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OCR for page 333
Environmental Policy in Eastern Europe
PRZEMYSLAW TROJAN
Polish Academy of Sciences
Editors' Note: This chapter is a compilation of ideas denving~om a two-
year comparative analysis of concepts, principles, and recommendations for
the continuing evo~don of environmental policy in several of the socialist
countries of Eastern Europe. Please note the great similarity between the ideals
presented in this chapter arid those which guide similar developments in many
democratic societies.
During 1987 and 1988, a Committee for the Study of World So-
cialist Systems of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) was asked to
prepare an analysis of environmental policy in several of the socialist coun-
tries of Europe, including the USSR, the German Democratic Republic,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland. This study was designed to provide a
comparative analysis of the concepts and methods used in the development
of environmental policy in these countries. The results of these studies,
comprising eleven parts, are now in print (Dobrowolski et al., 1989~. Such
analyses have a long tradition in Poland and are published in reports by
the Polish Academy of Sciences (Mcihajlow, 1976; Polityka, 1989~. This
chapter is a brief summer,, of the principal findings from this two-year
study.
The first task of analysis was to try to explain why conflicts are so often
seen between environmental protection and industrial development. Such
convicts are not a requirement of theory (Zagladin and Frolov, l986~. But
they are all-too-frequent consequences of a lack of holistic thinking in the
development of sound policies for protection of ecological values under
conditions of continuing economic development.
333
OCR for page 334
334
ECOLOGICAL RISKS
DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
Social pressure for the proper resolution of environmental problems is
growing in many East European countries. Official recognition of this idea
was expressed very well in the conclusions of an international conference
on "Socialism in the Context of Contemporary Global Problems" held in
Prague in 1985 (Anonymous, 1985~. The conclusions read as follows:
demands;
· Ecological crises have expanded to the whole domain of relation-
ships between humans and nature.
· These crises exert strong influence on all aspects of social life and
are not restricted to problems of industrial production.
· Reconstruction of all socioeconomic systems is necessary. The
isolated improvement of single elements of real socioeconomic systems is
meaningless.
Ecological conflicts are always present in human existence. These
conflicts affect many aspects of our daily lives and lead to intense discussions
about the place of humans in nature. An ecological viewpoint is developing
in which humans are seen as a product of continuing biological evolution.
That is, human life, like the life of all other living things, is ultimately
constrained within the limits of- the sustainable productive capacity of the
land, available energy, and the other natural resources necessary to maintain
human existence. Resolving our present ecological crisis is now the task of
a global strategy for society.
The general purposes of ecological policy in Eastern Europe are easy
to define. They are similar to those of many other countries; only the
methods and mechanisms- governing the course of environmental events
are different.
Three kinds of activity are required in the development of wise en-
vironmental policy: prevention, control, and restoration. The outcome of
these activities is determined by the following elements of ecological policy:
· political activities of governments which are influenced by social
· the system of law which defines the rights and obligations of both
citizens and the government in relation to natural and human resources;
· the activities of environmental agencies within the organizational
structure of government;
· economic instruments, especially those related to economic and
spatial planning;
· foreign policy;
· educational systems and scienafw investigations; and
· social movements.
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ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT CASE STUDIES
335
Lack of data in one or more of these elements restricts our ability to un-
derstand their role in contemporary East European societies. Nevertheless,
some preliminary conclusions can be drawn and are presented here.
During the past 40 years, economic development in Eastern Europe
has brought to these societies both progress in industrial production and
many unintended effects. One of the most important of these effects is the
extension of ecological crises over more and more territory in Me region.
The primary reason for these unfortunate results is overall inefficiency
and/or lack of appropriate mechanisms for the protection and restoration
of the environment and natural resources. Thus, the importance of envi-
ronmental problems is growing with time. These problems exert-ve~y strong
influences on many aspects of political, economic, and social activity.
Politics
The political parties in most East European countries have included
problems of ecological policy in their programs. For example, in the Party
Congresses of 1984 and 1986, issues relating to environmental policy were
much more evident than they had been in previous Parer Congresses. A
comparison of ecological policies outlined in the documents which resulted
from these meetings leads to the following conclusions:
· None of the documents includes analysis of the environmental
situation in their respective countries. Both the diagnosis and the extent of
change in environmental quality should constitute the basis for formulation
of objectives and tasks between successive Congresses.
· Programs of ecological policy are best formulated in those countries
where the exploitation of natural resources is most economical, e.g., the
German Democratic Republic and Czechoslovakia.
· These documents indicate that the most important factors influ-
encing environmental protection include enforcement of laws, pollution
control, deliberate management of environmental quality, economic devel-
opment policies, ecological education, and progress in science and technol-
o,gy.
· The documents from all Party Congresses disregard the prevention
of environmental problems. This is especially evident in the lack of coordi-
nation between economical and spatial planning before decisions are made.
