Governing the Air: The Dynamics of Science, Policy, and Citizen Interaction

Chapter 1. Transboundary Air Pollution Policy in Transition

1 Transboundary Air Pollution Policy in Transition Rolf Lidskog and Göran Sundqvist Climate change, transboundary air pollution, urban air quality, greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxides, and fine particles—a cluster of related words is circulating in news reports, political discussions, and public debates. These words describe the importance of clean air for human health, a livable society, and a sustainable environment. But what is clean air, or, rather, what makes air polluted? And when pollutants are traced and explored, what kinds of actions should then be taken? How can the air be rendered governable? To what extent and in what way is it possible to steer society, regulate activities, abate pollution, and control emissions? And what authorities have the capacities to exert control in a globalized and fragmented world? Simple expressions such as transboundary air pollution, ozone depletion , and climate change raise a range of issues that concern the understanding of air pollution and society. This book’s point of departure is that governing the air entails a process in which boundaries between society, science, and nature are intermingled and constantly renegotiated. Earlier demarcations are transgressed, and new ones configured. Changes in scientific understandings and political organizations influence each other and often do so in unforeseeable ways. The book’s empirical focus is transboundary air pollution. This environmental problem has a fairly long regulatory history, not least in Europe, where a United Nations (UN) convention, the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP), was established in the late 1970s. Many commentators consider this convention to have been very successful. As such, it has been of great interest to social scientists , international relations (IR) scholars in particular, seeking to understand and explain what has been achieved and why. However, this success story of air pollution regulation currently faces a number of challenges. The organizational context has recently changed due to the 2 Rolf Lidskog and Göran Sundqvist European Union’s (EU) strengthened political role and its development of an air policy for all its member states. Scientific advances have led to a more complex and dynamic view of ecosystems. There has also been a gradual shift in focus from aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems to human health; this shift means that epistemic networks, established concepts, and developed models may become obsolete—or at least less relevant. The 1980s were the heyday of transboundary air pollution as a public issue, and the term acid rain was on everyone’s lips. Since the mid-1990s, however, this environmental problem has gradually been eclipsed by climate change. Nevertheless, because both transboundary air pollution and climate change concern atmospheric processes and substances emitted by the burning of fossil fuels, activities are under way to connect the two regulatory frameworks to achieve synergetic effects (Pleijel and Grennfelt 2007). Underlying these activities is the belief that the regulation of transboundary air pollution can gain a new mission by transferring its experience of success to the context of a less successful international regime. Air pollution policy is in transition and can develop in various directions . It is therefore useful to assess critically how various actors have developed strategies to make the governing of the air more socially robust, politically viable, and environmentally effective. This book’s focus is not confined to the limited area of air pollution. Current debate in this field provides ample opportunity to analyze the relationships among science, policy, and the public in international environmental governance in general, making a theoretical contribution to the academic field of IR. As in many other environmental areas—not least that of climate change—science and expertise are given a pivotal role in developing effective abatement strategies. This book has two objectives: first, to evaluate international air pollution policy critically and, second, to improve the theoretical understanding of the dynamics among science, policy, and citizens. To achieve the first objective, it is necessary to place the regulation of air pollution in its political and scientific contexts, explain its historical development, and relate it to other relevant environmental issues. The empirical focus is primarily air pollution in Europe, but regulatory efforts in other parts of the world are also considered. The second objective aims to deepen our understanding of the links among science, policy, and citizens in international environmental governance. By discussing and combining approaches and findings from the academic fields of IR and science and technology studies (STS), we deepen our understanding of science– Transboundary Air...