Negotiating environment: The making of the OECD environment committee and the polluter pays principle, 1968-1972

Abstract

In 1970, the OECD was the first international organization to create a permanent committee specifically dedicated to environmental issues. For 2 years, the OECD struggled to define its environmental program both internally and vis-à-vis other international organizations that similarly sought to establish their places in international environmental work, notably UNECE and NATO. Within the OECD, some protagonists argued that the Environment Committee should primarily address technical issues with a view to short-term solutions while others favored a more comprehensive approach, which would discuss environmental concerns as part of long-term socio-economic considerations. The formulation of the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) in 1972 tipped the OECD toward the technical approach and helped establish it as an important, albeit not the central, organization active in the environmental field.