All too frequently, the principles governing the processes of planning and
decision making are too vague. In many cases, environmental interests are
not taken into account.
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336
ECOLOGICAL RISKS
Legislation
There are no great differences in the judicial solutions suggested
by various East European countries for the resolution of environmental
problems. The system of environmental law is generally well developed
in all of these countries (Radecki, 1985), but judicial regulations are not
administered effectively. There are also obvious contradictions between
laws pertaining to the environment and laws pertaining to other aspects of
society.
Three general problems need require solutions in order to improve
judicial codes for environment protection:
· There is little enforcement of existing environmental law. This
is due to so-called "economic necessity" and the widespread practice of
following regulations that are contrary to existing environmental law.
· There are very few connections between judicial codes, e.g., be-
tween the laws for environmental protection, agricultural lands, mining,
and nature protection. The lack of necessary connections between these
related laws causes chaos in decision making and essentially precludes the
realization of sound ecological polic y.
Many regulations in environmental protection codes are not eco-
nomically sound Some regulations provide the possibility to shut down a
factory, but in other cases, fines or other penalties are so low that it is more
economical to pay them than to make the larger investment in protecting
the environment.
Environmental Management
In many East European countries, several different government organi-
zations are concerned with environmental protection. Generally speaking,
however, protection of the environment is an object of state policy deter-
mined by parliamentary resolutions and executed by the government and
its various agencies. The following describes the environmental policies of
East European countries and the types of government agencies that take
responsibility for the fulfillment of environmental goals:
· Environmental protection policy should consist of the rational use
of natural resources, ecosystem and species protection, protection of society
and nature against harmful effects of industrial and agricultural activities,
and environmental quality control.
· Many different linkages are needed among governmental and non-
governmental organizations. The responsibility for wise use of the envi-
ronment is distributed among government, industry, and other groups in
society that utilize natural resources.
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ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT CASE STUDIES
337
· Effective management of environmental quality control must in-
clude central, regional, and local centers for State Inspection and Envi-
ronmental Protection. In some cases, however, local authorities do not
correctly use their power against environmentally degrading activities and
against pollution sources that exceed official standards; this is particularly
true for large coal-fired power plants and for large iron works. Thus,
an efficient system is needed to facilitate decisions about the location of
industrial plants in terms of local and regional ecological situations and
risks.
· A system of protected areas is growing in all East European coun-
tries, consisting of national parks, nature reserves, regions of protected
landscape, and landscape parks (Chapter 22, this volume). Within these
protected areas, economic activity should be adjusted to fit existing envi-
ronmental conditions and programs of nature protection.
· In all East European countries, statistics pertaining to environ-
mental quality are very unsatisfactory. Complete information is lacking on
pollution emissions from factories, soil contamination and degradation, and
quality of groundwaters. Also lacking are unified models of organization for
the efficient solution of contemporary problems. Many suggested solutions
are strongly criticized.
~ ~ 1 ~
Economics
A system of economic and planning instruments has been developed
in most East European countries. Economic solutions are topics of strong
debate (Anonymous, 1983, 1986~. General restructuring of these systems is
necessary. The following conclusions were drawn from an analysis of these
economic and planning instruments:
· In all East European countries, the system of national economies is
changing. Administrative methods of management executed particularly by
governmental authorities are being replaced by market mechanisms. This
is also true for environmental protection.
· A prerequisite for environmental management by market methods
is to establish priorities for the goals and services entering the national econ-
omy under changing economic and environmental circumstances. Without
this, the low level of efficiency in environmental protection will continue.
· The prices paid for natural resources at the time of use should
reflect the costs of environmental protection.
Nature protection costs should be unified throughout Eastern Eu-
rope. This is especially important in developing regulations for industrial
and agricultural enterprises that have significant impacts on environmental
quality. This unified system of economic/environmental calculations should
serve as a basis for compensation in cases of transboundary pollution.
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338
ECOLOGICAL RISKS
· The system of economic instruments for environmental protection
in Eastern Europe should include consideration of methods of funding,
tax policy, credit policy, and investment policy. Contradictions between
economic and environmental goals often make choices difficult.
· East European countries generally lack coherent plans for main-
taining the productivity of renewable natural resources. These plans should
include regulations for maintaining a rational balance between economic
exploitation of natural resources and their conservation for future gener-
ations. Such regulations should also provide guidance for maintaining the
essential environmental and social functions of renewable natural resources,
regardless of whether these resources have significant economic value.
Foreign Policy
At present, international cooperation among East European coun-
tries in solving environmental protection problems is not effective. Large
amounts of pollutants are transported from country to country in contam-
inated air masses and rivers. Efforts must be made in all countries to
decrease the international exchange of pollutants in water and air. This
can be achieved by:
· international agreements governing the location and amounts of
emissions from different types of industrial activity. By the year 2000,
major decreases in the transboundary flow of pollutants must be achieved.
