On the general principles of environment protection a report from the Swedish Environmental Advisory Council

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On the General

Principles

of Environment

Protection

A from the Swedish Environmental report

Advisory Council

SEED

1994:69

flI

i

Swedish Government Official Reports WW 1994:69

Ministry of the Environment and

Natural Resources

On the General

Principles

of Environment Protection

A report from

the Swedish Environmental Advisory Council

Stockholm 1994

SOU och Ds kan köpas från ritzes F kundtjänst. För remissutsändningar SOU och Ds av svarar Fritzes, Offentliga Publikationer, på uppdrag av Regeringskansliets fdrvaltningskontor

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REGERINGSKANSLIETS OFFSETCENTRAL ISBN 91-38-13675-9 Stockholm 1994 ISSN 0375-250X

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

THE PRINCIPLE OF SUSTAlNABLE DEVELOPMENT Arne Jernelöv, Professor The Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research

THE PRINCIPLES OF THE ECOCYCLE SOCIETY Björn Wallgren Counsellor of Environmental Affairs at the Swedish Embassy in Bonn, Germany

THE CONCEPT OF CRITICAL LOADS 35 Henning Rodhe, Professor of Meteorology University of Stockholm

THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE 45 Arne Jernelöv, Professor The Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research

0n the General Principles of Environment Protection

THE SUBSTITUTION PRINCIPLE 53 Arne Jernelöv, Professor The Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research

THE BEST AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY PRINCIPLE 59 Sven-Olov Ericson, Biofuel Expert at the Swedish State Power Board

THE POLLUTER PAYS PRINCIPLE 73 Per Kågeson, Writer, President of the European Federation for Transport and Environment

CLOSING COMMENTS 97

All five authors are members of the Swedish Environmental Council

English translation: Michael Johns, Swedish State Authorised Translator

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

FOREWORD

Albert Einstein once said that we often make the mistake of believing that we can solve our problems using the very measures that caused them. The transition to a sustainable society will pose tremendous demands terms of change, re-appraisal and innovation the world over, compelling mankind to find new lifestyles and patterns of development. The purpose of internationally accepted environmental principles to make possible for us to take dangers into account before they materialise. therefore essential for us to consider the real implications of these principles, as well as ways in which they can be extended. We hope that this report will contribute to the national and international follow-up of the undertakings made at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

Olof Johansson Minister of the Environment President of the Environment Advisory Council

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

INTRODUCTION

Modern environmental protection founded on a number of important principles. Some of them, such as the principle of sustainable development and the precautionary principle, are comprehensive in nature and can thus be seen as general guidelines for the environmental develop— ment of society. Others such as the Polluter Pays Principle PPP and the Best — Available Technology Principle BAT highlight the responsibilities — of the polluter. These two principles nowadays relatively well are established in the West and are employed both in national legislation and international conventions. The principle of the cyclic society less well known, however. may be seen as an aid in gaining an operational interpretation of sustainable development. The concept of critical load turn, aid an determining the demands which must be made on polluters in order to attain the goal of sustainable development. The ‘substitution principle related both to BAT and to the precautionary principle and based on the idea that unnecessarily hazardous substances or methods should never be used. When reference made to such principles, however, the terms are not always interpreted consistently. In several cases, there clear are no and generally accepted definitions. This applies to BAT, for instance, and even more so to sustainable development. In other the cases, original definition may have become out of date; examples can be found of both deliberate and unintentional re-interpretation. PPP, for instance, nowadays taken to imply that all environmental costs to are be internalised, which not what the OECD intended when the principle was introduced 1972.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

The following report represents a contribution members of the Swedish Environmental Advisory Council to the discussion of how these principles should be interpreted and applied environmental work at both national and international levels. The varying lengths of the chapters reflects the fact that certain of the principles have already been the subject of comprehensive discussion while others are relatively new and little known outside a small circle of specialists. The principle of the cyclic society and the substitution principle have been coined in Sweden. One of the objectives of this report to make them more widely known other countries. The report opens with a chapter on the principle of sustainable development. This followed the principle of the cyclic society and the concept of critical loads. The discussion then continues, by way of the precautionary principle and the substitution principle, to BAT and PPP. The final chapter provides some concluding reflections.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Arne Jernelöv

THE PRINCIPLE OF SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT

A clear Iodestar or a diffuse aurora

The concept of sustainable development gained worldwide usage through the Brundtland Report of the World Commission for Environment and Development. The purpose of this report was to answer the question of whether the future lodestar for the UN should be economic development, to provide the poor of the world with a basic material standard, or environmental protection, to guarantee the Survival of the human race. With its implication that two apparently incompatible goals actually can be united, the term rapidly gained political acceptance the world over. Sustainable development was one of the main concepts at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, where Agenda 21 was able to draw up as a programme for how sustainable development could be attained. An official view of what the term implies be found in Principles 3 and 4 of the Rio can Declaration, which state:

O The right to development must be fulfilled to equitably meet so as developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations.

O In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental production shall constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered isolation from it.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

In the light of this, one might think that would be a simple matter to answer the question contained in the heading above. should also be simple matter to adapt the Rio decisions to national conditions, for a example a future Environmental Code. Words which approximate to sustainable development are also included in the Maastricht Treaty

Article B of the Common Provision and the amended Article 2

of the Treaty of Rome. However, before the concept can become operational, a couple of fundamental questions must first be discussed. Simply because the words sustainable and development have been placed alongside one another, does not automatically mean that the two have become one.

The need for clarification

The term sustainable development has not actually been defined. a philosophical principle which has been described only as a development which makes possible for today’s generation of mankind to satisfy its needs without making more difficult for future generations to satisfy theirs. This a politically attractive description, but provides little foundation for decision as to whether one form of technology or economic programme compatible with the objectives or not. The of the term already gave rise to problems at the vagueness regional drafting meetings for the Rio conference, although this very has probably been essential order to gain broad political vagueness acceptance for the term. In Kampala, Uganda, where the African regional meeting was held 1989, sustainable development was used synonymous and replaceable term for sustainable growth by as a practically all speakers. quite natural that the developing countries consider that they have the right of the development that has to some created economic prosperity. The problem with this interpretation our of the term, however, that in most cases growth not sustainable. The world’s environmental problems are also largely created by the classic growth philosophy of the industrialised nations; were the developing nations to follow the same course, would lead to global environmental collapse. Like the continued development of the industrialised nations, therefore, the development of the poorer nations

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

must take on a much more sustainable form than conventional growth.

What can continue to grow and what cannot

Obviously, continued growth physical terms incompatible with ecological balance and environmental sustainability. A continued increase of anything population, the use of energy, sugar production ~— or iron ore extraction will sooner or later lead to collapse when the —— Earth no longer able to produce more. When comes to composite economic concepts like GDP, however, the question of ongoing growth becomes somewhat more complicated. The production of goods, measured volumes, can probably continue to rise the knowledge content of the goods which grows. The same applies to the production of services. Services which consume natural resources, such as transportation, cannot grow continuously without sooner or later coming into conflict with the tolerance of the ecosystem or the capacity of the Earth to supply such resources. On the other hand, we can take care of one another, sing opera arias or play football to a practically unlimited extent, and get paid for without noticeably disrupting the ecological balance. Since GDP and the economy include all these different types of production, ongoing economic growth conceivable on condition that there simultaa neous shift in the content of production towards greater knowledge

content the products and a greater proportion of services which do

not consume natural resources. GDP growth on a basis that includes

items previously excluded the work of women the home, for

instance also conceivable without coming into conflict with the

concept of sustainable development.

Time scales and activities

The philosophical implication of the concept of sustainable development that should be possible for a given activity to continue for an unlimited period of time. Naturally, this not the case with any activity we consider time scales that encompass the very existence of the solar

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

system. This perspective hardly relevant, however, so what sort of time scales should we consider to be unlimited practical terms clear that the time scale must be long relation to a human lifetime. also clear that must be longer than our normal planning perspectives. However, also to be longer than the time scales involved the development of civilisations and technology in agriculture and mining, we are talking about millennia. we are also to take biological evolution into account, along with succession the ecosystem and climatological processes, we are talking about hundreds of millennia. Perhaps a couple of thousand years could serve as an acceptable unlimitation, particularly in northern regions, where we can expect this to take us up to the next ice age. Another important issue consists of activities. Do we link the question of sustainability to a geographically defined technology or project This question can be illustrated with a couple of practical examples:

Can traditional clearing and burning, where the farmer cultivates an area for a few years and then moves on, be regarded as sustainable the farmers successors return to the site a few centuries later

Can the collection of guano from bird colonies be considered sustainable the amount of guano at each site only lasts for ten years and takes a thousand years to regenerate, and there are a hundred sites to collect from

Can the extraction of minerals be considered sustainable the global reserves would last the lifetime of the solar system, but each deposit only lasts a decade

the question of sustainability only concerns individual projects — the form of a given activity in a given geographical area or a given time scale none of the above projects can be regarded as sustainable. — sustainable development relates to the technology as such, they could be. From a philosophical point of view, one might say that the area small enough and the time scale short enough, then no activity sustainable.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

In principle and in practice, the conclusion that sustainability must be a question of the technology rather than the project in order to have any real meaning. A development or process that sustainable in a global context therefore one that can continue unimpeded for at least a few thousand years. For all the above examples, the practical answer thus the affirmative. One must consider the capacity for natural regeneration when determining whether or not a given development sustainable. One must also ensure that the resources are available. A principle of sustainable development based on an assumption of human life without any utilisation of resources not viable, politically nor accepted.

Sustainable development vis å vis the limits of growth

In the early 1970s, a group of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University MIT commissioned by the were Club of Rome to produce a report which was published under the title of Limits to Growth a book which generated a great deal of interest — when appeared. One could summarise this book saying that its point of departure

was that the Earth can support only a certain population. then went

on to attempt to estimate the actual figure and to establish the main limiting parameters, reaching the conclusion that the population could not sustainably be higher than already at the time and that was was the food supply and availability of non-renewable materials which raw were the limiting parameters. Interest waned rapidly and the report even fell into disrepute when the green revolution produced high-yield varieties of rice and wheat which raised the output per hectare, even in developing countries, to

levels previously only dreamed of. The authors have since published

their own review of the book, which they maintain that their conclusions still basically correct. were Now that the concept of sustainable development has become a platform for international agreements Rio and for the national post- Rio environmental work number of countries, including Sweden, a there every reason to try to clarify the difference between the terms the limits of growth and sustainable development. This difference can most simply be expressed saying that the approach adopted

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

the Club of Rome was static while that of the Brundtland Commission dynamic. What are the implications of this Let us take a historical example: how many people could live on

bronze-age technology, and for how long On the basis of modern

know-how and estimates of high-grade surface deposits of copper and tin, we are in a fairly good position to answer this question. A plausible answer would be: a few million people for a few thousand years. Bronze-age technology was thus not sustainable but bronze- — age development was The build-up of material resources, such as manpower and firewood, and the bronze—age development of metallurgical know-how, made the leap into the iron age possible. This gave access to a much broader base of raw materials. This development process can be likened to stepping from one tuft of grass to another a marsh, having to find a new tuft before the present one starts to sink. Obviously, there are many other historical examples of cultures that disappeared when the natural resources upon which their technologies were based had been consumed or destroyed. The most well-known

ones are those based on irrigation without drainage, which eventually

results salt being accumulated the soil so that the production capacity lost, as in ancient Babylon and Egypt. There was no new tuft of grass sight or within jumping distance on the time scale, so the cultures wasted away. There one important difference between the historical examples and today’s situation. Historically, many cultures utilised different resource bases such a way that, although one culture might consume its base and succumb, others could survive. With modern resource transportation systems and a global market, however, there no local shortage of copper or butter any part of the world where people can afford to for them. Shortages take on a global relevance and are pay first felt where the ability to pay lowest, not where the wastefulness greatest. Mankind has become a single technological culture. One might say that we are all standing on the same tuft of grass or that the Earth has itself become one.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Where are the Iimits to growth

one attempts to analyse the limiting parameters for mankinds development in a dynamic light, i.e. trying to take account of technological development, one finds that the limitations do not lie primarily in the availability of non-renewable Far-reaching resources. substitution possibilities exist both for metals and for minerals. The term ore has, moreover, been defined economic tenns. a deposit which economically feasible to extract. On the basis of the distribution of the elements the Earth’s crust, might one formulate the following rule of thumb: the price of element an doubles, the economically extractable increases tenfold. ore One possible exception to the conclusion that the availability of elements not a limiting factor phosphorus. Phosphorus, in the form of phosphate, mainly used as a fertiliser and its essential to use a high long-term biomass yield. There possibility of substitution. no Plants will not begin using arsenic, whatever the price structures of mankind’s economic systems. The limitations are therefore unlikely to be noticed the supply on side first. Instead, will be the emissions that first impose the limits. Emissions of carbon dioxide will pose real difficulties long before the availability of fossil fuels does. The accumulation of cadmium in agricultural land will be problem long before cadmium shortages a become acute. Another difficult limitation to be found the biomaterialfreshwater-energy triangle. In simple terms, one might that say we could solve one of the problems this complex, would have the we solution to them all. Since, however, they interdependent, find are we ourselves in a Catch 22 situation. One problem cannot be solved unless one of the others has been solved first, which turn requires that the initial problem dealt with. we only had the could energy, we desalinate seawater and transport to wherever need Then we we could grow the biomass and get all the need. energy we

The static approach

The traditional approach of the Club of Rome has not outlived its interest in however. In contexts, be worth any way, many can

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

adopting a static point of departure describing the current situation and problems as they appear in the light of current values, lifestyles and technologies, so that we can see where changes in the parameters have the greatest effect. The question can thus be formulated as follows: how many people can the Earth support at the average standard of the OECD nations, with the average technology of these nations, before the accumulation of residual products or shortages of biomaterial-freshwater—energy become limiting parameters Depending on what sort of limits one has in mind, the answer lies somewhere between 400 and 800 million. the best available technology were to be used, the figure would be much higher, albeit still far below the current world population. The problem that more than a billion people are already living at this material standard without using the best available technology in any way, and a further four and a half billion aspire to it. One can therefore observe that, with a static approach, the current development unsustainable. How about a dynamic approach

High technology -the problem or the solution

On the basis of the dynamic approach i.e. the concept of sustainable — development -the most important test of whether or not a technology or activity sustainable to be found flow analysis. If this shows that the activities tend to use more renewable resources than are being generated, or that the concentration of residual products in the biosphere tends to increase, then the activity not sustainable. The technology must eventually be abandoned, or modified so as to achieve an cycle. In this context, worth drawing attention to the change in the front line of the environmental debate among almost all industrialised nations during the past decade. Ten years ago, the debate focused on whether or not environmental issues were even important. The dividing line was drawn between those who wanted to protect the environment at any price and those who considered protection to be unnecessary and environmentalism to be hysterical. Today, practically everyone realizes that the environment needs protecting and, moreover, that such protection matter of long-term economic necessity. a

On the General Principles ot Environment Protection

Nowadays, the dividing line drawn between those who feel that we should protect the environment refraining from large-scale harmful technology and those who want to protect by developing and refining the technology. The nuclear power debate in Sweden serves to illustrate the issue. Should we close down nuclear power or replace today’s nuclear power stations with inherent safety systems Should we endeavour to make nuclear power renewable and sustainable by extracting the uranium from the sea which constantly being leached from the land

Two cycles

Although the term cycle considered unambiguous in everyday usage, actually involves two types of process which many practical applications involve different requirements and thus come into conflict with one another. The natural ecocycles assume that the substances that we use are degradable and can be regenerated in the natural environment. Such substances, however natural they may be in themselves, must also be dispersed so that they do not occur in unnatural amounts or concentrations. The technical cycles those which we create with our own tech- nology assume, on the other hand, that the substances that are to be — re—used are persistent and that they occur in large volumes or high concentrations so that the energy required for gathering them not excessive. Paper, which a natural product, can be used to exemplify this problem. Cellulose fibre degradable, both biologically and chemically. Like the raw material, timber, can be recirculated in natural cycles. When we want to recycle paper, however, this very degradability becomes a disadvantage. After going through the process a number of times, the cellulose loses the properties which give the paper its basic characteristics. Technical recycling would be easier cellulose were persistent. Obviously, easier to maintain ecocycles rural areas. Emptying a latrine in the natural environment would hardly give rise to any environmental problems, but the toilet waste from a big city would constitute a rather unmanageable heap. In our everyday conceptions,

0n the General Principles of Environment Protection

environmentally sound living means living in the countryside in harmony with nature, while urban city-dwelling symbolises environmentally destructive lifestyles and a high level of resource consumption. Seen in terms of technical development, however, the cities come into a new environmental light. Without reflecting on the matter, the spontaneous reaction might be that the major cities of the world can

never be ecologically sustainable. The majority of the world population

expected to consist of city dwellers soon after the turn of the century. However, the city makes technical cycles possible and quite probable that recycling will reinforce the process of urbanisation. The example of paper recycling may also serve to illustrate this. paper recycled as much as the fibre quality allows perhaps 80 per —— cent the source of raw materials for paper mills will primarily —coincide with the market, i.e. the urban regions. This where the new paper mills will be built and where the employment opportunities will be created, which will in turn promote migration to the cities and consequent urban growth. In a series of novels about Stockholm, Per—Anders Fogelstrom has made a general observation which may be of major significance in the context of urban and global environmental issues. He has said that in the city, unlike the countryside, more people die than are bom. The cities never have a birth surplus they grow as a result of migration. — Could be that urbanisation the key to global population stabilisation

Individual lifestyles

In order to illustrate the difference between classic environmental country life and life in the city, one can perform estimates of the environmental impact of a typical country family and a typical urban family and the results leave no room for doubt. The long trips — to school and shops and the heating of large, poorly insulated houses overshadow all else a wide margin and mean that the move from the country to the city reduces a family’s environmental impact. City dwelling most cases, more resource-friendly and thus more environmentally sound than living rural areas. In other words, travel and heating that are the areas of our western lifestyle where our individual choices have the greatest impact

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

on the environment. For normal lifestyles, these followed by hot are water consumption bath, shower and laundry, the amount of meat in the diet, and clothes.

