EP&P (02/10/2018): Introduction to Environmental Policy and Politics Birth of Environmentalism: Post WWII, numerous environmental issues came to public attention, affecting policy thereof: - 1962: Rachel Carson's; Silent Spring o Emblem of environmental issue o Raise awareness of environmental problems down to household levels - 1952: Great smog of London o Comparative to todays air pollution issues in London/big cities. o Has much changed? - Numerous environmental organisations founded focussed on civil society concern: o 1961: WWF o 1967: Environmental defence fund (EDF) (70's in USA) o 1969: Friends of the Earth - 1967: Torrey County oil spill off Cornwall o 120,000 tons of oil o Brought the industry to the forefront of public attention - Blue marble Earth photos taken by NASA o Emphasised the beauty of Earth and how important it is to maintain it Spread of environmental policies: Move from only 1 or 2 counties investing in environmental policies in the 1950-1965 to now over 40 in 2005 Early environmental policies (1970's): - 1970: US National Environmental Policy Act & UK Department for the Environment o Environment gains formal recognition as an ADDITIONAL area of responsibility for Anglo-American governments. BUT not integrated into human society, nature as an external identity o Focus on pollution: " Minimise effect of contaminants on environmental sinks (lakes, rivers, soils, etc.) " Not stopping the cause and targeting the industry to stop producing pollutants " Instead 'end-of-pipe' policies which focus on when it reaches the land
Deepening concerns (1970's) - 1972: Club of Rome's The Limits to Growth o Suggests environmental policies and systematically linked to global population growth and resource exploitation - 1972: UN Conference on the Human Environment o Birth of UN environment programme o Outlined 26 principles for governments dealing with environmental problems - some go beyond simply pollution control Ecological Modernisation (1980's): - Environmental problems regarded as more complicated then just 'end of pipe', need to tackle the source and integrate policies o 1987: UK Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution o 1995: Environment Agency o 1986: Single European Act - Transboundary (ozone depletion, acid rain) - Restructure socio-economic system, mutually beneficial to human prosperity and ecological systems (pollution prevention pays) - Focus on long-term impacts, for future generations o Sometimes it wasn't clear what impact certain things would have on the environment, but this was no excuse to not act on them Sustainable Development 1990's: - 1987: Bruntland Report on the UN World Commission on Environment and Development - Technologies and social organisations combine to preserve environments capacity to meet todays and future needs - 1992: UN Rio Summit o Became known as sustainable development o Still relevant today - SDG'S (2015) Working together (1990's) - 2002: World Summit on Sustainable Development o More type II partnerships between gov, private and civil society
- Increasingly diverse range o No longer just top government o Intergovernmental panels o City authorities o Civil society groups - Broadening representation of under-represented groups? - Or pass of env policies to private sector?