International Encyclopedia of Environmental Politics

John Barry, E. Gene Frankland

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9780415202855
• eBook ISBN:
  9781135554033
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: International Relations
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Why care about the environment? Is the earth's climate really changing for the worse? What are CFCs exactly? And who or what is the WTO? What are the causes of environmental problems? Who are the main actors, and what are the main ideas and issues in international environmental politics? Which countries have the best/worst environmental record and policies?
The International Encyclopedia of Environmental Politics is the essential reference source to enable all those with an interest in the politics of the environment - particularly students and academics working within political science - to answer these questions, and to explore many other related topics in international environmental politics. It will be welcomed as an essential teaching resource and a trusty companion to independent study.
Written by a team of international experts, the Encyclopedia is vital for fact-checking, provides authoritative initial orientation to a particular topic or issue and will serve as a solid starting point for wider explanation. With over 300 fully cross-referenced entries, many of which are followed with suggestions for further reading, the Encyclopedia includes:
* Country and regional entries, with country entries giving a concise overview of the history, main actors, issues and policies related to its environmental politics
* Normative and ethical dimensions of environmental politics, from animal rights, social and global justice to deep ecology
* Environmental movements, organizations, struggles and actors from local to international levels
* Issues in international environmental politics such as global warming, biodiversity, trade and the environment
* Prominent individuals (historical and current) who have inspired or been actively involved in international environmental politics - such as Mahatma Gandhi, Petra Kelly, Vandana Shiva and Aldo Leopold
* Central topics and issues in environmental politics - such as global warming, globalization, wildlife preservation, eco-taxes, energy production and consumption, sustainable development and the World Trade Organisation

A

Abbey, Edward

b. 29 January 1927, Pennsylvania, USA; d. 14 March 1989, Oracle, Arizona

Author and activist

Edward Abbey, a distinguished writer of books and articles on nature and the environment, is unique as one who refused to consider himself an environmentalist, even though virtually all of his published work shows a love of wild places. Indeed, he resisted all efforts to identify him with any organized group or movement. A self-described agrarian anarchist, Abbey’s career included time as a bus driver, park ranger, social worker, and cowboy. These varied experiences helped to give him a world view that was extremely critical of contemporary American society. His clarion call was for life to be brought back to the firm reality of Mother Earth. One means to that end which received a great deal of notoriety, was ‘monkey-wrenching’, from Abbey’s 1975 book, The Monkey Wrench Gang, which advocated the direct defence of the earth, and was championed by such groups as Earth First!

See also: anarchism

Further reading

Abbey, E. (1968) Desert Solitaire, Tucson: University of Arizona.

WARREN VANDER HILL

acid rain

Acid precipitation or, better yet, acid deposition are more accurate descriptions than the commonly used term ‘acid rain’: any precipitation (fog, sleet, snow) can be acid, and there is also a great deal of dry-deposited acidifying compounds. Oxides of sulphur (SO_x) and nitrogen (NO_x) are precursors of acidifying compounds: sulphates and nitrates produced by their oxidation have to be balanced by hydrogen ions (H⁺) to form strong (that is fully dissociated) acids, for instance sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) and nitric acid (HNO₃), which are the two most important acidifying compounds. Acidity is expressed as the concentration of H⁺ in solution on a logarithmic scale (pH).

Downwind precipitation from large SO₂ sources can have episodic acidity below pH 3, comparable to that of vinegar (pH 2.9), and annual averages in the worst affected areas of eastern North America, western and Central Europe have ranged between pH 4–4.5, with individual rains having pH even less than 3.5. But in all arid and semiarid regions average precipitation pH is higher thanks to huge quantities of dust containing neutralizing base cations (mostly Ca²⁺ [calcium], K⁺ [potassium] and Mg²⁺ [magnesium]).

Although the first systematic studies of the phenomenon are R.A. Smith’s writings of the 1850s, widespread modern attention to this environmental degradation began with the Swedish studies of the late 1960s which concluded that long-range atmospheric transport of air pollutants from coal-burning countries of western and Central Europe had been causing acidification of aquatic ecosystems, leaching of toxic metals from soils, and reduction of forest growth over much of southern Scandinavia. Sweden made its concerns about long-distance acidification the case study for the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972. A number of multinational European studies followed during the rest of the 1970s, and in 1981 the USA began its decade-long National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP).

Coal-fired electricity-generating plants and smelters of colour metals are the largest sources of SO_x whose subsequent atmospheric oxidation generates sulphates; their long-range transport can affect ecosystems hundreds of km downwind. Effects of high acid deposition are usually seen first in surface waters. Aquatic acidification affects biota both directly and through its changes of soil and substrate chemistry, above all due to increased concentrations of aluminum and heavy metals. Chronic acidification dissolves aluminum hydroxide, a reaction which helps neutralize further pH declines but which puts large amounts of Al³⁺ (aluminium) into the water. These ions irritate fish gills and destroy their protective mucus. Acidification also mobilizes abnormally high levels of all heavy metals. Acid-sensitive organisms include fish (minnows, dace, lake and rainbow trout, and roach), many amphibians, gastropods, crustaceans, and invertebrates.

