The Development and use of Economic Instruments in Environmental Policy: The Case of Israel

Recently, Israel has undergone several changes in its environmental policy. This paper reviews the shift in environmental policy, from regulatory-based instruments to more flexible economic instruments in Israel. A substantial change has taken place in this respect over the last few decades in many OECD countries. In recent years, environmental policy in Israel has been going through a similar change, in part due to the recent accession to the OECD. Yet, Israel still lacks the use of certain main economic tools, such as greenhouse gas emissions trading and carbon taxes, which are available in many OECD countries.