Suchergebnisse

Acid rain was during the last decades of the 20th century one of the largest environmental threats in Europe and North America causing severe effects to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Thanks to large scientific efforts and science-based international political agreements and the commitment to actions in Europe and North America, emissions of the acidifying substances have decreased substantially and there are signs of recovery in many ecosystems. ; Den här rapporten finns endast på engelska.

Den huvudsakliga målsättningen för Hav- och Luftgruppen under Nordiska Ministerrådet är att stödja de nordiska länderna i deras uppgift att begränsa de storskaliga havs- och gränsöverskridande luftföroreningar som påverkar de nordiska länderna och deras närområde. Hav- och Luftgruppen har under sin 10-åriga historia varit framgångsrik i att skapa gemensamma synsätt och strategier för att begränsa havs- och luftföroreningar. Arbetet har genomförts med utgångspunkt från de nordiska miljöstrategier som tagits fram under denna period. Under de senaste åren har nya element inkluderats i strategin, främst kopplade till hållbar utveckling och åtgärder för att begränsa klimatförändringar. In den föreliggande rapporten presenteras och diskuteras de aktuella miljöstrategierna översiktligt med utgångspunkt från havs- och luftföroreningar. Tillstånd och trender sammanfattas för de viktigaste föroreningarna. De politiska systemen för hav- och luftföroreningar, särskilt de inom regionala konventioner och inom EU, presenteras och diskuteras in termer av styrkor och svagheter och vad som de facto uppnåtts. Rapporten pekar också på några möjliga inriktningar för Hav- och Luftgruppen i relation till olika problem och prioriteringar inom miljöområdet liksom i relation till utvecklingen i Europa. ; Den huvudsakliga målsättningen för Hav- och Luftgruppen under Nordiska Ministerrådet är att stödja de nordiska länderna i deras uppgift att begränsa de storskaliga havs- och gränsöverskridande luftföroreningar som påverkar de nordiska länderna och deras närområde. Hav- och Luftgruppen har under sin 10-åriga historia varit framgångsrik i att skapa gemensamma synsätt och strategier för att begränsa havs- och luftföroreningar. Arbetet har genomförts med utgångspunkt från de nordiska miljöstrategier som tagits fram under denna period. Under de senaste åren har nya element inkluderats i strategin, främst kopplade till hållbar utveckling och åtgärder för att begränsa klimatförändringar. In den föreliggande rapporten presenteras och diskuteras de aktuella miljöstrategierna översiktligt med utgångspunkt från havs- och luftföroreningar. Tillstånd och trender sammanfattas för de viktigaste föroreningarna. De politiska systemen för hav- och luftföroreningar, särskilt de inom regionala konventioner och inom EU, presenteras och diskuteras in termer av styrkor och svagheter och vad som de facto uppnåtts. Rapporten pekar också på några möjliga inriktningar för Hav- och Luftgruppen i relation till olika problem och prioriteringar inom miljöområdet liksom i relation till utvecklingen i Europa.

The Swedish Parliament has adopted fifteen environmental quality objectives. To be able to attain these goals in a cost-efficient way, cost curves have been created for sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOX), and volatile organic compounds (VOC). These pollutants are also restricted in international protocols under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). Most of the analyses underlying the protocols have been performed by the Regional Acidification Information and Simulation model (RAINS) developed at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria. This study compare the cost-effectiveness principles used in the RAINS model with the principles used in the proposal to meet the Swedish environmental quality objectives. The two approaches use different methodologies to solve the problem with air pollution and do therefore receive different results. The advantages and disadvantages are discussed in this report ; The Swedish Parliament has adopted fifteen environmental quality objectives. To be able to attain these goals in a cost-efficient way, cost curves have been created for sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOX), and volatile organic compounds (VOC). These pollutants are also restricted in international protocols under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). Most of the analyses underlying the protocols have been performed by the Regional Acidification Information and Simulation model (RAINS) developed at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria. This study compare the cost-effectiveness principles used in the RAINS model with the principles used in the proposal to meet the Swedish environmental quality objectives. The two approaches use different methodologies to solve the problem with air pollution and do therefore receive different results. The advantages and disadvantages are discussed in this report