Social organisation and behaviour

The environmental problems of the cities largely related to traffic: are the transportation of people and goods. Countless analyses and studies have endeavoured to find solutions terms of traffic planning and vehicle technology, or have considered the possibilities of economic instruments subsidies and charges order to make public — —— transport more attractive than private motoring. Many have measures been tested and others are pending. As so often, the state attempting to offset the consequences of the right hand’s actions with those of the left. A large proportion of journeys private motorists in Stockholm take place in leased cars. Since taxation of this perquisite independent of the distance driven, journeys free the motorist has his are once or her car. The only to public transport would be reason use were to be faster. Since traffic planning measures are aimed at improving the traffic flow, however, this unlikely to be the One might be able case. to reduce car traffic by changing the leasing system, however. The above should not be interpreted as implying that which measures target traffic planning and vehicle technology have been of signifino cance when comes to reducing the environmental impact of transport. Less lead in petrol, catalytic emission control, energy-efficient more engines and traffic systems around the city centres and smoother traffic flows have all meant a lot. The city air has also improved. Measures, whether planned implemented, cost however. A lot of or money, money. The lack of funds that be earmarked for environmental can purposes often appears to be the real obstacle to environmentally sound action in this field. However, to identify that the easy measures economists would applaud and which would also that the impact mean of traffic on the city environment could be drastically reduced. If, for instance, to switch from working eight hours day for five days we were a a week and instead worked in shifts of thirteen hours day, three per days a week, journeys to and from work would be reduced 40 per cent at the same time as the utilisation of premises and machinery

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

would be almost doubled. Both the environment and the economy would benefit as, perhaps, would family life. — Apart from illustrating that there are other interests incompatible with the environment than purely economic ones, this example can serve to demonstrate the environmentalpotential of social organisation and behavioural changes.

Questions raised by sustainable development

The above discussion illustrates a couple of points which are central to the choice and interpretation of the guiding principles for the sustainable development that must be mankind’s objective. First: sustainable development has not been clarified such a way as to make practical as a political instrument. In our view, the principle must be applied to technologies rather than individual projects in order to be applicable, and the overall scope of an activity a crucial factor. The time horizon according to which the sustainability of an activity judged must be set at a few thousand years, at least. Further clarification required, however, particularly when comes to international acceptance of the above or of similar analyses of the concepts involved. Secondly: the resource base, the technologies and the population represent the traditional main components of development and sustainability. Other overlooked components that probably offer considerable potential include social organisation, systems of values and behaviour. This means that effective control systems will incorporate ethics, morals and economic policies. How should such control systems be designed and who to introduce them Thirdbz: the ecocycle principle, which a central concept even a — criteria of sustainable development, consists in its practical applica- — tion of two separate components, involving quite different prerequisites. The ecocycle society dual nature one natural component where — degradability and dilution represent a benefit and one technical component which requires persistence and concentration. These two may require different social organisations, control systems and technologies. How are they to be designed and made to work in harmony with one another

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Björn Wallgren

THE PRINCIPLES OF THE

ECOCYCLE SOCIETY

Introduction

The purpose of this chapter to discuss and define the ecocycle society, i.e. a society in which the flows of various material within society have

been reduced and closed to such an extent that the flows from society

to the environment do not exceed the limits of sustainability. Two different types of closed flows of materials will be discussed: natural

ecocycles sometimes referred to as biogeochemical cycles and

technocycles the cycles created man within society. -—— Natural flows of materials are largely closed, but the scales may differ considerably in terms of time and space alike. Many materials may

participate both in local cycles of short duration which

are never

completely closed, however and very long-terrn global cycles, in

as the case of carbon and the nutrients phosphorus and potassium. Nitrogen involved both the rapid local cycles and a relatively fast global cycle. The same applies to water. Metals are also involved cycles, albeit on a geological time scale. Technocycles are, however, still largely a vision the flows of —— materials in society today are no way closed. On the contrary, we extract various materials from nature, we use them for a while and then consign them to waste sites. The materials can then be dispersed in the environment from these sites. In they spread to the many cases, environment even while they being used, but this below. are more on Certain of the materials flows society are partially closed, at least, either for economic or for environmental Metal recovered reasons. from scrap, for example, recycled and packaging reused. paper The main thesis of this chapter that we should limit our extraction of various materials from nature whether renewable — or non-renew-

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

able and that reuse and recycling are two ways of achieving this goal. — First, I should like to take up the issue of why the extraction of materials should be limited.

Why should we limit the extraction of materials

There are three important reasons for limiting the extraction of materials from nature, as well as two subsidiary reasons. These are discussed below. First, however, I should like to comment on the use of the word limit rather than reduce. would be incorrect to draw the general assumption that the current extraction of all materials for all purposes should be reduced. On the contrary, quite probable that we should increase our extraction of certain materials, particularly biofuels and other renewable materials, in order to promote reductions of more problematic ones. There of course, a limit to how much advisable, or feasible, to extract a given material, and this also applies to the less problematic ones. This why I have chosen to use the word limit rather than reduce. Let us examine the reasons for limiting the extraction of various materials. Such reasons may vary in importance for different materials, and several of them may be valid for one and the same material. The three main ones are:

O Extraction and processing of the material may generate hazardous

emissions andor consumption of scarce resources. This applies to iron, aluminium and paper, for example.

O The material may be environmentally hazardous in itself. Matter indestructible. Every kilogram of a material which mankind has brought into the technosphere will leave again sooner or later, either directly into the biosphere or to a landfill. The very use of the material means that spreads to the environment, either immediately or eventually. Zinc, for example, reaches the environment from galvanised iron and steel constructions; copper from copper roofing; nickel and chrome from stainless steel, and so on.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

The material may be a scarce resource. Here, we have to distinguish between two types of scarcity. For renewable materials the extractable amount per time unit that limited. A field, for example, can only produce a certain amount of wheat per year. The availability of freshwater in a given area limited the catchment. For non-renewable materials the total available amount that imposes the limit. There for example, only a finite amount of exploitable phosphorus the world below.

see

The following table shows the most important reasons for reducing the extraction of different materials. naturally highly simplified — there may well be other reasons. The important point that usually

the environmental reasons, not the risk of scarcity, that should impose the limits for our extraction non-renewable materials. There one

important exception, however: phosphorus. Phosphorus mainly used as a fertiliser and cannot be substituted any other substance. There are two further, albeit less important, reasons for limiting the extraction of materials:

O The material may involve problems waste disposal in terms of sheer volumes. Large amounts of construction and demolition waste, excavated earth and rocks and other environmentally harmless materials are currently deposited at sites that mainly are intended for household waste and other problematic forms more of waste. Space for waste disposal in short supply, both in purely physical terms and because people are unwilling to accept waste disposal sites in the vicinity of their homes. If these volumes

were to be put to good use instead, the volume problem would be

reduced.

The material may litter the environment. Aluminium an cans are excellent example many of them will end up in the natural — environment, however much done to collect them. They represent a highly unwelcome form of litter, particularly considering the fact that they are so prominent and will remain intact for centuries.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

How can extraction be limited

The prime goal to limit the extraction of materials from nature so that the five problem areas listed above can be either solved reduced or to acceptable levels. Acceptable levels are discussed below. One of the methods of limiting extraction of a given material would, of course, be to refrain from using the material in question for certain or perhaps even all purposes. In many cases, this may prove to be the simplest method. Since a technocycle can never be completely closed, particularly hazardous substances should be completely phased out. Sweden has therefore decided to phase out the use of cadmium, mercury and lead the long term, for instance. There are many materials and uses which we would like to be able to continue with, but without allowing any of the above-mentioned environmental problems to take on unacceptable proportions, even in the long term. this to be done, efforts must be made to handle these materials closed cycles within the technosphere so that they do not flow directly from the technosphere out into the environment or from the technosphere to the landfills. Or, more correctly, since we will never be able to eliminate all such undesirable flows of materials, we must try to handle the materials such a way that the outflow from the technosphere never exceeds acceptable levels. The extraction of a given material may therefore be limited in two

fundamentally different ways: reducing the flow of the material within the technosphere or closing the flow within the technosphere. These

measures represent means to the end, not the end in itself. In order to limit the extraction of a given material X, the following should be done:

O In goods containing X, which X can be substituted a less problematic material, X should be substituted by this material. This the substitution principle as laid down in Swedish legislation concerning chemical products. Substitution in the broader meaning of the word may mean that the substance X can be replaced a measure which has the same effect. One such example when timber constructions are designed so that chemical wood preservation agents are rendered unnecessary.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

O Reduce the use of goods containing X X spread the to environment by virtue of such and X not theoreticaluse even recyclable, e.g. lead in petrol and shot, zinc galvanised metal roofs, tin in boat paints, etc.

O Reduce the of such goods in where X reaches the use cases disposal stage which makes recycling theoretically possible - but where X mixed with other materials that becomes so impracticable to recover for recycling. Examples include copperchrome-arsenic in pressure-impregnated timber, metal compounds in paints, metals and plastics composite materials and number a of metal components in buildings.

O Develop systems which that other goods containing X really mean are collected to extent and condition that makes recycling an a possible. the flows of X in the technosphere few in number are and concentrated, will be generally simpler and less resourceintensive to collect the material than there large number are a of diluted flows. This means that the of goods containing range X should be limited and that will be easier to collect them in urban than in rural areas.

O Develop, techniques for recycling X. necessary,

O Recycle X from the collected goods.

Which rates of extraction of different materials are

compatible with sustainability

So far, I have tried to show why the extraction of different materials from nature may need to be limited and the principles which this can be done. The next question how far should with such one go restrictions. possible to state maximum figure for extraction of X a which compatible with sustainable development In other words, what the maximum extraction of X that nature and human life can withstand the long run This difficult question, and discussed a more detail in the chapter on sustainability. Here, I shall content myself saying that minimum condition for sustainability be a must

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

that environmental impact which irreversible and which no occurs becomes time Activities which have such more severe as goes on. impact by definition non-sustainable, since the effects would sooner are later reach unacceptable levels, regardless of how such levels are or defined, and since such impact would persist for This condition ever. applies in fact where environmental cases most cases, — —that should the limits for the extraction of materials from concern set

nature. When phosphorus and other non-renewable materials comes to where the danger of shortages which impose the limits, the question harder impossible to Phosphorus in fertilisers not answer. be substituted anything else. Every time phosphate can never removed from the phosphate deposits of the world, the amount of

phosphate available future generations reduced, regardless of the to fact that techniques will probably make economically new recovery feasible phosphate minerals which cannot be used today. In the to use future be feasible extract phosphorus from seawater, which may to will that phosphorus will have become practically inexhaustible mean a will then become of the substances for which the resource. one environmental effects which set the limits for how much we can use. The only thing that be said for the moment that extraction of can phosphate should be limited as much possible and that all use of as phosphorus should be phased out in applications, such as detergents,

where be substituted other materials. can The question of management of other non-renewable materials still

remains, however. This, and other, issues dealt with a Swedish were parliamentary committee, the Commission Natural Resources and on Environment, which appointed in 1979. In 1983 this Commisthe was

sion submitted its report Use and husbanding of natural resources

which proposed five ethical for

SOU1983:56, Swedish norms

of natural in Sweden. The fourth of these the management resources stated that non-renewable natural should be used in norms resources such make them last. This was, however, so vague that a way as to provided little guidance. The Commission commented:

When issuing guidelines for the management of non-renewable possible to stipulate the condition that the rate resources, not of consumption should be adapted to the needs of future

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

generations. A condition of this sort would be impossible to fulfil. However low the rate of extraction of each individual nonrenewable resource may be, shortages will sooner or later arise which will give rise to difficulties, unless mankind able to reduce dependence on the resource in question before that time by modifying requirements andor substitution. An ethical norm for the extraction of non-renewable resources will therefore be inherently inexact and open to a range of interpretations.

The Swedish Government and the Riksdag have since spoken in favour of sustainable management of non-renewable natural in resources different contexts without stating, naturally enough, how far they — consider that the resources should last. The Government Bill A living environment prop. 199091:90 stated that The objective of environmental policy to manage natural resources to long—term ensure use. The Ecocycle Bill prop. 1992932180 said The achievement of total balance a Utopian idea, but we can do much to streamline and reduce our use of resources so that the collective natural assets of the world will last longer. Eternal sustainability impossible, in principle. This still the goal towards which we should strive, however. would therefore be very valuable we could reach some sort of agreement what meant on statements to the effect that non-renewable natural resources should be used in such a way as to make them last, so that they can be utilised in the long term or last longer. How much longer A hundred

years A thousand years Ten thousand years A question of this sort

impossible to answer, of course. impossible to apportion given a non-renewable resource to the people of the world such a way that will suffice for a predetermined period of time. In any circumstances, however, one must bear a time scale of at least a thousand years in mind when contributing to the depletion of a non-renewable resource. Pending evidence to the contrary, the present generation must assume that the resource in question will be required for long time to a come. Finally, when comes to biomass, simple matter principle a to state limits for sustainable extraction. In the long term, we cannot extract more than the yield. This applies to vegetable and animal products alike.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

The applies to freshwater. the amount that flows in that same determines the amount we can take out.

The ecocycle society

A society which applies principles of cyclic materials management can be described as follows:

The material flows in the ecocycle society will have been reduced and

closed to such a degree that:

flows from society into nature can be added to the natural cycles

—— without causing unacceptable environmental impact, even in a very

long-term perspective,

extraction non-renewable materials sharpbl limited in order to —

resources for coming generations,

preserve

supplies of biomass and water satisfy the needs of mankind without

— extraction exceeding growth inflow. or

The origin of the ecocycle principle

The fact that the of different materials lead to environmental use may problems scarcity of logical consequence of two or resources a fundamental laws of nature that have been known for several hundred material indestructible, and everything spreads. In recent years, years: these insights have been incorporated in words like ecocycle 97SS re-use, , re-cycling, minimum-resource technology, management of natural resources and environmentally sound products. has been said that recycling a pre-condition of sustainability in society. The problems surrounding management mismanagement of or natural have long been the subject of international environresources mental debate. A full list of all the Swedish and international documents which have taken these issues would be long, so I will content up myself with mentioning few reports that have been particularly a

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

important in the development of Swedish policies on the environment and natural resources during the past twenty years. One early example which attracted a great deal of attention in its day was the report Limits to Growth, commissioned the Club of Rome the early 19705. The main findings of this report were that humanity was danger of exhausting the worlds non-renewable resources and that the use of materials was itself generating environmental problems. The report posed the question as follows:

What happens to the metals and fuels extracted from the earth after they have been used and discarded In one sense they are never lost. Their constituent atoms are rearranged and eventually dispersed in a diluted and unusable form into the air, the soil and the waters of our planet... little wonder, then, that another exponentially increasing quantity in the world system pollution.