· import/export analysis of the exchange of pollutants between these
countries. These analyses should provide the basis for estimates of eco-
nomic compensation payments for pollutants received.
Education and Scientific Research
The educational system in Eastern Europe includes ecological educa-
tion, but efforts in this area must be increased substantially to be more
effective. While ecological education is given high priority in all East Eu-
ropean countries, no country has elaborated an adequately comprehensive
system of ecological education. In addition, large differences exist be-
tween the formal systems of ecological education in various East European
countries.
Therefore, modern and comprehensive ecological education programs
must be developed for all students at all educational levels, including nursery
school, elementary school, and high school. Universities, and particularly
polytechnic institutes, should develop programs for the ecological education
of their students, as their professional activities will exert great influence on
environmental events and hazards. Care must be taken to organize these
programs so that desirable outcomes are achieved. At present, for example,
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ENVIRONMENT AGE ME CASE STUDIES
339
schools of engineering contain no obligatory ecological curricula and the
present optional programs are often not selected. As a result, lack of
environmental awareness among graduate engineers often compounds the
environmental problems in society. Finally, some East European countries
have developed elaborate programs of continuing education for adults.
These programs offer great possibilities for the ecological education of
society as a whole.
With regard to research, scientific investigations in the field of envi-
ronmental protection are often conducted in connection with the systems
for economic cooperation among socialist countries. The following obser-
vations are pertinent to these programs:
· The current system of cooperation provides good possibilities for
comparison of results from scientific investigations in participating coun-
tnes. However, the effectiveness of information transfer between countries
is much greater within a given discipline than it is between disciplines, even
within the same country. It is therefore necessary to increase the degree of
integration across different disciplines of environmental investigations.
The most urgent task is to increase the translation of scientific
results into economic practices within industrial and agricultural enterprises.
In international cooperative research programs, the division of ef-
fort should be arranged so as to capitalize on the special scientific strengths
of individuals and institutions within the cooperating countries.
.
Social Movements
Social movements in the field of environmental protection are growing
in numbers throughout Eastern Europe. They are exerting strong, con-
structive influence on central and local authorities in developing solutions
for local and regional environmental problems. Analysis of the activities of
these movements leads to the following conclusions:
· Volunteers participating in ecological movements have often pro-
vided effective surveillance of the status of nature, the exploitation of nat-
ural resources, and environmental decision making. In many cases, these
surveillance activities have led to the discovery and subsequent solution
of important environmental problems. These movements often provide
ecological educational programs for children and adults and sometimes
undertake concrete projects for environmental protection.
· Many successes have been achieved when local authorities and
ecological movements work together in the analysis and implementation of
solutions to environmental problems. All too often, however, the activities
of ecological movements have formed the basis for political arguments
directed against the administration and political system.
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340
ECOLOGICAL RISKS
· Cooperation between ecological movements and governments or
industries has been particularly successful at the lower levels of adminis-
tration, i.e., in small towns, or in identifiable communities within larger
towns.
· Social movements in the field of environmental protection have
been very effective in improving the aesthetic quality of many areas such as
public gardens and "green areas" within towns, extracting useful raw mate-
rials from accumulated wastes, and planting of trees and other vegetation
on waste beds or drastically disturbed lands.
CONCLUSION
A great potential exists for improvement of environmental policy in
many East European countries. These improvements can be encouraged
through:
.
better organization of central and local administrative authorities
for environmental decision making and management of natural resources;
· better division of responsibility among East European countries,
such as in the production of environmental protection devices and tech-
nologies;
.
increasing the effectiveness of planning systems, economic develop-
ment authorities, and legal instruments to provide both economic incentives
and regulations that channel human activity in directions which are consis-
tent with aims and programs of sound ecological policy;
· improving systems of ecological education at all levels, from nursery
school through university, and including programs for adult education;
· translating scientific understanding of environmental problems into
economically viable systems for improvement of industry, agriculture, and
management of waste disposal systems;
· connecting programs of economic development and social move-
ments so that their outcomes are consistent with sound ecological policy.
Although the tasks are formidable, success in implementing these recom-
mendations will enable the countries of Eastern Europe to do their part in
solving global ecological problems.
Acknowledgement
This chapter was written in cooperation with K Dobrowolski, ~
Jankowska-Klapkowska, B. Prandecka, W. Radecki, and J. Sommer of the
Committee for the Study of World Socialist Systems of the Polish Academy
of Sciences. Editorial assistance from E. Cowling is also acknowledged with
appreciation.
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EN~VIRONMENTAL Af 4HAGEMENT CASE STUDIES
REFERENCES
341
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
eastern europe