The report provides detailed information on emission trends and European actions on air quality during 2016-2020, in support of the second UNEP global summary report of policies and programmes to reduce air pollution. The pollutants in focus are sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, ammonia, and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Thanks to the continued strengthening of policies developed under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, EU policies and legislation, as well as national legislations, emissions of most monitored air pollutants have decreased. Since 2010, this trend has continued in Western, Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe. Emissions are however increasing in Central Asian countries. Looking at the entire European and Central Asian region covered in this report, there is one pollutant that stands out: ammonia. Ammonia emissions have in all sub-regions increased during 2010-2017, and there is no sign of decline. The EU member states and Norway, UK and Switzerland, with the largest past emission reductions, are also those with well-developed air quality monitoring and assessment infrastructure. In addition, these countries report the largest portfolio of further actions to reduce emissions in a cost-effective manner, including investments in energy efficiency improvements as well as in clean technologies. Awareness and progress in efforts to improve air quality assessment infrastructures in Eastern and South Eastern Europe as well as Central Asia are improving, and there are several examples of knowledge-sharing initiatives and capacity building efforts.

24-26 June 2013, 130 leading international policy makers, scientists, experts and others met at an international workshop in Gothenburg, Sweden, in order to discuss and outline future directions in air pollution science and policy. The workshop, which was organised in close collaboration with the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution and the European Commission, involved several themes such as linkages to climate change including SLCP, nitrogen, global governance and effects to health and environment. The output is a series of recommendations for further actions with respect to effects to health, ecosystems and near-term climate actions. Recommendations were also given with respect to heavy metals and POPs. The recommendations are directed towards several international organisations and initiatives such as CLRTAP, European Commission, Climate and Clean Air Coalition and the Arctic Council.

Forest monitoring in Europe provides information relevant to clean air policies, political processes related to sustainable forest management (SFM), and regional forest policy-making. This holds true in particular for the International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests) of the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. ICP Forests reveals effects of air pollution on forests, conducts risk assessments, and assesses the effectiveness of air pollution abatement measures. Its results contribute to the scientific basis for clean air policies under CLRTAP. CLRTAP is a particular success story. Since 1980, emissions of SO2 have been reduced by 80% to 90%. Since 1990, emissions of NOx and VOCs were reduced by about 50%. One of the reasons for the successful implementation of CLRTAP is the close connection of monitoring, science, and policy. A driving factor has been public awareness of the threats of air pollution to human health, ecosystems, and materials. ICP Forests also develops models describing relationships between air pollution, carbon fluxes, climate change, and biodiversity and substantiates the positive effects of clean air policy on SFM. It provides information on several SFM indicators to the report State of Europe's Forests that, together with the outlook studies on the forest sector, contributes valuable input to forest policy-making.

The international regulation of transboundary air pollution in Europe is often considered a success story. The success is usually explained by a close relationship between scientists and policy makers. When looking into other international environmental areas (e.g. climate change, marine pollution), there have generally been larger obstacles in the science-policy relationships. Social scientists have for many years studied the international policy development processes for air pollution and pointed to certain factors of importance in for its success. There have however seldom been opportunities for social scientists, policy makers and scientists to discuss together the interrelations between science and policy in the area. In order to further evaluate the science policy interactions and discuss possibilities for social scientists to play a role in the further development of air pollution strategies a workshop was organised in Gothenburg, Sweden 5-7 October 2005. The workshop was organised by the Swedish ASTA programme and the EU Network of Excellence ACCENT in collaboration with the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution and the EU CAFE initiative. Approximately 35 participants from 12 countries representing Europe, North America and Japan attended at the workshop. This report compiles the outcome of the workshop. The report is also available at http://asta.ivl.se/ ; The international regulation of transboundary air pollution in Europe is often considered a success story. The success is usually explained by a close relationship between scientists and policy makers. When looking into other international environmental areas (e.g. climate change, marine pollution), there have generally been larger obstacles in the science-policy relationships. Social scientists have for many years studied the international policy development processes for air pollution and pointed to certain factors of importance in for its success. There have however seldom been opportunities for social scientists, policy makers and scientists to discuss together the interrelations between science and policy in the area. In order to further evaluate the science policy interactions and discuss possibilities for social scientists to play a role in the further development of air pollution strategies a workshop was organised in Gothenburg, Sweden 5-7 October 2005. The workshop was organised by the Swedish ASTA programme and the EU Network of Excellence ACCENT in collaboration with the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution and the EU CAFE initiative. Approximately 35 participants from 12 countries representing Europe, North America and Japan attended at the workshop. This report compiles the outcome of the workshop. The report is also available at http://asta.ivl.se/