The above—mentioned Parliamentary Commission proposed, among other things, that the use of heavy metals and other elements rare should be mapped out, in general but comprehensive terms, since their use per se results in the substances being dispersed the environment sooner or later. In its report, the Commission stated that measures should be proposed as considered justified order to counteract the accumulation of unacceptable quantities or concentrations of such

substances in areas of the country. This proposal did not, however,

result any immediate action on the part of the Government or the authorities. The report Our Common Future, published the World Commission

on Environment and Development 1987 known as the Brundtland

Report introduced the concept of sustainable development. In the context of non—renewable natural resources, the Commission wrote:

With minerals and fossil fuels, the rate of depletion and the emphasis on recycling and economy of use should be calibrated to ensure that the resource does not run out before acceptable substitutes are available. Sustainable development requires that the rate of depletion of non—renewable resources should foreclose as few future options possible. as

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Here, the world recycling As in the report from the Club of appears. Rome, however, the emphasis the risk of finite resources on becoming not on the dangers to the environment which may scarce, arise from their although the context of fossil fuels the Brundtuse, land Report did highlight both scarcity and the environmental impact

of use. The United Nations Conference Environment and Development on in Rio in 1992 adopted programme of action for the coming century, a Agenda 21. Issues taken this programme include the current up unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, particularly the industrialised nations. Chapter 4 states that Reducing the among of and materials used unit in the production of amount energy per goods and services contribute to the alleviation of environmental can stress. According to Agenda 21, governments should therefore cooperate with industry and the general public to promote sound use of renewable natural industry and management and resources, re-use introduction of environmentally sound products. Waste issues are more dealt with in Chapters 20-22, where recycling plays a prominent role. In the beginning of 1993, the Swedish Government presented the Ecocycle Bill mentioned above. This Bill stated that more efficient management would be essential sustainable development resource be achieved, including transition to cyclic management of materials. to a also stated that the ecocycle society would be more economical with reduce its impact the environment and preserve biological resources, on diversity. The Bill adopted the Riksdag without amendment. The was Government has appointed special delegation, the Ecocycle Commisa sion, whose directives include drawing up proposals concerning a for work the application of ecocycle principles in the goods strategy on sector. This Bill contained both general guidelines and concrete legislative proposals number of below, including waste. In other

a areas see

countries, such Germany and the Netherlands, similar measures have as been taken in the field of packaging, for instance. Sweden has, however, adopted cyclic approach to society at large and has stated a clear a goal: the ecocycle society. The Ecocycle Bill represents the start of a phase in environmental conservation and the management of new natural resources Sweden.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Where do we start

The thought processes which are to result a long-term and wellconsidered strategy to limit the extraction of materials from nature should begin as far upstream as possible, starting with the raw materials. These are few number and therefore easier to overview. The non-renewable materials consist of metals, of which there are no more than ten or so that are used to any great extent apart from the new metals used in areas such as electronics, solar collectors energy and superconductors, etc.; oil, gas and coal; phosphorus, a unique resource; and certain minerals and bulk materials such gravel, stone as and limestone, etc. The renewable materials consist of various types of biomass. Water, i.e. clean freshwater the right place, also a renewable material. If, for instance, the net input of a given metal to society to be reduced, the patterns of use of that particular metal must be identified. How use divided between different areas of application Which uses mean that the metal difficult impossible to recover Which or applications would be cheapest, kg metal, to cut down per on or even refrain from completely When an analysis of this sort has been completed in fairly general terms, should be possible how to see one could achieve a certain desirable reduction of the total consumption of the metal. If, however, one were to start searching the thousands of among different goods we use, there would be great likelihood of incorrect a decisions. Where would start, all the goods in single one among a department store Even without a comprehensive analysis, still identify indione can vidual goods for which there is.no doubt that net consumption should be reduced, either via recycling other Measures of this sort or measures. have been taken in Sweden for batteries, solvents, number of goods a containing cadmium, mercury thermometers, etc. Further measures were announced in the Ecocycle Bill, including action against chlorine and chlorinated compounds, cleaning agents, certain types of packaging, paper, nickel-cadmium batteries, certain types of plastic, and scrap cars and tyres.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Final comments

Naturally, will be easy matter to develop an ecocycle society. All no from trade and industry to public bodies and private consumers, individuals, will have to refrain from many of the goods that are now commonplace. They will have to become accustomed to new goods, and them in Many conventional manufacturing processes will use new ways. have to be replaced A lot of new technology will have to new ones. be developed. The industries which materials will decline extract raw materials really are led into closed cycles the technosphere, the once need for virgin materials will diminish. The countries that are at the forefront of this development will meet with protests from those that lag behind, since their manufacturing and materials industries will raw face difficulties. Ecocycle adaptation essential, however, we are to achieve sustainable development. In no way does this imply a return to a more primi- tive lifestyle. On the contrary, a sustainable society will be a high—tech society in the best meaning of the word a society which — far renewable materials and renewable energy sources are more raw used than the today and which applies intelligent technology to case reduce the consumption of finite resources to a fraction of what

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World Zink Extraction

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

The above diagram shows the rate at which the world has been extracting zinc, from the bronze age to the present day. The shaded area beneath the curve shows the total amount of zinc which has been extracted to date. About 150 million tonnes were extracted between the bronze age and the mid-1970s. During the following twenty—five years we extracted the same amount again. Even we were to freeze the extraction of zinc at today’s level, we will have extracted as much zinc within the next generation as we have done to the present day. up One common, and quite reasonable, assumption that Sweden accounts for 1 per cent of the world market. The total zinc input to the Swedish technosphere can thus be estimated at 3 million tonnes. An unknown proportion of this zinc has already found its into the way Swedish environment, all will later, apart from the little as sooner or which we succeed in isolating landfills where will remain for all — eternity. The amount of zinc involved here many times greater than the total of all point emissions of zinc to date.

Zinc only one example. The situation similar for other

nonrenewable resources. The use of different materials will, in the long run, lead to the spread of harmful substances in environment in our quantities that are orders of magnitude greater than inputs from industrial emissions and other point sources, unless learn to we can handle such materials better than have been doing to date. we

On the General Principles of Environment Protection The most important for reducing the extraction of different reasons materials

Extraction harms the The material hanns The material in environment the environment short supply Non-renewable

other scarce elements

Renewable

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Henning Rodhe THE CONCEPT OF CRITICAL

LOADS

Background

The term critical load first appeared when acidification of soil and surface waters in Europe became an issue and discussion focused on the extent to which sulphur and nitrogen oxide emissions would have to be reduced Nilsson, 1986; Nilsson and Grennfelt, 1988. Previously,

the objectives had been expressed general terms acid deposition far too high, so emissions must be reduced the form of targets

or

e.g. the 30 per cent target for reductions in sulphur dioxide emissions

without any clear link with the actual damage. During recent years, a lot of work has been devoted to specifying critical loads for acidifying substances on the basis of more scientific criteria Kämäri et al., 1992; Sverdrup et al., 1992; Henriksen et al., 1992, well to mapping out as as the relevant loads in geographical terms, with due regard to the sensitivity of soils and surface waters Hettelingh et al., 1991; Kuylenstierna and Chadwick, 1989. A historical overview has been provided Brodin and Kuylenstierna 1992. Today, the critical load concept plays an important role in EC negotiations aimed at reducing acid deposition in Europe. The term critical load has also been applied to toxic metal deposition Tyler et al., 1988. A corresponding term, critical level, has into come use in the context of damage caused high concentrations of toxic gases, particularly ground-level ozone ECE 1988; Grennfelt, 1993. Similar concepts have also been suggested conjunction with climate change Rijsberman and Swart, 1990.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Definitions

To aid discussion, I shall begin by providing some brief definitions of critical load and certain related terms. Critical load the highest load at which no harm caused to the environment, even after long-terrn exposure. When comes to acidification, the limits are generally expressed terms of deposition of sulphur, nitrogen hydrogen ions per surface unit and time unit. or The corresponding definition applies for heavy metals. For ozone

damage, the limits critical levels are expressed as the sum of the

hourly concentration values during a vegetation period exozone pressed ppb hours. In the context of climate, an appropriate as might consist of critical rate of change in the mean global measure a temperature expressed in degrees Celsius per decade. Target load the load which set up as the goal at any given time on the basis of political and administrative criteria. The term target level defined correspondingly. From the ecological point of view, this limit

should be either the same, or lower, than the critical load level for the

most susceptible ecosystems or for human life. In reality, often higher for practical technological and economic feasibility, reasons which that certain amount of environmental impact means a accepted, at least on a temporary basis.

Related terms that are applied in various areas include:

Pollution space; which refers to the amount of a pollutant which may be released in particular reservoir before harmful effects begin to appear. a Assimilative capacity similar term which has mainly been used in the a context of marine recipients.

Target values for air quality in urban These target values indicate

areas. the levels of air pollutants CO, N02, 80,, for instance which - should not be exceeded. They are mainly based on estimates of health risks. Similar target values also exist for other types of air and water pollution.

Dose threshold for deterministic effects of ionising radiation on human tissue defined as the dose level below which the function of the tissue would not be impaired by the killing of cells ICRP, 1991. Radiological

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

criteria are also being developed for ecosystems, on the basis of dose rate limit. This limit defined as the level below which observable changes species and ecosystems are unlikely to occur. interesting to note that for stochastic effects, where irradiated cells are modified but not killed, no threshold believed to exist. In this case, the probability of cancer non-zero even at very low doses, and increases with increment of dose.

Tolerable daily intake indicates the amount which can be taken per person and day without any unacceptable health effects. This term used by WHO, for instance, conjunction with intake of metals.

Applications

A. The impact of acidification

In the context of acidification, there can be little doubt that critical loads have played an important role in the discussions of recent years on reducing sulphur and nitrogen emissions in Europe, and have helped to provide a fair idea of the reductions required order to avoid further harm. By mapping out the geographical distribution of critical

loads on the basis of the local geologies and ecosystems, moreover,

has been possible to compile data as a platform to enable serious discussion of how the reductions should be distributed in regional terms and thus maximise the benefits of a given economic Table 1 measure. shows the latest estimates of critical loads for sulphur and nitrogen deposition in various parts of Sweden. Discussion of critical loads has also prompted researchers to look into the long-term resistance of soils and watercourses and their ability to recover from acidification deposition were to decline. The USA views critical loads with greater reservation, since there greater disagreement among researchers as to the definition of the term and not compatible with the present formulation of the Clean Air Act. There also greater reluctance among politicians to implement emission reductions. There are also certain inherent difficulties the term which may limit its usefulness. One objection that emissions have been onoe brought down to the presumed critical load, there nothing to encourage further reductions. When the real load lower than the

On the General Principles of Envimnment Protection

critical load, or about the same, the term becomes dangerously similar to pollution space or assimilative capacity, concepts which have in several cases proven to be not only unworkable but even hazardous. The reason for this that very difficult to prove that a critical load really safe and that a lower load would not be better. In several cases, has been shown that diffuse, widespread impact has occurred despite the fact that emissions have been kept within what was regarded as the pollution space. This approach reminiscent of the factory chimney philosophy of the 1950s and 1960s, which meant that local target values for sulphur dioxide could be met while regional acidification problems were exacerbated. In the light of the above, one might claim that the term critical load most applicable in situations where the real load well in of the critical figure. This assumes, of course, that scientific data excess available to allow the critical load to be determined and that possible to provide an adequate estimate of the relationship between the load and the emissions that cause Another problem associated with the way in which one views the most susceptible areas of ecosystems. These are often already sacrificed when determining critical loads, on the pretext that the figure would otherwise be impracticably low.

B. Heavy metals When to heavy metals, environmental goals have been comes discussed both for forested land and for agricultural land. With what known today, however, only possible to make very general statements such as efforts should be made to ensure that the long-tenn balance in terms of metals the soil ecosystem kept at a level such to eliminate the risk of undesirable impact by a wide safety margin, as and in the short-term, the large—scale accumulation of metals in the

humus layer of the soil should be as small as possible Swedish

Environmental Protection Agency, 1993.

C. Ground-level ozone When comes to the impact of high levels of ground-level ozone, the term critical level has played less prominent role to date. This to a some extent attributable to the fact that ozone formed as a result of complicated and as yet not fully explained processes involving a —— ——— number of precursors: nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and hydrocar-

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

bons. A further complication that the ozone levels which damage crops and other vegetation do not exceed the natural levels by a factor of more than about two. This that order to judge the means anthropogenic contribution of the observed ozone levels, high a very background level must be taken into account. The inherent difficulties of the critical load concept mentioned under section A above also apply this case.

D. Persistent toxic compounds For certain types of toxic substances, including persistent organic compounds, the term critical limit somewhat problematic since all loads can be expected to result damage sooner or later. The critical limit should be zero.

E. Climate change In the context of the climate, one could hardly claim that critical loads

or corresponding concepts have played any significant role to date.

Rijsberman and Swart 1990 have suggested that temperature rise of a 0.1 degrees per decade could be a reasonable maximum global rate of change which would allow the ecosystem to adjust. This based on the fact that the natural temperature variations during the past centuries would seem to have remained within this limit and that these variations therefore define the maximum level for natural climatic stress for the Earths ecosystem. There however, little agreement ecologists among and climate researchers that this the best figure to use, or even the right type of critical limit to specify. One obvious problem that a global temperature change says little about changes in specific regions. An anthropogenic climate change of the global same mean value as earlier natural changes would not necessarily result in the same regional patterns of change. Above and beyond the limit for the rate of temperature change, total

global limits of between 1 degree low-risk limit and 2 degrees high-

risk limit above the pre—industrial level have also been suggested

Rijsberman and Swart, 1990. These limits based estimated are on temperature fluctuations over the past millennium. They of are particular relevance when comes to the long-term impact of rising sea level, for instance.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Safety margins

There justification for including safety margins when determining the various limit values defined above. WHO, for instance, has raised this point in the context of urban air quality,stating safety factors of 2-5 for substances with relatively insignificant and short-lived effects, or up to 5 000 for substances which may have a serious impact and to which many people are exposed for long periods of time. The critical loads for sulphur and nitrogen deposition, like the critical levels for ozone, include no safety factor. Nor, evidently, do the above limit values for temperature change. the precautionary principle applied to the critical loads, would probably be necessary to reduce

them to a level considerably below the estimated figures see Tables 1

and 2. The corresponding argument also applies to limits for global temperature change. open to discussion whether the safety margins should be included in the critical limits purely as a matter of principle or whether they should be included in the targets themselves. In the former case would be primarily up to the researchers to judge the uncertainty in the scientific data; in the latter would be for the politicians to make the final assessment of which risks are acceptable.

Conclusions

The term critical load useful and valuable for general assessments of the need for reductions acidifying substances in strongly polluted regions. Further work required, however, in order to gain a better idea of loads which would be risk-free in the long term and which would include reasonable safety margins. More must be done, moreto estimate critical loads for other, less acidified areas of the over, world cf. Kuylenstierna et al., 1992. When comes to the damage caused by ground-level ozone, much better scientific data are required before the concept can be used to develop effect-oriented control strategies. The problem consists partly of the difficulty of relating ozone levels to emissions of precursors and partly of the relatively high natural ozone levels. When comes to the climate, can hardly be claimed that any viable method of defining critical limits has been put forward to date,

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

even less that has been possible to quantify such limits. Continued discussion of these issues, among researchers and decision-makers alike, a matter of the utmost importance.

REFERENCES

Brodin Y.-W. and Kuylenstierna, J .C. 1992. Acidification and critical loads in Nordic countries: A background. Ambio 21, 332-338.

ECE, 1988. Report from ECE Critical levels workshop held in Bad Harzburg, F.R.G., March 14-18 1988. Umweltbundesamt. Berlin.

Grennfelt, P. 1993. The critical levels for ozone and the necessary reduction of the emissions of ozone precursors. The Swedish NGO Secretariat on Acid Rain.

Henriksen, A., Kämäri, J., Posch, M. and Wilander, A. 1992. Critical loads for surface waters in the Nordic countries. Ambio 21, 356-363.

Hettelingh, J-P., Downing, R.J. and de Smet, P.A.M. eds. Mapping critical loads for Europe. CCE Technical Report No. National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.

ICRP 1991. 1990 Reoommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection, ICRP Publication 60. Annals of the ICRP 21 1-3. Pergamon Press, Oxford.

Kämäri, J., Amann, M., Brodin, Y-W., Chadwick, M.J., Henriksen, A., Hettelingh, J.-P., Kuylenstierna, J Posch, M. and Sverdrup, H. 1992. The use ., of critical loads for the assessment of future alternatives to acidification. Ambio 21, 377-386.