Forests, especially coniferous trees, are also at risk. During the early 1980s it appeared that an unequivocal causal link between acid deposition and large-scale deterioration of coniferous forests had been clearly established in Germany – but subsequent research revealed a much more complex reality, with acid deposition being just one of several contributing factors. Acid deposition also accelerates corrosion of metals (iron, steel, nickelplated steel and zinc are most susceptible) and deterioration of limestone, marble, and mortar: among the thousands of affected structures the two most famous ones are the Parthenon and Taj Mahal. But prevailing levels of acid deposition in North America and Europe have not caused any measurable reductions of crop yields.

Because of the long-range transport combined with seasonally varying winds, most European countries are both sources and receptors of acidifying compounds. That is why the European SO₂ control strategy opted for virtually continentwide uniform emission cuts rather than for an array of specific, and easily contestable, national quotas. For many years before the signing of a bilateral treaty in March 1991 acid deposition had been a highly contentious issue in US—Canadian relations.

Conversions from coal to cleaner fuels (above all to natural gas) and flue gas desulphurization have brought major cuts of SO_x emissions in both Europe and North America, and as a result many of the previously affected aquatic ecosystem on both continents have been recovering. At the same time, emissions of NO_x from large stationary sources as well as from transportation have been increasing steadily. The situation is very different in Asia, where modernizing economies are burning increasing amounts of fossil fuels. Large areas of China now have rains as acid as they used to be in Europe during the 1970s, and Chinese emissions are bringing acid deposition to South Korea and Japan; acid rains are now being also recorded in northern India.

Further reading

Firor, J. (1992) The Changing Atmosphere, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Longhurst, J.W.S. (1991) Acid Deposition: Origins, Impacts, and Abatement Strategies, Berlin: Springer.

Smil, V (1997) Cycles of Life, New York: Scientific American Library.

VACLAV SMIL

Aelvoet, Magda

b. 4 April 1944, Steenokkerzeel, Belgium

Politician

Magda Aelvoet has been a key figure in Belgian environmental politics since the late 1970s. She began her professional career in a series of development non-governmental organizations until 1985, when she joined government.

From 1979 onwards, she played a leading role in the process which led to the creation of the Flemish Green Party Agalev in 1982. She was elected to the Senate in 1985 and in 1987, and then to the House of Representatives in 1991. In 1994, she became an MEP and vice co-president, then co-president (in 1996) of the Green Group in the European Parliament.

Following the Greens’ breakthrough in June 1999, she became the first Flemish green minister at the federal level, in charge of environment, public health and consumer affairs. From the outset, she has had to tackle difficult issues attracting strong media coverage, such as the management of the dioxin scandal (large-scale contamination of the food chain).

BENOÎT RIHOUX

African Green Parties, Federation of

The Federation of African Green Parties was set up in May 1998 during the third Congress of the African Green Co-Ordination (formally constituted in Niamey in 1994). It gathers about 20 parties from the African continent, with a majority of West African green parties. Its aim is to reinforce democracy and sustainable development in Africa, to develop co-operation among African green parties, to strengthen the co-operation with the American and the European Federation of Green Parties agreed in May and December 1998 respectively. Its delegates are regularly participating in Euro-African meetings financed mainly by the German Heinrich Boll Foundation, the Swedish Green Forum and the French Greens. Its activities have increased at the end of the 1990s with the electoral success of green parties in Burkina Faso (the first two African green ministers in November 1999) and Guinea-Bissau (one minister in February 2000).

See also: sub-Saharan Africa

CÉDRIC VAN DE WALLE

Agalev

Agalev is the Belgian Flemish-speaking green party (see Belgium). Along with its French-speaking counterpart Ecolo, it has become one of the most institutionalized and successful green parties worldwide.

The historical roots of Agalev can be traced back to a small Christian counter-cultural ‘self-improvement’ group, created in 1970 by a Jesuit priest in the Antwerp suburbs. From 1973 onwards, this group, called Anders Gaan Leven (‘Live Differently’), began to be involved in protest actions in connection with environmental issues. In the process, some local sections as well as Aktiegroepen (‘action groups’) were set up.

At the 1974 parliamentary elections and the 1976 local elections, the movement chose to endorse ‘green lists’ of candidates running on the tickets of established parties. As this proved totally ineffective, the first lists under the Agalev name were fielded in the 1977 and 1978 elections. By then, an explicitly political group had been created within the movement, which began to attract more politics-orientated activists.

After a first encouraging result at the 1979 European elections (2.3 per cent), the real breakthrough occurred when the Agalev list (not yet a ‘party’) obtained 4 per cent and 3 national parliamentary seats at the November 1981 elections. Hence, there was strong structural pressure to create a real party (Agalev), formally separated from the movement, which was done in February 1982.

As Ecolo, Agalev institutionalized and professionalized rather quickly, making further progress at the 1985 and 1987 legislative elections (11 national parliamentary seats by then). An acceleration of this process took place from 1989 onwards, as the party continued its electoral development – though less spectacularly than Ecolo – in 1989 and 1991, and as the public financing of political parties increased significantly. Throughout the whole period, the party never experienced any major factional conflicts.

