the effects on lakes and plant life of acid deposition in rain, means that firms will find their commercial prospects greatly influenced in the long run by pollution control measures. It should not be assumed that the effects will be felt entirely through direct regulation of processes or products. Although we have seen that the tax system at present is not used intensively to secure environmental objectives, this may change in the future as proposals for a ‘carbon tax’ or other tax differentiations against environmentally harmful products are discussed.