Kuylenstierna, J.C.I. and Chadwick, M.J. 1989. The relative sensitivity of ecosystems in Europe to the indirect effects of acidic deposition. In Kämäri et al. eds. Regional Acidification Models. Springer Verlag, Heidelberg, 3- 21.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Kuylenstierna J.C.I., Cinderby, and Chadwick, M.J. 1992. A preliminary mapping of relative sensitivity of terrestrial ecosystems to acidic deposition in Asia. In Foell, W.K. and Green, C.W. eds. Proceedings of Third Annual Conference on Acid Rain and Emissions in Asia. Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok.

Nilsson, ed. 1986. Critical loads for nitrogen and sulphur. Nordic Council of Ministers, Environmental report 1986:11. Copenhagen, Denmark.

Nilsson, and Grennfelt, P. eds. 1988. Critical loads for sulphur and nitrogen. Nordic Council of Ministers, Environmental report 1988:15. Copenhagen, Denmark.

Rijsberman, F. R. and Swart, R. Eds. 1990. Targets and indicators of climatic change. Report from the Stockholm Environment Institute.

SNV 1993. Ett miljöanpassat samhälle. Aktionsprogram Miljö 93. Statens naturvårdsverk, Stockholm.

Sverdrup, H., Warfvinge, P., Frogner, T., Håöya, A.O., Johansson, M. and Andersen, M. 1992. Critical loads for forest soils in the Nordic countries. Ambio 21, 348-355.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection Table 1.a Typical critical loads for sulphur in forested land and surface waters; current deposition and necessary reductions in different parts of Sweden.

Critical load Current deposi- Necessary

NB: Typical critical loads and deposition refer only to anthropogenic sulphur deposition. Non-acidifying sulphur deposition from salts sea not included. Current deposition consists of mean values for squares of 50 x 50 km.

Table 1.b Typical critical loads for nitrogen deposition soil, current on deposition and necessary reductions.

Critical load Current deposi- Necessary kg tion reduction

Determined according to the risk of nitrogen leaching or changes in vegetation in forested land and mires. 7 Mean deposition for 50 x 50 km Squares, 1989-1992.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Arne Jernelöv

THE PRECAUTIONARY

PRINCIPLE

Caution in environmental contexts

The precautionary principle can be said to be a philosophical expression of the self—preservation instinct that we all tend to apply in all our actions. The principle has been referred to increasingly often in the argumentation of the environmental movement in recent years, particularly since a preparatory UNCED meeting in Bergen in 1990 gave international acceptance. Such references often take the form of very general statements such as it wise to be cautious or one should not take action without being able to predict the consequences. In southern Europe, references often include formulations related to a central concept of Roman justice the good family father. — was Germany that the precautionary principle first appeared in environmental legislation, albeit with the implicit qualification that economic considerations should be taken into account. This has been discussed Konrad von Moltke the IEEP Report The Vorsorgeprinzip in West German Environmental Policy 1987. Lengthy negotiations were held prior to UNCED and the Rio Declaration, and the precautionary principle was one of the subjects covered. Legal experts discussed choices of words and punctuation and negotiators scrutinised the formulations the light of desirable and undesirable consequences at international level. The result was Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration, which was worded as follows:

In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for post-

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

ponin g cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.

Since the Rio Declaration has been signed large number of a very countries, including Sweden, this can be regarded as the official formulation. Reference to any other formulation of the precautionary principle international environmental contexts would only lead to confusion. Even so, one can observe that the precautionary principle as framed the Rio Declaration considerably circumscribed by virtue of reservations and references to the capabilities of states and to costeffective measures, thus reducing its importance as a lodestar for environmental protection. Nor there clarification of when any a threat to be considered imminent and how scientific certainty to be interpreted. On the other hand, this vagueness represented the price of broad international acceptance, which a prerequisite the principle to be of any significance at all. When interpreting the precautionary principle, the fact that deals

with environmental decisions involving scientific uncertainty of

paramount importance. In this respect, clearly related to the principle of reverse burden of proof, which states that not guilt but innocence that to be proven. However, the precautionary principle circumvents the theoretical pitfall that non-existence can never be proven. Outside the environmental field, parallels with the precautionary principle can be found national regulations pharmaceuticals and health protection.

Environmental experience

worth calling to mind the environmental experiences upon which the precautionary principle was based when was put forward Bergen: Many classic environmental problems acidification Scandinavia, —— methyl mercury poisoning Minamata and the effects of DDT and its metabolites on bird reproduction, for instance persisted long after — the problems had been discovered and the causes identified, since the polluters claimed that the exact quantitative causal relationships had not been established and that was therefore impossible to judge the

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

action required at their facilities in order to adequately limit the problem. The precautionary principle gained international acceptance as a means of avoiding this sort of time delay in the future and preventing the effects from being exacerbated pending the findings of research into the mechanisms and links between doses and effects.

Application: General issues

quite clear that many of the environmental issues and problems that call for solutions will differ from those which provided the basis for the formulation of the precautionary principle. At the time, same quite clear that the purpose of fonnulating principles for environmental protection to avoid similar, albeit not identical, problems to those which have been experienced the past. What similar can, and should, be interpreted to mean clearly matter of opinion. Among a other things, the application of the precautionary principle requires answers to the following general questions:

O the precautionary principle applicable to something which does not

yet exist or only to the effects of current activities

Although the formulation of the Rio Declaration does not actually say so, the work on the drafts and negotiation documents shows that the principle was intended to cover future events. This becomes particularly clear the context of cost—effective solutions, which involve may more stringent requirements for newly-built facilities than for existing ones. The precautionary principle applicable to things that do not exist at the present time.

O Can the precautionary principle be applied to structure, such a as a

factory building or road, when not the structure itself but the

activities conducted there which are expected to give rise to the main environmental impact

In this case, there little guidance to be found the drafts and among negotiations prior to the Rio Declaration. Parallels will have to be sought other areas, such as laws and regulations concerning weapons and medical equipment. Here, the point of departure would to appear

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

be that anything, such as a gun or a syringe, designed for a specific purpose then can be assumed that to be used for that purpose. Manufacture, sale and possession are regulated thereafter. not considered advisable simply to issue regulations for use. Analogously, the precautionary principle should be applicable to structures which are designed for a specific purpose, for example a motorway or a bridge, while the question of a factory building depends on how purposespecific the construction is. Consideration of this issue should not cover just the structure itself, but also the consequences of planned use. When comes to quantitative aspects, the point of departure should be that the full capacity of the facility will be utilised unless strict rules on the degree of utilisation andor emissions can be linked with the licence to put the facility into operation.

O Is the precautionary principle applicable only single object, to a or

does cover the entire chain possible consequences

All human activity has an impact on the environment. The scope of such environmental impact depends on the scope of the activities. If one were to apply a form of Kant’s categorical imperative to the environmental field and say that The only actions which are permissible are those which every person can do to the same extent where he or she lives without the environment ever being harmed, then very few things would be permissible. Jones would be unable to build a 100m greenhouse the condition was that the environment should be able to support 5 billion identical greenhouses. Nobody would be permitted to drive a car or light a wood fire. The logical consequence of this that the environmental impact and permissibility of an activity must be limited to the foreseeable consequences of the decision in question. The precautionary principle must also be circumscribed the proviso that can only be applied to individual links and not to the entire chain in all its unknown length. In practical and administrative terms, this must be solved by new independent tests where the point of departure not that the earlier

decision prejudicial If Jones could build a greenhouse, so can I

but that the question of whether the benefit of one further link in the chain under consideration will outweigh the environmental impact. At the time each decision reached, the precautionary principle applicable only to the individual object and its direct consequences.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Another aspect on the application of the precautionary principle becomes apparent one considers emissions from a specific of group substances greenhouse gases, for instance. — As we have observed above, the precautionary principle arose in the light of experience of the difficulty of quickly solving environmental problems that had in many cases been caused long-range pollution. The precautionary principle thus applicable to greenhouse gases. In this case, the problem identified the light of the entire chain, whose individual links consist of the activities that give rise to the emissions. Since the entire chain the sum total of its links, the precautionary principle must be extended down the chain and applied to the activities from which the problem originates. The above argument thus leads to the conclusion that the precautionary principle limited only to the direct future when consequences applied to an activity, but that must also cover all the underlying causes when applied to a problem. should be stressed that the object of the precautionary principle, like that of other environmental principles, can scarcely be that should be used to select and eliminate known dangers in favour of unknown ones. This problem discussed further in the chapter the on substitution principle.

The precautionary principle in Sweden

One could say that one of the cornerstones Swedish environmental legislation that up to any person wishing to conduct activity an that can be expected to have an impact the environment to on prove that this not the that the impact

case or outweighed by the

benefit. If the activity found to be acceptable from the environmental point of view, a licence can be granted, otherwise not. The drafts of the Environment Protection Act also state that the general public should not be the to suffer from uncertainty surroundones any ing the danger of a given substance. Together with other expressions of the precautionary principle in Swedish law, these two instances however, symptomatic of are, a somewhat archaic national approach. The that environmental awareness problems are often international, not global, in evidence in more the proposals of the Commission of Inquiry Environment Protection on

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

concerning a new Environmental Code SOU 1993:27. This contains both the precautionary principle and the underlying principles as expressed in the text of the law itself. Even without pre-empting the legislation, the impression that the precautionary principle enjoys a strong position Swedish environmental legislation. A comparison between the precautionary principle as expressed the Rio Declaration and current Swedish law shows that the older Swedish law focuses on the environmental impact of the individual object, while both the Rio Declaration and the proposals of the Commission of Inquiry on Environment Protection concerning a new Environmental Code also take other broader issues, such as climatic impact, into account. The proposals in the Environmental Code show more clearly than the Rio Declaration the preventive nature of the precautionary principle and do not involve the same clear limitation with respect to cost—effectiveness.

Cost-Effectiveness

Cost effectiveness not expressly a principle for environmental work, but clear references to cost-effective solutions are often made in environmental contexts such as Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration —— the precautionary principle and both current and proposed sub- — stitution regulations. When one studies references to cost-effectiveness among various environmental players, becomes clear that there are two different views of what the term actually means. One interpretation that measures are cost-effective when the cost of the damage that arises the measure not taken greater than the cost of the measure itself. The other interpretation that a cost-effective measure the cheapest

way to attain a given environmental goal e.g. an emission restriction

regardless of whether has been possible to estimate the economic scope of the damage, or of the results of such an estimate. In this second interpretation, the cost of a possible measure compared with the cost of alternative measures. The strictest and most austere interpretation naturally that both criteria must be met a measure to be termed cost-effective. The cost of the measure question should be lower than both the cost of the damage in the absence of measures and of the cost of alternative

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

measures. If, however, one examines the contexts in which references are made to cost-effectiveness such as the above-mentioned Principle — 15 of the Rio Declaration this strict interpretation would not seem —— to be the most plausible one. Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration says that lack of scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost—effective measures. Scientific certainty in the form of quantified causes and effects should most cases be an essential prerequisite for the calculation of the marginal cost of damage and for comparing this cost with the marginal cost of measures. If, order to determine whether a cost—effective measure available, one were to require the very scientific certainty that the polluter pays principle states not to be required, the legal experts and diplomats behind the Rio Declaration will have created Catch 22. a This can hardly have been their intention, which suggests that a measure cost—effective definition the most inexpensive alternative. This means that the definition of cost-effectiveness in terms of environmental economy will differ from the accepted economic one. This fact may cause some confusion, but essential to recognise the environmental principles from Rio are to be anything other than a play for the political gallery. In purely practical tenns, there good reason this context to highlight the fact that our resources are limited. often said that every 50 per cent cut emissions of a substance costs equal an amount. The first 50 per cent of purification thus costs roughly as much as the following 25 per cent or the following 12.5 per cent. This means that, in terms of total purification, the effect per unit of money will be greater both globally and regionally one concentrates resources - — on the areas where the problems are greatest. A given sum of money at the current time will often do more good in eastern Europe, where environmental work has been extremely neglected until recently, than in Sweden, where we already have a relatively effective overall environmental effort. This also applies a local Swedish perspective.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Arne Jernelöv

THE SUBSTITUTION PRINCIPLE

The idea behind the substitution principle that substances and products which represent danger to health and the environment a are to be substituted by less dangerous The wording of the principles ones. determines whether the technical and economic circumstances will be attributed greater or lesser importance. Unlike most other environmental protection principles, the substitution principle not really covered the Rio Declaration other or international agreements.

Current and proposed legislation

In current Swedish law, the substitution principle to be found in § 5 of the Act 1985:426 on Chemical Products, which that: says

Anyone handling or importing chemical product shall take such a steps and otherwise observe such precautions to as are necessary prevent or minimise harm to human beings to the or environment. This includes avoiding chemical products for which less hazardous substitutes are available.

In Chapter 3 § 5 of the proposed Environmental Code, the substitution more specific, stating that:

Each and every person who intends to environcauses or cause mental impact shall avoid chemicals or biotechnical products or goods which can, with significant benefit to the health, environment or long-term good management of environmental

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

be substituted chemical or biotechnical products or resources, goods which less hazardous which involve reduced use of are or natural resources.

The draft of § however, stresses the importance of the technical and

economic conditions:

If clear that certain measure of precaution required a pursuant to §§3-5 excessively expensive in relation to the benefit involves for the environment, a less expensive measure

of precaution may be chosen.

The proposals of the Swedish Commission of Inquiry on Environment Protection require that the benefits of substitution in terms of human health and the environment considerable, and that the cost not. are The Commission maintains that the change involves overall codification of generally accepted practice, but with certain changes. According to proposal, both biotechnical products and other goods with the new negative environmental impact will be subject to the regulation, not just chemical products in the prevailing wording. The substitutions as required by the law also to be significant; very minor improvements are be taken into account. also made clearer than before are not to that the substitution principle applies to everyone, not just enterprises that subject to regulation, but also private individuals who choose are petrol for their weed—killers for their gardens. cars or these changes the wording of the law take effect, certain questions surrounding the application of the substitution principle will be answered. Certain other important questions will remain, however. In practical terms, the general problem of weighing different effects against another will still arise. How severe allergies or how one many meters of dead Baltic seabed offset one case of cancer many square clear that there true but that administrative are no answers, practices must be drawn the basis of current values in society. up on In practice, often not matter of comparing one actual effect a with another, but the probability of effect with the probability of one another. The probability of negative effect by definition, a risk. a This risk naturally depends not only on the properties of a substance, but also the The risk thus be reduced by substituting on exposure. can

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

a hazardous substance by a less hazardous andor preventing the one Substance from coming into contact with the objects which affects. In Agenda 21, Chapter 19, which deals with toxic chemicals, the goal stated in item 19.48 worded as follows:

The objective of the programme area to eliminate unacceptable or unreasonable risks and, to the extent economically feasible, to reduce risks posed toxic chemicals, employing broada based approach involving a wide of risk reduction options range and by taking precautionary measures derived from broada based life-cycle analysis.

A methodological issue of principle and strategic importance that of whether the environmental danger of the substance product in or use

to be assessed, or whether the cradle to grave approach to be

adopted. A closely related question that of whether just the substance or product or the entire technical system in which used that to be assessed. A hypothetical detergent may serve as an example. The detergent contains phosphates which become may a limited and which eutrophication resource cause they reach watercourses. On the other hand, they allow washing at low temperatures, with the result that energy conversion involves less environmental impact. Should one take the material the detergent and the manufacraw turing process into account Should take the savings when one energy used into account Should consider that than 90 cent one more per of use expected to places where chemical precipitation occur

removes almost all the phosphates from the sewage

would be unreasonable to intentionally exclude available information or adopt a narrower approach than One should necessary. endeavour to adopt a holistic view almost matter of as a course, particularly at a time when life-cycle analyses in other related contexts represent an important environmental principle and method in themselves. This approach permeates the proposals of the Commission of Inquiry Environment Protection for the Environmental on new Code. Another important point which given clearer attention in the proposed Environmental Code the necessity of not allowing the search for a perfect, fully comprehensive basis for decision to result in

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

inability to take action. This be avoided by applying the polluter an can pays principle in this context too. One further factor to take into account the amount of available knowledge. Perhaps the best strategy to rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that know not of. The substitution principle we should, in not be applied in such a way that new substances any case, always classed less dangerous because know less of their risks are as we than of the older substances. This does not imply that the polluter pays principle should be set aside.

