Soft talk or big sticks - how to get industry to act voluntarily

New Labour came to power four years ago pledging to do things differently. Traditional command and control would be supplemented with economic instruments and voluntary agreements to deliver real environmental improvements which would not be too painful for business. But the reality has not lived up to the promise. Despite repeated cajoling, only a tiny fraction of firms produce environmental reports - and just a handful of sectors have met the Government's challenge to produce a sustainability plan. What has gone wrong?