Environmental regulation and competitiveness in the mining industry: Permitting processes with special focus on Finland, Sweden and Russia

This paper investigates to what extent and under what circumstances environmental regulation can be designed and implemented to jointly achieve positive environmental outcomes and sustained competitive strength in the mining industry. First the paper provides a conceptual analysis of the impacts of environmental regulations on mining competitiveness, including a discussion of how the environmental-competitiveness trade-off can be affected by various regulatory design and implementation strategies. Methodologically we distinguish between the flexibility, predictability and stringency of the regulations, and in a second step these analytical concepts are illustrated in the empirical context of the environmental permitting processes in Finland, Sweden and Russia. An important result is that in these countries there has been a lack of timeliness and predictability in the environmental regulations (e.g., uncertainty about the interpretation of the legislation, delays due to appeals etc.). These problems can in part be addressed by, for instance: (a) allocating more resources to the regulatory authorities; (b) establishing more consensus-based regulatory interactions between the mining industry and the authorities; and (c) introducing more standardized procedures and road maps for environmental impact assessments, permit applications and not the least for how to interpret specific legal rules in the context of mining.