Peer reviews

One central issue in the combination of the substitution principle and polluter principle the question of when does a threat exist, or pays when suspicion scientifically founded Unlike cultural activities or a sports which judged points, there are no external judges in are science. Scientific quality assessed only scientists and researchers themselves. The prevailing system of peer reviews subject to a great deal of discussion and criticism, but all attempts to find an alternative have so far foundered. The question of what constitutes scientifically founded suspicion a in the scientific quality, through peer review. In practice, same way as the simplest thing would be to that suspicion that published say a scientific journal after customary peer review scientifically founded. a The natural and principally important attendant question is: how long does scientifically founded suspicion last What required in order to dispel it The above answer naturally provides the answer to these questions too. A study of such quality that accepted for publication in scientific journal, which examines the entire suspicion and gives a a clear should be both essential and adequate method of answer, an dispelling the suspicion. Should anyone be dissatisfied with the answer, the procedure should be repeated, with peer reviews to inspect scientific quality at all steps.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Substitution by other

measures

One further question worth taking how the substitution principle up to be applied cases where the alternative to environmentally an hazardous substance consists of another type of with the measure same effect. The example of manual clearance of undergrowth as an alternative to phenoxy acids comes to mind. In like this, not cases the substance itself that substituted, but its effect. The wording of both the current and the proposed Acts does nothing to suggest that the legislators have considered this possibility for substitution. The necessity of a holistic view of the environment discussed above, and was this also one of the recurring themes of the report of the Commission of Inquiry on Environment Protection. The conclusion that not was just the substance or the product, but the entire technical system, that to be taken into consideration when the substitution principle applied. Seen in this light. would reasonable to regard the seem use of other means to achieve the desired effect substitution. Naturally, as the technical and economic considerations remain unchanged in this type of substitution. The proposed formulation of Chapter § 5 of the proposed Environmental Code should, for the sake of clarity, be supplemented with methods, to the effect that each and every person who causes or intends to environmental impact shall avoid cause chemicals biotechnical products goods which with significant or or can,

benefit to health, environment long-term good management of environ-

or mental resources, be substituted chemical biotechnical products or or goods or methods which less hazardous which involve reduced are or use

of natural resources.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Sven-Olov Ericson

THE BEST AVAILABLE

TECHNOLOGY PRINCIPLE

Like the Polluter Pays Principle and the Precautionary Principle, the Best Available Technology Principle BAT represents fonnalisation a of common sense. The uniting feature of all these principles that anyone who causes pollution puts the environment at risk under or obligation to take action and foot the bill and remedy harm done any by existing operations. Insofar as possible, the best available technology to be used limiting emissions and reducing the risk of accidents, and precautionary measures must be taken where the even cases consequences and risks are not fully known. The principle a common component of national legislation, conventions and policy declarations a number of associated with areas emissions, pollution, risks forms of other environmental impact. or Some examples are given Annexes 1 and 2 to this chapter. BAT defined somewhat differently different international organisations. In September 1993, the European Commission proposed a new Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, IPC COM93423 OJ C311, 17.11.93. This directive will eventually —— replace present directives relating to discharges to water and air and defines best available techniques as follows:

The term Best Available Techniques signifies the latest stage

of development state of the art of activities, processes and their

methods of operation which indicate the practical suitability of a particular technique for preventing. where that not or practicable, minimising emissions to the environment whole. as a

For practical reasons, therefore, the terms technology techor niques, available and best need to be defined.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Techniques

In the draft EU directive integrated pollution prevention and on control, techniques are defined as follows:

Techniques include both the technology used and the way in which the installation designed, built, maintained and operated and decommissioned. The techniques must be industrially feasible, in the relevant industrial sector, from a technical and economic point of view.

Available

The meaning of available in BAT must always be defined in order to be of practical in specific In most cases, taken to any use a area. existing technologies procedures that can be applied at a mean or reasonable cost. The draft EU directive states that the term available refers to techniques which have been developed scale that permits on a implementation relevant industrial contexts under economically viable conditions, whether not such techniques are used or produced or inside the Member State question, as long as they are reasonably accessible to the operator. In the application of §5 of the Environment Protection Act, a technology procedure considered to be available being applied or commercial scale elsewhere in the world. This could lead to a on a Catch 22 situation which nobody needs to use a good technology until in commercial operation somewhere else. This not the case in practice, since technology often applied in some special new situation where be used inexpensively, the supplier offering can favourable tenns organisation giving priority to a certain or an environmental problem. In Gennany, the principle has been applied somewhat differently: the requirement not necessarily that the technology available on a commercial scale merely needs to have been successfully demon- —— strated.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

ln the USA, available technology the conversion and review of existing facilities assessed according to NSPS New Source — Performance Standards which, certain situations, require emission —— standards corresponding to those that applicable to corresponding are newly-built facilities. This done order to avoid projects being new disguised as conversion projects order to evade environmental requirements, which at least theoretical possibility. a ln the radiation protection field, the principle has been expressed terms of all radiation doses being minimised insofar feasible. This as contained the second principle ALARA As Low As Reason- —

ably Achievable of the International Commission Radiological

on Protection ICRP. In this context, less importance attributed to the possibility of achieving a given emission level dose using technology or that already commercial Instead. the assumption that action use. must always be taken to further reduce radiation doses, but that the limit imposed expense and other inherent problems. ln the USA, the EPA has introduced the concept of MACT —— Maximum Achievable Control Technology. According to the EPA, MAC corresponds to the 10 per cent of comparable facilities which have achieved the lowest emission levels; definition, assumed that all comparable facilities can achieve this level.

Best

When controlling emissions to the surrounding environment, the word best has often been considered to refer to the technology which has the greatest purification effect the lowest emissions and which in or commercial application somewhere the world. In the context of licence reviews pursuant to the Swedish Environment Protection Act, however, a more subtle interpretation has been used. In order for a technology to be prescribed, the costs must not exceed those moreover, which can be borne similar Sweden. In addition to a company this, there must be environmental justification for reducing emissions to this level. The burden of proof regarding environmental justification rests on the applicant, however, and unless the applicant can prove anything to the contrary, the measure considered to be environmentally justified.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

The draft EU directive states that best means most effective achieving high level of protection for the environment as a whole, a taking into account the potential benefits and costs which may result from action lack of action. does not imply, however, that there or only set of techniques which be used the operator. The best one may available techniques give special consideration to:

the use of low-waste technology; — comparable facilities or methods of operation which — processes, have recently been successfully tried out; technological advances and changes in scientific knowledge and — understanding; the nature and volume of the emissions concerned; —

the consumption of materials including water and energy

— raw used in the process and their nature; and the furthering of recycling of substances used within the process, — where appropriate.

In radiation protection, has long been considered self-evident that the best technology that which reduces radiation doses to the lowest level without incurring unreasonable marginal costs per avoided radiation dose. During the 1970s, cost the region of SEK100,000 a man-Sievert regarded good illustration of where the per was as a boundary lay between reasonable and unreasonable costs. Today, this would correspond to about SEK10 million per theoretical fatality caused by radiation, the basis of the link between radiation dose and on health hazard which was assumed at that time. This has been clear limit, however. In intention and sum never a practice alike, indicates broad interval representing the transition a from justified to unjustified costs. The implication that, when to calculating the harm done large groups of people comes among where each individual exposed to insignificant increase in risk, we an should always be prepared to invest SEK100,000 to avoid the loss of of human life, but rarely than SEK1 million IVA 287, one year more page 47.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

The development of the principle

Normally, BAT refers to technology that minimises emissions from a given activity via chimneys and drains. The possibility of reducing the total emissions and other environmental impact through the choice of site and developing co-operation between different parties so that surplus heat or by-products can be used not encompassed by the traditional interpretation of BAT. Nor does the principle the cover positive effects of environmental impact and management resource which follow from the use of renewable instead of fossil fuels energy or recycled material instead of new material from mine, for instance. In a several industrialised muntries, emissions from point have been sources reduced very successfully, while environmental load from the of use products and diffuse spread of hazardous substances from society at large has remained at level which unsustainable in the long term. a Development towards sustainable systems largely characterised by the utilisation of such possibilities insofar possible. The BAT principle as may therefore prove to be of greatest practical importance in the development and application of analogous principles for the optimum siting of facilities. Such principles would be applicable to resource management, best utilisation of by-products, co-ordination at system level so that different activities work together the best possible can manner terms of materials and energy flows, energy conversion and maximum efficiency utilisation. The forestry, farming and energy fisheries sector should combine rational production with nature conservation, recreation and cultural conservation the best possible manner. The application of BAT according to this broader interpretation has already commenced. One important example to be found the draft EU Directive on integrated pollution prevention and control. A similar broad interpretation of the principle introduced in 1990 in the UK was under the Environmental Protection Act, which extended the principle from only reducing emissions to the water and air to minimising effects on the environment as a whole. Similarly, the Swedish Environment Protection Act stipulates that sites should be selected the light of what best in environmental terms, as long as unreasonable costs are not involved. This broader definition also expressed in BEP Best Environ- ———mental Practices. Since 1992, this has been contained in the Convention

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, on which specifies the action that should be take to prevent pollution.

Assessment of applicability

The principle of compulsory application of BAT offers several advantages. In little known about the full effects of many cases, emissions, BAT becomes practical means of applying the precauso a tionary principle and thus of minimising emissions and risks at the same time. In the past, the application of the BAT principle has been a rational and successful method of tackling problems associated with emissions from existing operations and point sources, particularly in cases of severe impact where clear that such impact would have been unacceptable even BAT had been applied. The principle has been relatively well-accepted number of countries and has thus created a market for and better techniques. This means that the practical a new application of the principle has also precipitated the development of the technology. Businesses have been able to justify major investments the development of environmental technology on the basis of the application of the principle, providing their product with a market as long competitive. Examples of this are to be found the as development of technology for limiting sulphur and nitrogen oxides from combustion plants and for minimising emissions of metals to the air and the water. There examples of departures from the principle which are also many have impeded new and better technology, such as the delay in introducing catalytic emission control and unleaded petrol for cars. One disadvantage of the principle that encourages companies that generate emissions to claim that the technology not available for given reduction, which that they do not need to invest in the a means necessary equipment. Users only have the incentive to participate in the development of technology will give them comparable new performance at lower cost. BAT generates no incentive for the a polluter to participate the development of techniques or routines for better purification and lower emissions. When sulphur and nitrogen purification introduced for flue gases in Sweden, certain industries was claimed initially that there was no such technology commercial

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

operation. This delayed the introduction of purification equipment, which would not have been the today’s environmental charges case had already been introduced to complement the BAT principle during the course of licence reviews. The principle that technology only considered available exists in the form of commercial application elsewhere mainly relevant in the context of operations where there large number of similar are a facilities with comparable technical possibilities and marginal costs. This rarely the case. As rule, industrial facilities and production a energy facilities are unique. Their design unique. therefore only possible to translate between the two extremely approximate terms. When comes to determining whether certain purification a measure or reduction emissions be achieved at given the criteria can a cost, not whether the technology operation, but rather whether the fundamental understanding of the suitable materials and process, control technology available. This what determines whether given a environmental goal be achieved. In general, the of the can owner facilities the only who adequate knowledge, one possesses so usually more effective to provide the incentive to improve environmental performance than to transfer technology that already in commercial operation at another site. At the same time as BAT has been applied with considerable success to point sources and clearly identifiable pollution problems, less applicable to either today’s tomorrow’s most prominent environor mental issues in the context of sustainable development and resource management. In the industrialised countries, the remaining environmental problems are increasingly becoming matter of diffuse and a delayed emissions arising from the of products and deposition of use residual products, consumption of and the impact of forestry, resources farming and fishing natural and cultural environments. on One may expect environmental ambitions the industrialised countries to concentrate these issues to in on an even greater extent, which case each activity will have to be analysed of impact terms at system level. The environmental impact of dwelling heated by a electricity not the the pollution which be avoided same as can an oil heater replaced electric the overall environmental an one. impact of power production which then becomes relevant, together with the management of waste from the station and, certain power cases, extraction of fuel.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Some examples

Principles analogous to BAT could be worth applying constructively in certain in order to create the right conditions on the market for cases technology with better performance than available today. In normal combustion, for instance, of the thermal value of the some fuel lost via the flue about 10 cent in larger facilities and gases, per considerably household boilers. Energy lost both in the form more of heat the flue and condensing the moisture in the fuel and gases the water formed the combustion process from the hydrogen in the fuel. By cooling the flue temperature below the dewpoint and gases to a utilising the heat obtained by condensing the water vapour they contain, efficiency be increased from about 80-90 per cent to 105 per cent can effective thermal value of the fuel.

calculated according to the

Commercial techniques available for this type of improvement. If are facilities had to be built with the highest possible level of efficiennew market would be created for technical solutions. would not cy, a new take long before these appeared the form of boilers with new integrated absorption heat which would be driven by lowpumps steam, for instance, and take up heat from a nearby waterpressure This would that facility could emit heat corresponding course. mean a to to 125 cent of the lower thermal value of the fuel. up per In Sweden, there have been rapid developments the field of smallscale heating with firewood the past ten Despite this, new over years. installations often older technology. Modern boilers are also often use installed in such that their potential for good combustion cannot a way be achieved in practice. The application of BAT would mean that all installations would the best available equipment and that new use would be installed using the best control technology and would be adapted to each individual house the best possible way. Within a few would be possible to reduce emissions of unburned volatile years, hydrocarbons VOC sharply.

Should BAT be applied without exception

From the point of view of total efficiency, perhaps the most urgent area for the application of principle analogous to BAT the construca tion conversion of production facilities. The purpose of a or energy

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

principle of this sort would be to require the greatest possible efficiency both in the facilities themselves and wider context, taking into a account every possibility of energy cascading. Control and environmental reviews should focus less emissions from the facility itself on and more on its efficiency, its position the system and the secondary effects terms of overall management. Least Cost Planning resource and Demand Side Management be suitable methods of optimising may energy supply systems this way. If the principle strictly applied, possible limit many cases to emissions more and more at increasing cost. not the an ever technology that sets the limits, but the costs, which eventually become unjustifiable in relation to the marginal benefit. A point reached where further investments may well reduce emissions but even more, where the improvements themselves become waste of a resources rather than good conservation. Overall limited resources are and must be sensibly distributed between different requirements. Ultimately, the operation of emission control in the form of chemicals, etc., energy use, results in environmental impact which offsets the benefit of further emission control. The application of BAT situations where EU environmental quality standards, critical load WHO guidelines or are being met currently under discussion both the OECD and the EU. The draft EU Directive on integrated pollution prevention and control includes a proposal in Article 9 that less stringent standards than BAT may be allowed under certain conditions. was this insight which led to the formulation of the BATNEC

principle Best Available Technology Not Entailing Excessive in Cost

the EU Framework Directive 84360 OJ L 188 16.7.84, in which Article 4 states that authorisation may only be issued when all appropriate preventive measures have been taken, including the application of best available technology, provided that the application of such measures does not entail excessive costs. In the field of

radiation protection this expressed the ALARA principle As Low

As Reasonably Achievable. When technology available that allows emissions to be limited more than justified the light of the marginal environmental benefit or reduced risk, the question arises of how far should be prepared one to go. The application of the principle becomes question of incentive a for the development of technology for good better environnew or mental performance at lower cost. a

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

In the situation, in which not even the best available techconverse nology will achieve acceptable environmental benefit, the outcome an depends whether existing or new activities that are under on consideration. activity being considered, the logical a new for to be rejected. the activity comes under consequence radiation protection legislation, falls under the first principle, which states that activity only permissible its benefit exceeds the an damage When this the the BAT principle offers an causes. case, incentive to develop better technology since would mean that the activities under consideration will be accepted. When existing activity whose impact still unacceptcomes to an application of BAT, better technology be able even with the must developed. This provided for in the 1992 Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment the Baltic Sea Area, which stipulates that further action must be taken reductions in emissions through the of best environmental practice and best available use technology do not lead to environmentally acceptable results.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Annex 1

Some examples of BAT in the EU

In the EU, discharges from industrial plants regulated to water are by Directive 76464 OJ L 129, 18.5.76, which states that the Council may lay down limit values for certain substances, taking into the account best technical available. ln Council minute, this clarified means a was saying that the best technical available must take the means economic availability of such into account. Emissions the air means to from industrial plants regulated Framework Directive 84360 OJ are L 188 176.7.84. EU directives stipulate that country which conducts certain every types of activity must the best available technology. For combustion use plants, moreover, specifications must be updated regular basis and on a each individual major station must be subject to review five power every or ten years with regard to environmental conditions in the light of the best available technology given time. at any

REFERENCE

1988 Council Directive of 24 November 1988 on the Limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from large combustion plants, 1988609EEC.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Annex 2

BAT in conventions for the protection of the marine environment

The Convention the Protection of the Marine Environment in the on North—East Atlantic stipulates that work must be based on the precautionary principle and the principle that the polluter pays, and that these principles must be met through the application of BAT and BEP. On the basis of the 1992 Convention the Protection of the Marine on Environment the Baltic Sea Area, the BAT principle has been extended best environmental practice BEP for all to cover sources and best available technology for point sources, together with the requirement that emissions to water and air must be minimised or eliminated through emission limitation strategies. The from all sources Convention also stipulates that best environmental practice and BAT fail to produce acceptable results, further action must be taken.

