Policy implications of the service sector for the environment

In our modern economy, the increasing weight of the services sector is not sufficient, per se, to start and boost an environmentally sustainable economic growth. Whatever the public policies pursued on the supply side of the production system, a strong intervention is needed on the demand side, too. Therefore, people must be aware and more responsable of the environmental implications of their action and promote changes in their actual lifestyle and reorganise their model of consumption taking into account the environment as a variable of the system. We show how should such a change be supported in terms of policy implications. Policy makers must alert citizens to the real state of the environment, fostering the introduction of the polluter pays principle, also among consumers, and preventing egoistic opposition by local communities for the construction of environmental facilities.