Chapter 22
Making and Implementing Environmental Policy

Introduction

Content

Objectives

Quiz

Links

Graphs

glossary

Corrections

Updates

Amendments

Introduction

After environmental issues entered the political scene in the 1960s they quickly became present in all parts of civil society. The already established national societies for nature conservation in the Nordic countries adopted an environmental agenda at an early stage. Researchers were instrumental in this process through their knowledge about the ongoing impact of industrial society on the environment. Their reports formed the basis of a new environmental policy.

In addition, citizens also influenced politics through the media and by voting. Added to the classical repertoire of political means of expression were a couple of new ones, such as green consumerism, which can be seen as voting with your wallet, and joining interest groups to exert political pressure, by lobbying.

The growing environmental movement in the the Baltic Sea region diversified into many different non-governmental organisations. NGOs influenced policy directly or indirectly, e.g. via the media, voicing their opinion on environmental issues, and getting topics on the political agenda, as was successfully done by the Ecological Club in Poland. Many NGOs co-operated on a regional basis, especially in the Coalition Clean Baltic, CCB, with a clear political impact. As well, the older World Wide Fund for Nature, WWF, also present in several of the countries, developed a strong Baltic Sea program.

Environmentalists were elected to parliaments from the 1960s on. From the 1980s, political parties with environmental protection as their main focus, the green parties, formed in all countries in the region. Parliaments are executing their power though environmental legislation, taxation of polluting activities and use of natural resources, especially energy, and of course by forming the government. In the last years of the 20th century in two countries in the region, Germany and Sweden, the Greens were part of the government or were included in coalitions with governing parties.

The state implements its policies through its institutions. The Environmental Protection Agencies, EPAs, may be the most important of them. An EPA typically is responsible for assessing the environmental situation of a country. It may do so by funding research but also through its own monitoring programmes. Governmental agencies are also responsible for issuing permits, or concessions, for activities that might be polluting. Courts of concession, water boards, etc., have this task, while state inspectorates check to see if the limits are respected.

An increasing number of decisions with consequences for environmental protection are taken by local authorities - municipalities and counties. During the 1990s, the international co-operation and support between municipalities increased very dramatically and the new activities are mainly concerned with environmental protection.

In the East, the history has been different. Environmental concerns were high on the agenda at the time of liberation. Later, they were not as visible, although political structures dealing with environmental issues have developed. An important drawback is the weak local level of government in central and eastern Europe, since this is where most environmental politics has to be carried out, and that is also where true participatory politics is being implemented.