Best environmental practice defined in the Convention as follows:

The term Best Environmental Practice taken to mean the application of the most appropriate combination of measures. In selecting for individual at least the following graduated cases, range of measures should be considered:

provision of information and education to the public and to about the environmental of choosing users consequences particular activities and products, their use and final disposal; the development and application of Codes of Good En- vironmental Practice covering all aspects of activity in the products life; mandatory labels informing the public and users of environ- mental risks related to a product, its use and final disposal; availability of collection and disposal systems; saving of resources, including energy; recycling, recovery and re-use; avoiding the use of hazardous substances and products and the generation of hazardous waste;

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

application of economic instruments to activities, products or groups of products and emissions;

a system of licensing involving a range of restrictions - or a ban.

According to the Convention, particular consideration should be given to the following when determining which combination of measures constitutes Best Environmental Practice in individual cases:

the precautionary principle; the ecological risk associated with the product, its produc- tion, use and final disposal; avoidance substitution less polluting activities - or or substances; - scale of use; potential environmental benefit penalty of substitute - or materials or activities; advances and changes scientific knowledge and under- standing;

time limits for implementation; social and economic implications. -

The main environmental issues in the future will relate to sustainable development. A broad definition of the BAT principle, in BEP, as could be applied to good advantage this context, with the emphasis

on long-term effects in terms of the depletion of natural and resources accumulation of waste materials. ‘

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Per Kågeson

THE POLLUTER PAYS PRINCIPLE

The principle that the polluter should the price of environmental pay damage one of the cornerstones of modern environmental policy, despite the fact that many exceptions still be found. The principle can was first put forward international context 1972, when the an OECD formulated the Polluter Pays Principle PPP of the as one Guiding Principles Concerning the International Economic Aspects of Environmental Policies. has since been incorporated Article 130r of the Treaty of Rome and Principle 16 of the Rio Declaration.

The OECD Declaration

The intention behind the OECD’s guiding principles was to prevent national governments from subsidising the environmental incurred costs their own industries, since subsidies of this sort could constitute a form of trade barrier. The OECD thus based its principles more on trade and economic efficiency considerations than desire on any to improve environmental protection. However, the principles do recognise the justifiability of member states taking far-reaching action to protect their environments.

The most important item the document § 2a reads follows: as

The principle to be used for allocating costs of pollution prevention and control measures to encourage rational use of scarce environmental resources and to avoid distortions in international trade and investment the so-called Polluter Pays Principle. The principle means that the polluter should bear the expenses of carrying out the above measures decided public authorities

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

to that the environment in an acceptable state. In other ensure words, the cost of these measures should be reflected in the cost of goods and services which pollution in production andor cause consumption. Such measures should not be accompanied by subsidies that would create significant distortions in international trade and investment.

As clear from the text quoted above, the OECD had two reasons for formulating PPP. The first to encourage rational use of scarce was environmental resources, and the second to avoid distortions in was international trade and investment. The ensuing text shows, however, that the emphasis the second of these two objectives. Attention on should also be drawn to the fact that the aim to avoid international distortions. The ambitions stated in the document are limited to the

costs that arise result of decisions authorities concerning

as a protection of the external environment. According to the OECD principles, the polluter must pay all the costs arising result of endeavours the authorities to ensure that as a the state of the environment acceptable. No attempt made to define acceptable state, however. On the contrary, this said to be an something that the authorities in each individual country must stipulate.

Four principles

and often overlooked point that the OECD One very important —— — document also contains three other principles that relate to the organisation’s definition of PPP. This rarely mentioned when PPP referred to in various contexts. The first of these principles states that product-related environmental requirements should, insofar as possible, be the subject of intemational harmonisation. The OECD makes clear, however, that there several points in favour of national regulations in different are countries. One stated that the capacity of the natural reason environment to withstand pollution varies from one country to another. Another that countries have different objectives and priorities, may well different degrees of industrialisation and population density. as as

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

The second principle states, with reference to GATT, that national environmental policies must take the principles of national treatment and non-discrimination into account. Finally, the OECD declares that differences in environmental legislation should not countries with stringent requirements cause more to protect their own industries through import levies rebates. or export The document claims that effective implementation of the OECD principles will make to adopt of unnecessary compensatory measures this sort.

What does PPP cover

Despite the fact that than twenty have elapsed since the more years OECD put forward PPP, the concept has not been the subject of any real development. The EC has adopted the OECD interpretation almost in extenso. One might therefore that reference PPP assume to other international contexts also coincides with the OECD interpretation, which means that there to discuss the real every reason implications of the OECD definition greater detail. The following headings are of particular interest this respect:

Spatial definition Sectoral scope Compensation to victims Choice of controls Intemalisation of external costs.

Spatial definition

The OECD recommendation clearly states that the of PPP purpose to avoid significant distortions international trade and investment. This means that, in the OECD’s view, PPP the meant to cover environmental protection costs which have bearing the may a on competitive relationships between enterprises in different countries. In practice, however, most enterprises and operations subject are to competition to a greater lesser extent. This applies particularly or to smaller nations with economies that highly integrated in intema— are

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

tional terms. The establishment of the single EC market, the North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA and GAIIs Uruguay Round will mean that almost all national markets will be subject to competition to greater lesser extent. When governments refer to a or PPP in their national decisions, therefore, unlikely that they draw distinction between national and international distortions. any

Sectoral scope

clear from the OECD definition of PPP that the concept does not just pollution, but also control measures to encourage rational cover use of scarce environmental resources. Agriculture and forestry involve extensive environmental impact, and the principle that the polluter pays must also apply to these sectors. The OECD principles are rooted a desire to prevent governments from subsidising the cost of environmental measures, which means that there no reason to exempt any particular branch of trade and industry. should almost be matter of course today that the primary sectors a are covered PPP when comes to their impact on the air, water and land belonging to others. The EC Commission has stated 1988, for instance, that PPP must of apply to agricultural activity as course does elsewhere. This approach has implications in terms of the spread of pesticides and leaching of nutrients. One difficulty in this context, however, that agriculture highly subsidised in most industrialised nations, so would seem somewhat unreasonable to interpret support to more environmentally sound production methods or to upgrading storage facilities breach of PPP. The European Union has manure as a exempted such forms of support from PPP by virtue of Council Regulation No. 207892 of 30 June 1992. As long such forms of support do not involve a significantly higher as degree of subsidy than involved in conventional fanning, one can hardly interpret them as a departure from PPP. One point of departure might be that support for more environmentally sound forms of cultivation should not be permitted to exceed the support to conventional cultivation more than what motivated by the socioeconomic benefit of reduced environmental impact. High levels of agricultural assistance, however, be considered as working at cross can

On the General Principles ol‘ Environment Protection

purposes to PPP. Both environmental and non-environmental agricultural subsidies should thus be eliminated in the long term. A more complicated issue that of how one should view impact that forestry and agricultural enterprises have their land and the on own flora and fauna which exist there. Semantically, this hardly be can referred to as an external effect. The landowner everything that owns grows on his land. However, worth noting that the Swedish Environment Protection Act contains provision for adverse effects which may involve pollution of soil water all land, including the or on land upon which the enterprise operates. This presumably a common feature of legislation other countries well. as There also much to suggest that the landowner does have not unlimited rights. would be quite reasonable to regard the importance of soil and water to the survival of other biotopes and species as a matter of public interest. This means that, although the landowner may have the right of disposition as regards the land question, he must also accept that has other inherent values in addition being to a productive resource. Aesthetically, the idea that might someone own a

wild species or what might be of the last individuals scarcely

some attractive. The long-accepted practice of protecting endangered species also represents a generally-accepted restriction the right of dison position. can be observed that forestry, fishing and certain of areas agriculture have long been subject to restrictions motivated by the need to protect species and, to some extent, biotopes. A code of practice concerning how much the landowner must be prepared to accept has gradually emerged. The fact that the regulations between different vary sectors and countries reflects the different positions of strength of various parties and based in differences in attitude to the issues. can thus be claimed that PPP already being put into practice to some extent. On the whole, this means that both agriculture and forestry must accept regulations which limit the possibility of hunting, clear-felling, land drainage and the removal of barriers to cultivation without any

extra compensation. However, the fact that certain biotopes contain

items of particular natural value, such populations of endangered as species, does constitute a problem. In the USA, possible to impose far-reaching restrictions the landowner in such In the northon cases. western USA, for instance, clear-felling has been prohibited land on

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

where the last individuals of the spotted owl live, despite the fact that the survival difficulties this species facing have largely been caused by other landowners. Allocation of responsibility in this way may result in the landowner who has waited longest to exploit land and water being the to face the most stringent restrictions. one reasonable interpretation of PPP in the primary sector would A more regard all landowners being collectively responsible for the be to as protection of biodiversity. Jernelöv and Kågeson 1992 have shown how this responsibility could be defined for forestry in Sweden in purely practical They that all landowners should pay an annual terms. propose forest conservation fund. Money from the fund would finance fee to a compensation land purchases in cases where the natural values are or that would be enough for the landowner to follow the so great not basic rules of consideration. In certain species biotope be endangered by transcases, a or a may pollution climate change rather than by the landowners boundary or cultivation methods. In such would be reasonable for the state cases, responsibility for the e.g. liming or the to take necessary measures establishment of migration corridors.

Compensation to victims

Certain observers believe that PPP includes responsibility for enterprithe victims of emissions other environmental ses to compensate or impact. The World Bank’s World Development Report 1992 stated problem inherent PPP that can be interpreted two that one different requiring polluters to only the costs of pollution ways: as pay

control and cleanup standard PPP or, addition, to compensate for the damage they suffer from pollution extended PPP.

citizens Without analysing the text greater detail, Sandbu 1993 takes any for granted that the principle formulated the OECD intended as to that the victims are compensated. ensure There however, nothing in the OECD document to support an interpretation of this sort. On the contrary, the OECD expressly states the principle refers the costs which arise result of the that to as a demands of national authorities in the context of pollution prevention and control Moreover, the OECD states that the principle measures. intended the costs of transboundary pollution, which not to cover

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

should be seen as a sign that PPP not intended to include was responsibility for compensating victims, since they be both inside may and outside the country where the company operates. The foreword to a book on PPP which the OECD published in 1975 stated that PPP not a principle of compensation for damage caused pollution, but also states that measures of this sort would not be contrary to PPP. The OECD Council has since adopted Recommendation the a on Application of the Polluter Pays Principle to Accidental Pollution OECD 1989. This states that the operator of hazardous installation a should bear the cost of reasonable to prevent and control measures accidental pollution, which introduced public authorities in are Member countries conformity with domestic law prior to the occurrence of an accident. also stated that PPP also implies that the cost of reasonable measures to control accidental pollution after an accident should be collected expeditiously possible from the as as legal or natural person who at the origin of the accident. Exceptions are made in both these respects if the accidental pollution caused solely an event for which the operator clearly cannot be considered liable under national law, such serious natural disaster that the as a operator cannot reasonably have foreseen. Article 8 of the Recommendation states that measures to prevent and control accidental pollution are those taken to prevent accidents specific installations and to limit their consequences for human health and the environment. The Article expressly states that such do not include measures measures to compensate victims for the economic of consequences an accident. This shows that the OECD adhering to the principle that PPP does not require compensation for the victim.

Choice controls

In a separate note to the principles, the OECD states that PPP to be applied regardless of the controls chosen in environmental policies OECD 1975. This note highlights the fact that PPP applies in contexts where economic instruments used. This also applies where are cases two or more instruments are used parallel. The note also emphasises that PPP nothing other than principle to effective disa ensure tribution of the responsibility for costs and that neither imposes

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

demands excludes the possibility of reducing pollution to an on nor optimum level.

Intemalisation external costs

As discussed below, the UN draws direct link the Rio Declaration a between PPP, the internalisation of environmental costs and the use of

economic instruments. In the 1975 note the implementation of PPP OECD 1975, on however, said that PPP is than efficiency principle for no more an allocating costs and does not involve bringing pollution down to an optimum level of type, although does not exclude the possibility any of doing so. quite clear, however, that as far back as 1975 many perceived PPP to be demand for intemalisation of environmental damage. A a book published the OECD 1975 maintains that PPP meets the demands both of effectiveness and of fairness. By effectiveness, the authors that the cost of external effects covered by the price of mean different goods and services intemalisation. clear from the foreword, however, that these texts are not to be regarded as an authorised OECD interpretation of PPP.

Omissions

The note described above also takes up the question of possible exceptions to PPP and that under certain circumstances there may says be justification for such exceptions when rapid and comprehensive -—tightening-up of political environmental measures required, for instance. Subsidies could be accepted such cases on condition that they part of transitional arrangement, the duration of which are a determined advance. Another prerequisite that does not lead to significant disruption international trade. Exceptions from PPP any therefore be accepted there risk that the environmental may a requirements threaten important social political objectives in a or region country. Examples of this sort could include regional or a political problems unemployment. Such exceptions should, however, or be limited in time and to what necessary to achieve the specific scope

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

goal. Support to research and development does not conflict with PPP, according to the document. In 1974, the omission regulations included in special were a recommendation issued the OECD council to how PPP be as to implemented the member nations. The recommendation also includes the requirement that countries to notify other OECD are members they wish to make exceptions to PPP. Finally, the any declaration states that each member nation has the right call for to consultation they have any objection to exceptions to PPP in any another country. This possibility has been made of, however. never use

The Victim Pays Principle

Certain economic experts believe that makes difference whether no the polluter the victim that According to Coase’s theorem, or pays. the question of who should pay should be settled negotiation. Skogh

in Bergman, 1989 states, in line with Coase, that the Victim Pays

Principle, VPP, could be just cost—effective PPP. This be as as may correct in individual cases, but different countries apply different principles, a situation of unfair competition will arise. Skogh also ignores the fact that VPP that the price of polluting products means not affected the costs and damage which arise, which in turn means that the demand for environmentally disruptive and products processes will exceed the optimum in socio-economic terms. PPP therefore preferable one wants to achieve equality, fair competition and costeffectiveness. This does not, however, prevent departures from the principle from being at times order to protect the necessary environment. Grants from western Europe for environmental investments in eastem Europe provide example of this. one

PPP in the EC

In 1975, the EC Council of Ministers adopted recommendation a concerning PPP EC 1975. The emphasis this document also on avoiding unfair competition and trade. In other the respects, recommendations follow the OECD guidelines. In conjunction with the Single European Act, the EC confirmed, Article 130r of the Treaty of

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Rome, that PPP to apply throughout the Community. The was exceptions which permitted fully in line with the OECD are are recommendations. The Commission’s proposal concerning the setting

fund, LIFE, that might be reasonable up of an environmental states

to make exceptions from PPP in the following areas:

protection of biotopes — cleaning of land where longer possible to determine up no ——who responsible for the damage

that be complement to PPP, such as expenses can seen as a — subsidies for the development of public transport

initiatives international level in conjunction with the financing at — of subsidies that be motivated by common interests, costmay effectiveness and solidarity.

code aid

A community for government

In late 1993, the European Commission 1994 approved a proposal

concerning guidelines for state aid for environmental protection. new Aid be authorised where an investment will help to may cases improve the environment, but only for the extra costs which are

order the environmental objectives, and subject to necessary to meet

the following ceilings:

15 of investments carried out in order to comply per cent gross — with mandatory standards; new

30 cent for investments which represent an improvement upon — per mandatory standards, where standards exist; the level of aid or no actually guaranteed must be in proportion to the degree to which

standards are exceeded.

The Commission notes that aid for environmental protection has been

stable between 1 and 2 cent of all government aid to industry. at per One conclusion to be drawn from this should be that subsidies

general far problem from the point of view of represent a greater competition than subsidies to environmental investments.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

The Rio Declaration

The Rio Declaration, which adopted at the United Nations was Conference on Environment and Development, also lends its support to PPP. Principle 16 worded follows: as

National authorities should endeavour to promote the internalisation of environmental costs and the of economic instruments, use taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without distorting international trade and investment.