From April 1992 to July 1993, Agalev and Ecolo temporarily joined the ruling majority in order to support the country’s institutional reforms (federalization) in Parliament. It was expected that the Greens would obtain, in exchange, the introduction of eco-taxes on various products. However, as soon as the institutional reforms were passed, the eco-taxes were slowly but surely dismantled, a clear political defeat for the Greens. Partly as a result of this, Agalev suffered its first electoral setbacks, both in terms of percentage and seats, at the 1994 European and 1995 legislative elections. Unlike Ecolo, this did not cause any major factional conflicts, though three ‘historical’ leaders did leave the party and joined the Socialists or Christian Democrats in 1994 and 1995.

Following this more difficult period, quite similarly to Ecolo, but in a less spectacular way, Agalev was able to capitalize on the whole series of scandals and affairs which shook the country from 1996 onwards. It made a breakthrough at the June 1999 general (11.4 per cent; a total of 27 parliamentary seats at the federal and regional levels) and European (11.9 per cent, 2 seats) elections.

Hence, from July 1999 onwards, Agalev has joined a ‘rainbow coalition’ with Liberals and Socialists, both at the federal and regional levels (with Ecolo at the federal level, and with the Flemish regionalists in Flanders). Altogether, it has obtained 4 governmental positions covering a broad range of portfolios (mainly public health, consumer affairs, social affairs, environment, agriculture and third-world aid). This presence in power constitutes yet another stage of development for the party, implying quite a lot of challenges, in terms of internal organization, strategy and effective policy impact. Agalev has had to accept some compromises on which it had kept a high profile before the elections, stirring some unrest among its rank-and-file. The presence of green ministers during the ‘rainbow’ legislature has also been marked by quite a few striking initiatives and subsequent controversies.

See also: Ecolo

Further reading

Hooghe, M. and Rihoux, B. (2000) ‘The Green Breakthrough in the Belgian General Elections of June 1999’, Environmental Politics 9,3: 129–136.

Kitschelt, H. and Hellemans, S. (1990) Beyond the European Left: Ideology and Political Action in the Belgian Ecology Parties, Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press.

Rihoux, B. (1995) ‘Belgium: Greens in a Divided Society’, in D. Richardson and C. Rootes (eds) The Green Challenge. The Development of Green Parties in Europe, London: Routledge.

—— (1999) ‘Agalev: la transformation inachevée d’un “parti-mouvement” en un parti de pouvoir’, in P. Delwit and J-M. De Waele (eds) Les partis verts en Europe, Brussels: Editions Complexe.

—— (2000) ‘Ecotaxes on the Belgian Agenda, 1992–5 and Beyond: Environment and Economy at the Heart of the Power Struggle’, in S. Young (ed.) The Emergence oft Environmental Modernisation, London: Routledge.

BENOÎT RIHOUX

Agarwal, Anil

b. 1948, India

Academic and environmentalist

Born in 1948, Anil Agarwal is one of the most influential environmentalists in India. Trained as a mechanical engineer, he founded the NGO Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in Delhi in 1980. From that base, he published and continues to publish a series of ‘Citizens’ Reports on the State of India’s Environment’, and also videos and other materials originating from environmental groups and scientists around the country. The CSE defends the idea of community rights as the basis for sustainable resource management. Anil Agarwal also edits together with Sunita Narain, Down to Earth, a monthly periodical on environmental issues whose influence extends much farther than India. Anil Agarwal and Sunita Narain became well-known worldwide when one year before the so-called Earth Summit of 1992, they published a booklet, Global Warming: A Case of Environmental Colonialism, arguing for equal property rights on carbon sinks.

JOAN MARTINEZ-ALIER

Agenda 21

Agenda 21, signed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED; see Rio Conference 1992), is perhaps the most thorough and ambitious attempt at the international level to specify what actions are necessary if development is to be reconciled with global environmental concerns. With its adoption by all the nations represented at UNCED, it is intended to guide nations towards sustainable development into the twenty-first century. However Agenda 21 is non-binding and has no legal status in international law.

The document is the result of long and protracted negotiations between virtually all political, social and economic interest groups in the run-up to UNCED and at the conference itself. The text is often contradictory because of the need to find compromises on controversial issues such as population control, reduction of fossil fuel usage and the nature of North–South debt. It is not surprising that the final text did not appear until September 1992 – four months after the Conference.

Agenda 21 consists of four sections. The first highlights the interconnectedness of environmental problems with social and economic issues such as poverty, health, trade, debt, consumption and population. The second stresses the need to manage physical resources such as land, seas, energy and wastes. The third section argues that the role of major social groups needs to be strengthened in decision-making processes. Partnership with women, indigenous populations, local authorities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), workers and labour/trade unions, business and industr...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Editorial team
• List of contributors
• Introduction
• Acknowledgements
• How to use this encyclopedia
• Thematic entry list
• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• X
• Y
• Yucca Mountain and nuclear wastes
• Z
• Index