policy instrument

Policy instruments are understood as the different interventions (formal rules, laws, social norms and processes etc.) made by decision-makers (governments and public authorities, intergovernmental organizations, companies etc.) to ensure that (public) policy objectives are supported and achieved by influencing the behaviour of other stakeholders. The IPBES Catalogue differentiates among four different types of policy instruments: i) economic and financial instruments (financial incentives handling out or taking away economic resources), ii) legal and regulatory instruments (formal rules, laws and regulations), iii) rights-based instruments and customary norms (incl. human and collective rights as well as customary norms and institutions of indigenous people), and iv) social and cultural instruments (information-based instruments and voluntary or collective actions with an emphasis on the intertwined relationships between ecosystems and sociocultural dynamics).

Structured activities by which decision-making institutions attempt to realize or achieve a decision to support, effect or prevent social change expressed by a policy addressing an identified challenge or opportunity.

Set of means or mechanisms to achieve a policy goal.