PPP in international conventions

Only a few international conventions contain explicit rule that the any polluter should pay. In all such conventions either of cases, are relatively recent date or have been subjected to far-reaching revision. In no case the concept subject to interpretation, there nor any reference to the OECD principles. The conventions which cite PPP are:

O The Convention the Protection of the Marine Environment of on the Baltic Sea Area, 1992 replaces the 1975 Convention.

O The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic replaces the earlier Oslo and Paris

Conventions.

O The Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary

Watercourses and International Lakes Economic Commission for

Europe.

The same conventions include detailed interpretation of the concepts of best available technology and best available environmental practice, as well as a fairly clear description of the precautionary principle. The fact that PPP has not been subjected to the in-depth treatment same may either be interpreted implying that the question of who as ultimately to in such contexts considered be of lesser imporpay to

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

tance, sign that PPP considered to be a well-known concept or as a despite the real problems of interpretation that exist. worth noting that neither the Geneva Convention on Long- Range Transboundary Air Pollution the United Nations Framework nor Convention Climate Change contain any reference to PPP. Such on references thus only to be found few of the regional conare a ventions. The UN Convention Biological Diversity contains no regulations on concerning PPP either, but the following proposal was still to be found in the second revised draft which presented to the fourth session was of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee: Those responsible for activities which threaten could damage significant loss

or cause

of biological diversity are responsible for the costs of avoiding that

threat damage and for remedial action directly or through financing or where damage occurs.

Is there need to develop and clarify PPP

any

The intention of the OECD expressed in PPP primarily to avoid as distortion of trade and investment. There therefore little point discussing PPP without also discussing the three other principles in the OECD recommendation, i.e. the need for harmonised regulations concerning goods, the principle of national treatment and nondiscrimination and the prohibition of import levies and export rebates. Since the two latter represent the cornerstones of the General Agreement Tariffs and Trade, will also be necessary to touch upon on the GATT regulations. However, also worth looking into the other motive behind the OECD’s Polluter Pays Principle, i.e. To rational use of encourage environmental resources. Here, the emphasis the necessity scarce on of managing and conserving natural resources, and global attitudes have had time to develop considerably in this respect since 1972. There thus good to analyse the extent to which recognition of the reason precautionary principle and sustainable development among the international community should be allowed to influence the interpretation of PPP the future. Opinions will always diverge to where the limits of the polluter’s as responsibility should be drawn, and this ultimately depends on the

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

extent of the requirements imposed the authorities. Despite this limitation, would be useful any revision of the OECD principles were able to express the idea that damage to the environment should be internalised such to achieve sustainable development. In a way as this context, the precautionary principle should also be taken into account. This would mean that PPP would not just make clear who to pay, but also the approximate extent of the polluter’s responsibility.

Difierent types subsidy

Clarification of the of the polluter’s responsibility highlights the scope problem of countries which subsidise their industries setting own environmental protection requirements unreasonably low. time to admit that such indirect subsidies also involve distortion of may competition. certain countries refuse to meet the most elemeneven tary environmental protection requirements terms of global and regional threats, will become to allow sanctions andor necessary border tax adjustments order to prevent free riders. We will return to this issue shortly. First, however, will examine the fact that PPP be indirectly we may eroded other types of subsidy. Many countries provide far-reaching subsidies for agriculture and transportation, for instance. Certain countries also subsidise coal-mining and nuclear Industries power. which require large amounts of electricity, such aluminium smelting, as enjoy unjustifiably low electricity charges certain countries. The OECD does not seem to have considered the fact that these direct subsidies represent an indirect subsidy to the company’s environmental protection costs and thus undermine PPP. A general subsidy makes easier for a company to its costs, including the costs which cover may arise as a result of environmental regulations. GATT currently permits countries to subsidise their producers, although they are not allowed to facilitate exports with the help of targeted subsidies. From the environmental point of view, would be reasonable for GATT to develop regulations which prohibit general subsidising of environmentally hazardous products. This processes or would mean that the parties must, within specified period of time, a phase out state subsidies for coal mining and nuclear for power,

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

example. might also be reasonable to demand that certain minimum requirements should be imposed environmental protection for on nations be members of GATT at all. Demands of this sort must be to formulated take into account the level of development of the to

individual country, however per capita income.

Subsidies for environmentally sound production and products should be permitted above and beyond research and development, since not against the principle that the polluter should pay and could they go

constitute rebates. Subsidies for consumption of environmentally

export households and the public sector and investments sound products among infrastructure could be permitted, however, without conflicting with the trade regulations. One pre—requisite of this, however, that foreign products and suppliers not subject to discrimination. are

National sovereignty vis á vis environmental protection

decide where the dividing line between national not easy to sovereignty and international environmental requirements should be drawn. The principles of the Rio Declaration attribute great importance the sovereign right of states to exploit their own resources on to condition that they do damage to the environment of other not cause States of beyond the limits of national jurisdiction Prinor areas ciple 2. The Declaration also states that standards applied some countries be inappropriate and of unwarranted economic and may social other countries, in particular developing countries cost to Rio Declaration also states that Unilateral actions

Principle 11. The

deal with environmental challenges outside the jurisdiction of the to importing country should be avoided. Environmental measures addressing transboundary global environmental problems should, as or far possible, be based international consensus Principle 12. as on an In these contexts there be good reason to distinguish between may the environment when the affect only failure to protect consequences the environment and health of nation’s citizens, and problems a own have impact the environment and people other countries. that an on The first example comparable with shortcomings occupational protection and social rights, while the second has impact both on an competition between companies in different countries and on the environment the surrounding world. quite clear that sanctions

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

or other measures are more justified the latter case than in the former.

Different reasons for restrictions

As a basis for discussion of how trade issues and environmental issues should be weighed against one another, would be useful to distinguish between different motives for trade restrictions:

Protection ofa countrys own population and environment against the effects of products.

Protection ofa countrys own population and environment against the effects of both domestic and transboundary pollution.

Protection of the atmosphere.

Protection of the global commons, the e.g. open sea.

Protection of population and environment the exporting countries.

Protection against products

Measures aimed at protecting a country’s own population and environment against the effects of products should, they are well-founded and tailored to their objectives, not conflict with the current GATT regulations. one were to wish for any amendments or supplements to the agreement, they would primarily consist of clear formulations which would make easier to interpret Article XX concerning general exceptions including protection of species and natural resources. The preamble to the agreement should also make clear that the precautionary principle and PPP must apply all these contexts. In addition, regulations will be required to the effect that GATT panels which deal with measures based on Article XX should expertise not only possess in international trade law but also environmental protection.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

Protection against transboundary pollution

Protection of nation’s population and environment against the a own effects of pollution arriving from outside should, in principle, not be from the import of environmentally hazardous dealt with any differently products. One difficulty in this context, however, that often very difficult link transboundary pollution with individual product that to any trade. Acidifying substances such sulphur dioxide and may occur as nitrogen oxide primarily originate from residential heating, power production and transport. Import of electricity from countries with inferior flue-gas purification could, however, be subject to measures on the condition that such electricity could be distinguished from the total production of given might also be possible to a power company. introduce aimed at products which require a large amount of measures such for their manufacture. On the whole, however, one must energy observe that difficult to take action against countries with poor

environmental legislation on the basis of trade-related measures.

Protection the atmosphere

The protection of the atmosphere has already led to two international environmental conventions: The Vienna Convention, which includes the Montreal Protocol, and the UN Climate Convention. On the basis of the Montreal Protocol, relatively to determine which products easy from non-signatory countries have been manufactured with the help of CFCs. Measures aimed at net emissions of carbon dioxide represent a far complicated issue. Fossil fuels used in many different more are and probably only for the most energy-intensive produccontexts that trade restrictions could be considered at all. Possibly tion processes the most appropriate would be for countries which have measure imposed charges carbon dioxide themselves to decide to impose on import levies products manufactured with the help of such processes. on Such products might include aluminium, commercial fertilisers nitrogen, steel, and pulp, cement and certain base chemicals paper chlorine. In such the importer would have to fee

such as cases, pay a

corresponding to the domestic carbon dioxide tax multiplied by a standard rate of the importer able to prove that the energy use.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

actual energy use in manufacture less, the charge should naturally be adjusted to correspond to the actual consumption. Unless the GATT and OECD regulations changed that import are so levies of this sort are possible, will be difficult to persuade the very more environmentally ambitious nations to introduce domestic charges on energy-intensive activities. This will also make difficult more to limit emissions of carbon dioxide, unless the environmentally ambitious nations are willing to introduce high and not particularly costvery effective charges on emissions from activities which not subject to are competition. The possibility of introducing import restrictions levies or may, moreover, prove to be the only way of counteracting environmental dumping and of tackling free riders. One might possibly also give the environmentally ambitious nations the right permit to deductions for their own industries for that part of production which exported to countries which have not imposed corresponding carbon a dioxide tax. Without this possibility, industry the environmentally ambitious nations will face difficulties competing with companies in countries with lower requirements requirements at all. or no

Protection of the global

commons

The question of how should handle products which have impact we an on our common seas also a difficult one. protection targeted directly at migrating species, would reasonable to allow seem sanctions against exports from countries whose products threaten the survival of such species. Things become considerably complicated, more however, the threat consists of effluent to the and such effluent sea originates from a number of different Once again, might be sources. practicable to introduce import restrictions against products manufactured at facilities which generate such large amounts of effluent to the open sea that they have a significant impact on its production capability and ability to support certain species. Introducing restrictions against non-related goods simply because another country fails to meet reasonable standards of emission purification including diffuse

sources

would, however, appear to be difficult and dangerous of a course action.

On the General Principles of Envimnment Protection

Protection in the exporting

of the environment country

of trade restrictions order to protect environmental assets The use in the exporting country much harder to justify. One may, of course, claim that the flora and fauna of the exporting country represent a part of global cultural heritage, but this countered our common national sovereignty expressed in the principles of the Rio Declaraas tion. One must also take into account that the richest industrialised nations did much to harm their share of the global environmental heritage during early phases of their development without the rest of the world being able to protest. also quite clear that the will to pay for protection of people and the natural environment closely linked with the ability One should therefore not be surprised that to pay. environmental protection and occupational protection enjoy a lower priority developing and recently industrialised nations. among At the time, be observed that the CITES Convention was same can drawn order to protect certain endangered species from extincup tion. This international convention which authorises prospective an importer countries to take action against the import of endangered species. the species threatened deforestation, however, same are the countries which import the forest products cannot take action. There thus clear conflict not just between CITES and GATT, but a also between the Rio Declaration and CITES.

Revision of the OECD guidelines

Finally, will discuss the concrete changes which may be required in we three of the four principles in the OECD guidelines. As far as the principle national treatment and non-discrimination concerned, on there to call for change from the environmental point no reason any of view. This principle therefore not discussed here.

The Polluter Pays Principle

The principle that the polluter bears the responsibility for the cost an important both when to avoiding distortions in trade and one, comes

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

investments and to making optimal of the aggregate of use resources society. These two motives should, future, be attributed the same importance. If PPP to be formulated in this would be quite were way, natural to let cover both the costs which arise result of direct as a demands for measures to protect the environment and the expenses which arise as a result of the authorities using taxes and charges to force enterprises and consumers to take indirect responsibility for the environmental impact of their operations. There general political agreement among the EU and EFTA nations that the externalities should be intemalised. According to the OECD, PPP should be regarded as applying to both administrative and economic instruments its present form. PPP does have some bearing on the question of compensation to victims. Enterprises should naturally bear the cost of the insurance policies required they to be able victims in are to compensate conjunction with accidents of various kinds. There still differences are between OECD countries this respect, terms of third-party liability in conjunction with accidents at nuclear stations, for instance. power These differences are so great that they can affect the competitive climate for power stations different countries. One example of this that a power company Germany required, to its necessary, use entire assets to compensate a third party. In Sweden, however, the power companies are only required to compensate victims to the up limits of their liability insurance, which involves ceiling of SEK1,200 a million. When comes to intemalising the external effects of normal activities, however, cannot be taken for granted that PPP should involve any requirement that individual victims should receive compensation. In most individual cases, the causal relationships not are sufficiently clear to provide basis for direct compensation. The a important point about internalisation not that those who suffer should be compensated. The intention rather to create fair conditions for competition between different players and activities and to provide all manufacturers and consumers with clear signals regarding the costs involved. The question of compensation to private individuals of secondary importance in this context. One natural consequence of attributing environmental protection the same importance as the principle of free and equal competition that the environmental policy of all OECD countries should meet certain

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

minimum requirements order for PPP to be regarded as having been met. country fails to meet the requirements, the question arises any of whether the other countries are entitled to take action.

The need for harmonised regulations

Both justifications for PPP suggest that one should strive for a certain amount of harmonisation of environmental regulations in different countries. The OECD guidelines provide good description of the a benefits and disadvantages of harmonised international standards. The advantages include the fact that common regulations help to create equal conditions for manufacturers different countries. Standardisation facilitates trade and promotes compatibility between different technical systems. The OECD guidelines state, however, that differing national environmental policies, for example with regard to the tolerable amount of pollution and to quality and emission standards, are justified by a variety of factors including, among other things, different pollution assimilative capacities of the environment in its present state, different social objectives and priorities attached to environmental protection and different degrees of industrialisation and population density. The conclusion that governments should seek common standards for polluting products, when these traded internationally and are where there could be significant obstacles to trade. The OECD also that measures taken to protect the environment should be framed, says far possible, in such to avoid the creation of nonas as a manner as tariff barriers to trade. There hardly to raise objections against the OECD’s any cause description of the issue, but there good reason to clarify three respects. First, should be quite clear that the common minimum regulations which implementation of PPP intended to be based upon should be stringent as to ensure that people and the environment are so not normally harmed. This means that harmonisation can be clearly linked with the precautionary principle and the principle of sustainable development. Secondly, should be made quite clear that the principle does not only refer to polluting products but also to polluting processes. This particularly important cases where the processes cause damage to

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

other countries or to global commons such the high the as seas or atmosphere. Thirdly, one should stress the rights of individual nations to take more far-reaching measures the light of the susceptibility of their own ecosystems and local pollution levels, on condition that the regulations are non-discriminatory. particularly important not to prevent nations from using soft methods such environmental as labelling, economic instruments, criteria for public procurement and advice and instructions based the substitution principle. This right on should also be safeguarded within the framework of GATT regulations. The soft instruments have the advantage hard that they do not over involve any absolute prohibition of certain products. The only thing in favour of international harmonisation of economic instruments the risk of different national systems leading to double taxation on imported products. ought to be possible to eliminate this problem basing charges on sales rather than imports. As far charges on as on raw materials andor process emissions are concerned, several methods are available to nations order to prevent their export industries own from finding themselves disadvantage in comparison with at a a situation where environmental requirements completely drawn are up within the framework of administrative regulations.

Prohibition export rebates and import levies

individual countries continue to dump their prices by not imposing adequate environmental demands on their own industries, must be possible the future for countries which themselves apply PPP to take action. Action of this sort might include imposing sort of border some adjustment tax. As has already been said, the OECD guidelines prohibit the use of such compensation import levies. Now, however, discussion under way regarding the possibility of relaxing this prohibition in conjunction with a revision of the principles. The clearest example consists of the need of action against nations which refuse to take their share of the responsibility for reducing the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. Countries with stringent environmental requirements should be permitted to impose charge a on imports of energy-intensive materials corresponding to the difference between their own energycarbon dioxide charges and any charge which

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

payable in the exporting country. In order to prevent this right from being used for protectionist should be restricted to raw purposes, materials and semi-manufactured goods which require a large amount of for their manufacture. For industries with a low proportion energy of costs, competing free riders do not constitute a problem. energy

International transportation

Finally, worth drawing attention to the fact that the lack of environmental requirements regarding international shipping and aviation that world trade growing faster than the optimum rate means in socio—economic terms. The OECD and GATT should endeavour to to terms with this developing common forms for international come taxation of aviation and bunker fuels which will involve intemalisation of environmental Minimum requirements must also be introduced costs. concerning the sulphur content of bunker fuels and nitrogen oxide emissions from aircraft and marine engines. These minimum requirebe adjusted to extent to with the recipient ments may some agree conditions in different regions. The imposition of such requirements on international transportation would be logical extension of PPP. a

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

REFERENCES

Baldock, D.Bennett, G. 1991, Agriculture and the Polluter Pays Principle. Institute for European Environmental Policy, London.