The international regulation of transboundary air pollution in Europe is often considered a success story. The success is usually explained by a close relationship between scientists and policy makers. When looking into other international environmental areas (e.g. climate change, marine pollution), there have generally been larger obstacles in the science-policy relationships. Social scientists have for many years studied the international policy development processes for air pollution and pointed to certain factors of importance in for its success. There have however seldom been opportunities for social scientists, policy makers and scientists to discuss together the interrelations between science and policy in the area. In order to further evaluate the science policy interactions and discuss possibilities for social scientists to play a role in the further development of air pollution strategies a workshop was organised in Gothenburg, Sweden 5-7 October 2005. The workshop was organised by the Swedish ASTA programme and the EU Network of Excellence ACCENT in collaboration with the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution and the EU CAFE initiative. Approximately 35 participants from 12 countries representing Europe, North America and Japan attended at the workshop. This report compiles the outcome of the workshop. The report is also available at http://asta.ivl.se/ ; The international regulation of transboundary air pollution in Europe is often considered a success story. The success is usually explained by a close relationship between scientists and policy makers. When looking into other international environmental areas (e.g. climate change, marine pollution), there have generally been larger obstacles in the science-policy relationships. Social scientists have for many years studied the international policy development processes for air pollution and pointed to certain factors of importance in for its success. There have however seldom been opportunities for social scientists, policy makers and scientists to discuss together the interrelations between science and policy in the area. In order to further evaluate the science policy interactions and discuss possibilities for social scientists to play a role in the further development of air pollution strategies a workshop was organised in Gothenburg, Sweden 5-7 October 2005. The workshop was organised by the Swedish ASTA programme and the EU Network of Excellence ACCENT in collaboration with the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution and the EU CAFE initiative. Approximately 35 participants from 12 countries representing Europe, North America and Japan attended at the workshop. This report compiles the outcome of the workshop. The report is also available at http://asta.ivl.se/

For 20 years, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency together with the MISTRA research foundation have funded five air pollution research programmes with focus on producing knowledge that supports policy and emission control in national and international arenas. The research has been multidisciplinary and has included research on emissions, atmospheric transport and transformation processes, human health effects, ecosystem effects, and emission control strategies. Research has also been conducted on the interaction between air pollution and climate change. Over these years, the link between the research programmes and the development of emission control strategies and policies in Sweden, the EU, and the UNECE Air Convention has been of high importance. This report presents how the research programmes have created societal benefits through support for the development of air pollution policies and emission control measures. The report also identifies future research needs to ensure continued progress towards even better air quality for future generations.

Air pollution has been recognized as a threat to human health since the time of Hippocrates, ca 400 BC. Successive written accounts of air pollution occur in different countries through the following two millennia until measurements, from the eighteenth century onwards, show the growing scale of poor air quality in urban centres and close to industry, and the chemical characteristics of the gases and particulate matter. The industrial revolution accelerated both the magnitude of emissions of the primary pollutants and the geographical spread of contributing countries as highly polluted cities became the defining issue, culminating with the great smog of London in 1952. Europe and North America dominated emissions and suffered the majority of adverse effects until the latter decades of the twentieth century, by which time the transboundary issues of acid rain, forest decline and ground-level ozone became the main environmental and political air quality issues. As controls on emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides (SO2 and NOx) began to take effect in Europe and North America, emissions in East and South Asia grew strongly and dominated global emissions by the early years of the twenty-first century. The effects of air quality on human health had also returned to the top of the priorities by 2000 as new epidemiological evidence emerged. By this time, extensive networks of surface measurements and satellite remote sensing provided global measurements of both primary and secondary pollutants. Global emissions of SO2 and NOx peaked, respectively, in ca 1990 and 2018 and have since declined to 2020 as a result of widespread emission controls. By contrast, with a lack of actions to abate ammonia, global emissions have continued to grow.