Commission of the European Communities 1988, Environment and

Agriculture, COM88338 final.

Commission of the European Communities 1991, Proposal for Council a Regulation Establishing a Financial Instrument for the Environment LIFE.

Commission of the European Union 1994, Community Guidelines on State Aid for Environmental Protection, Official Journal C72, 10 March.

Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic.

Convention on Biological Diversity, done at Rio de Janeiro 5 June 1992. on

Convention on the protection and use of transboundary wateroourses and international lakes.

Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1992.

EC 1975, Council recommendation regarding cost allocation and action public authorities on environmental matters 75436 EEC.

European Parliament 1993, Report on Environment and Trade, europe environment document, February 16.

Jemelöv, A.Kågeson, P. 1992, Biologisk mångfald i Sverige, Hur klarar uppdraget Miljövårdsberedningen, Miljö- och naturresursdepartementet.

Kågeson, P. 1993, Miljö och ekonomi i samspel, Naturskyddsföreningens Förlag, Stockholm.

OECD 1972, Recommendation of the Council Guiding Principles on Concerning the International Economic Aspects of Environmental Policies C72128.

OECD 1974, Recommendation of the Council on the Implementation of the Polluter-Pays Principle.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

OECD 1975, The Polluter Pays Principle, Definition, Analysis, Implementation, Paris.

OECD 1989, Council Recommendation on the Application of the Polluter- Pays Principle to Accidental Pollution C8988 Final.

OECD 1992, The Polluter-Pays Principle: OECD Analysis and Recommendations, OECD Environment Directorate, Monograph, Paris.

Pearce, D.W. 1992, Should The GATT Be Reformed For Environmental Reasons, CFERGE Working Paper GEC 92-06, London.

Repetto, R. 1993, Trade and Environment Policies: Achieving Complementarities and Avoiding Conflicts, WRI Issues and Ideas, World Resources Institute, Washington D.C.

Sandbu, M. D. 1993, Internationellt ansvar vid transnationella miljöskador. Staternas ansvarighet, Juridiska Institutionen, Lunds Universitet.

Stevens, C. 1993, The OECD Guiding Principles Revisited, Environmental Law, Vol. 23:607, Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College.

Stevens, C. 1994, Interpreting the Polluter Pays Principle in the Trade and Environment Context, Cornell International Law Journal forthcoming 1994.

Skogh, G. 1989, i Bergman, L., Värdera Miljön, SNS Förlag.

The World Bank 1992, The World Development Report 1992, Washington DC.

United Nations Environment Programme 1991, Second Revised Draft Convention Biological Diversity, Nairobi, 23 July. on United Nations Framework Convention Climate Change, done at Rio de on Janeiro in June 1992.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

CLOSING COMMENTS

In the preceding chapters, have discussed of the main we some principles of environmental protection, the most comprehensive of all being the principle of sustainable development. this principle to be applicable, however, must be interpreted operational terms. The crucial question what we should demand of policy that a aimed at achieving sustainable development. In this context, the following requirements should be met Kågeson, 1994:

First, we need to define what sustainable developwe mean ment.

For each of the items our definition, need long—term we a objective which guarantees that the ecosystems of the Earth will maintain their normal qualities for a very long period of time, and that the state of the atmosphere does not deviate from preindustrial conditions to such extent that risk facing radical an we a change of climate. In cases where difficult, scientific terms, to define a long—term target, would be better to adopt a provisional target than to wait for a more definitive understanding of the subject question.

In cases where quite clear that a sustainable objective cannot

be achieved the foreseeable future the next 10-15 years,

we need to adopt intermediate targets and clear medium and longa term timetable.

The purpose of each such intermediate target should be to bring us considerably closer to our final objective.

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

In order to make short-term commitments trustworthy, we our must reach decisions the measures and policy levers that will on help to fulfil our objectives. us

The concepts of critical loads and critical levels should be used in contexts where need to establish absolute upper limit for what we an different ecosystems and the atmosphere can tolerate in the long term. These concepts should not be taken to imply a carte blanche to increase pollution from lower levels to the limit. On the contrary, in the light up of the precautionary principle, there reason to stay well below every levels at which the load exceed the tolerance limit of sensitive may ecosystems. particularly important to take the precautionary principle into account in situations where there a high degree of uncertainty and where extra can be taken at a low, or at least care reasonable, cost. Finally, navigate with the principles as beacons, worth we asking ourselves which types of environmental problem we can steer clear of and where the hidden reefs may lie. As has been demonstrated in the previous chapters, past experience and the desire to avoid repeating former mistakes have played large part the formulation a of the principles. these principles are followed, therefore, should be possible to avoid eliminate environmental problems of the sort we or are already familiar with. Are the principles adequate when comes to alerting us to other problems If, for instance, the widespread use of female hormones in oral contraceptives were to be suspected to affecting non-target organisms and individuals, would the principles make us pay attention and would they be of help search for a solution any our Interpreted they at present, the principles would be of little as are guidance. Admittedly, the precautionary principle and the substitution principle might be applied to a group of substances which are neither toxic, persistent unnatural themselves, but this would make the nor net fine-meshed that far too much else would get caught up in it. so The concept of critical loads might be extended to cover human hormones, but the problem would arise. the net were to be too same fine-meshed would be in danger of becoming unwieldy and counterproductive. There other environmental problems which have hitherto played are less prominent role public debate the industrialised countries a

On the General Principles of Environment Protection

and have therefore influenced the fonnulation of the principles to a lesser extent. Such issues include the physical destruction of coastal zones such as mangrove seaweed beds and coral reefs in swamps, tropical and sub—tropical Recreational such golf areas. areas as courses and marinas provide another example‘. Individually, their impact insignificant; together they the majority of susceptible may occupy biotopes in a given area. Here, too, the principles provide inadequate protection in their present form. Finally, however, may be said that the principles mainly cirare cumscribed by the which they formulated, by manner are not mistakes in their application. Their formulation the result of negotiations between environmental representatives and opposing interests. They are not absolute. There still considerable for scope improvement, in formulation and implementation alike.

Statens offentliga utredningar 1994

Kronologisk förteckning

Ändradansvarsfördelning fördenstatliga 35 Vårandes stämma ochandras. . . statistiken.Fi. kulturpolitik och internationalisering. Ku.

Kommunerna, Landstingen ochEuropa 36.Miljöochfysiskplanering. M.

+ Bilagedel.C. 37.Sexualupplysning reproduktiv och hälsaunder

Mänsföreställningar kvinnor om och chefskap. 1900-talet i Sverige. UD.

Vapenlagen ochEG.Ju. 38.KvinnorbarnocharbeteiSverige1850-1993. UD.

Kriminalvårdochpsykiatri.Ju. 39.Gamla ärungasom blivitäldre.Omsolidaritet

Sverigeoch Europa. Ensamhällsekonomisk mellangenerationerna. Europeiska äldreáret1993.S.

konsekvensanalys. Fi. 40. Långsiktig strålskyddsforskning. M.

EU,EESochmiljön.M. Ledighetslagstifiningen en översyn. A. . — Historisktvägval Följderna - förSverigeiutrikes- 42.Staten ochtrossamfunden. C.

ochsäkerhetspolitiskt hänseende av att bli, 43.Uppskattad sysselsättning skattemas om betydelse respektive intebli medlemiEuropeiska unionen. UD. fördenprivata tjänstesektom. Fi.

G Förnyelse ochkontinuitet- om konstochkultur 44.Folkbokföringsuppgiñema i samhället. Fi. . i framtiden.Ku. 45.Grunden för livslångtlärande. U.

10.Anslutningtill EU Förslagtill övergripande - 46.Sambandet mellanSamhällsekonomi, transfereringar

lagstiftning. UD. ochsocialbidrag.

Omkrigetkommit...Förberedelser förmottagande 47.Avveckling denobligatoriska av anslutningen . av militärtbistånd1949-1969Bilagedel. + SB. till Studentkårer ochnationer.U.

Suveränitet ochdemokrati 48.Kunskap for utveckling bilagedel.A. + . + bilagedelmed expertuppsatser. UD. 49.Utrikessekretessen. Ju.

JlK-metoden, m.m. Fi. 50.Allemanssparandet en översyn. Fi. . - Konsumentpolitik i enny tid.C. 51.Minneochbildning. Museemas uppdrag och

På vägs K. organisation bilagedel. + Ku.

Skoterköming pájordbruks- ochskogsmark. Teaterns roller. Ku. . . Kartläggning átgärdsförslag. och M. Mästarbrev för hantverkare. Ku.

Års-ochkoncemredovisning enligtEG-direktiv. Utvärdering av praxisi asylärenden. Ku. . DelI ochll. Ju. Rättentill reformerat bilstöd.S. ratten- Kvaliteti kommunalverksamhetnationell Ett centrum för kvinnor som våldtagitsoch . uppföljningochutvärdering. C. misshandlats.

. Renarolleri biståndetstyrningocharbetsfördelning Beskattning fastigheter - av del - Principiella . i en effektivbiståndsförvaltning. UD. utgångspunkter för beskattning fastigheter av m.m.

Reformerat pensionssystem. Fi . .luni Refonnerat pensionssystem. BilagaA. 6 Nationaldagen. Ju. . Kostnader ochindivideffekter. .Vilka vattendrag skallskyddas Principeroch

Refonnerat pensionssystem. BilagaB. förslag.M. . Kvinnors ATP och avtalspensioner. Vilkavattendrag skall skyddas Beskrivningar av

Förvaltabostäder. Ju. vattenområden. M. . Svenskalkoholpolitik en strategiförframtiden. Särskilda skäl utformningoch tillämpning av . - - Svenskalkoholpolitik bakgrund ochnuläge. 2 kap. 5 §ochandrabestämmelser i . - Att förebygga alkoholproblem. utlänningslagen. Ku. . Vård alkoholmissbrukare. av Pantbankemas kreditgivning. N. . Kvinnorochalkohol. Rationaliserad fastighetstaxering. del Fi. . Barn Föräldrar Alkohol. Personnummer integritetoch effektivitet.Ju. . - - - Vallagen.Ju. Med raps i tankarnaM. . Vissamervärdeskattefrâgor lll- Kultur m.m. Fi. Statistikochintegritet, del2 Lag om . - MycketUnderSammaTak.C. personregister för officiellstatistik m.m. Fi. . Vandelnsbetydelse i medborgarskapsärenden, m.m. .Finasiellatjänsteri förändring.Fi. . Ku. Räddningstjänst i samverkan och entreprenad. . Tekniskt utrymme förytterligare TV-sändningar. Ku. Fö. . 68.Otillbörligkurspáverkan ochvissa insiderfrågor.Fi.

1994 Statens offentliga utredningar Kronologisk förteckning 69.Onthe General Principlesof Environment Protection. M.

Statens offentliga utredningar 1994

Systematisk förteckning

Statsrådsberedningen Rättentill ratten- reformerat bilstöd. [55] Om kriget kommit..Förberedelsermottagande Ett centrum för kvinnor som våldtagits och for av misshandlats. [556] militärtbistånd1949-1969Bilagedel, +

Justitiedepartementet Komm unikationsdepartementet

På väg. [I5] Vapenlagen ochEG[4] Kriminalvårdochpsykiatri.[5] Finansdepartementet Års-ochkoncernredovisiting litivdirtektiv. enligt Del1och11.Ju.[17] Ändradansvarsfördelning fördenstatligastatistiken. [l]

Förvaltabostäder, [23] Sverige ochEuropa.Ensamhällsekonomisk

Vallagen.[30] konsekvensanalys. [6] Utrikessekretessen. [49] JIK-metoden, m.m. [13]

6 JuniNationaldagen. [58] VissamervärdeskattefrågorKultur lll —- m.m. Uppskattad sysselsättning skatternas om betydelse Personnummerintegritetocheffektixitct[63] — — fördenprivatatjänstesektorn. [43] Utrikesdepartementet Folkboktöringsuppgifterna i samhället. [44]

Historisktvägval FöljdemaförSverigeiutrikes-och Allemanssparandet en översyn. [50] ~ — säkerhetspolitiskt hänseende bli.respektive intebli Beskattning fastigheter, av del Principiella av att — medlemiEuropeiska unionen. [8] utgångspunkter för beskattning fastigheter av m.m. [57]

Anslutningtill Rationaliserad fastighetstaxering, del Fi. [62] EU—— Förslag till övergripande lagstiftning.[10] Statistikochintegritet,del2 Suveränitet Lag om personregister för officiellstatistik m.m. [65] ochdemokrati — Finasiella tjänsteri förändring.[66] + bilagedelmed expertuppsatser. [12] Renarolleri biståndetstyrning arbetsfördelning Otillbörligkurspáverkan ochvissainsiderfrágor. [68] —— och i en effektivbiståndsforvaltning. [19] Utbildningsdepartementet Sexualupplysning ochreproduktiv hälsaunder1900-talet i Sverige.[37] Grunden livslångtlärande. for [45] Kvinnor, barnocharbeteiSverige1850-1993. [38] Avveckling denobligatoriska av anslutningen till Studentkårer ochnationer.[47] Försvarsdepartementet Kulturdepartementet Räddningstjänst i samverkan och entreprenad. [67] Förnyelse ochkontinuitet om konstochkultur — Socialdepartementet i framtiden. [9] Vandelns betydelse i medborgarskapsärenden,[33] m.m. Mänsföreställningar kvinnorochChefskap. om [3] Reformerat Tekniskt utrymme forytterligare TV-sandningar. [34] pcnsionssystem. [20] Reformerat Vårandes stämma ochandras. pensionssystem. BilagaA. —— Kostnader ochindivideffekter. Kulturpolitik och internationalisering. [35] [21] Reformerat pensionssystem. BilagaB. Minne och bildning.Museernas uppdrag och KvinnorsATPochavtalspensioner. [22] organisation bilagedel.[51] +

Svenskalkoholpolitik strategiforframtiden. Teaterns roller. [52] — en [24] Svenskalkoholpolitik bakgrund ochnuläge.[25] Mästarbrev för hantverkare, [53] —— Utvärdering praxisi asylärcndcn. [54] Att förebygga alkoholproblem. [26] av Vård alkoholmissbrukare. [27] Särskilda skal utformningochtillämpning 2 kap. av av 4 Kvinnorochalkohol.[28] 5 §och andrabestämmelser i utlänningslagen. [60]

Barn Föräldrar Alkohol.[29] - — Näringsdepartementet Gamla är ungasom blivit äldre.Omsolidaritet mellan generationerna. Europeiska äldreåret1993.[39] Pantbankernas krcditgivning. [61]

Sambandet mellanSamhällsekonomi transfereringar

ochsocialbidrag. [46]

Statens 1994

offentliga utredningar

Systematisk förteckning

Arbetsmarknadsdepartementet Ledighelslagstiftningen översyn — en [41] Kunskap för utveckling+ bilagedel.[48]

Civildepartementet Kommunerna, Landstingen ochEuropa. + Bilagedel, [2] konsumentpolitik i enny tid.[14] Kvaliteti kommunal verksamhet nationell — uppföljningochutvärdering. [18] MycketUnderSamma Tak. [32] Statenoch trossamfunden. [42]

Miljö- och naturresursdepartementet EU,EES ochmiljön.[7] Skoterköming påjordbruks- ochskogsmark. Kartläggning och åtgärdsförslag. [l6] Miljöochfysiskplanering. [36] Långsiktig strålskyddsforskning. [40] Vilkavattendrag skall skyddasPrinciperoch förslag.[59] Vilkavattendrag skall skyddas Beskrivningar av vattenområden. [59] Med raps i tankarna[64] OntheGeneral Principles of Environment Protection. [69]

ENVIRON ADVISORY

The Environmental Advisory Council advices the Government on environmental issues. The Council’s task to look at new environmental issues and to propose new working methods. The Council also to contribute to facilitate the linking of research, ideas and political decisions. The Council’s work shall be outwardedly oriented and contribute to stimulating environmental discussion. The Advisory Council’s current task to develop the environmental efforts within strategic areas such as the economy and trade, transport, education and research. International environmental endeavours are a central feature of the Council’s work, for example the follow-up of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. The Environmental Advisory Council’s special project on Ecocycles aims at developing societal solutions especially within the urban, transport and product areas. The Environmental Advisory Council arranges seminars and conferences, publishes reports in the governmental series Statens Offentliga Utredningar SOU and in the Environmental Advisory Council’s report series. The Environmental Advisory Council a own committee within the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources and was set up in 1968.

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