Environmental Protection: Soil Pollution and Waste Management

Author(s): Mihai Ionuț Rădoi / Language(s): English Issue: 69/2021

By virtue of the desire to satisfy his growing needs, man appeals to nature, extracting from the environment renewable and non-renewable resources. Over time, the amount of resources available in their natural environment to cope with the increased demand for economic goods is growing faster than the possibilities offered by the environment. At the same time, by expanding production and consumption, the amounts of residues and waste resulting from these economic processes, including cosmic ones, increase, which affects the degree of tolerance of their assimilation by the environment, the ecological balance. In general, the ecological balance expresses the state of normality between the biotic community and its physical environment of existence, between the biocenosis and the biotope, between the biotic and abiotic factors, as well as inside them. This is achieved by self-regulation of the ecosphere and its components by respecting by people the requirements of the law of nature, not disturbing the stability of ecological balance, its inclusion in certain tolerant limits being basically the expression of peaceful coexistence of man with nature.

Noua directivă UE privind sustenabilitatea („CSRD”) devine factor de schimbare

Author(s): Laura Vrînceanu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 5/2022

Pe data de 10 noiembrie 2022, Parlamentul European a adoptat textul final al Directivei privind raportarea corporativă de sustenabilitate (CSRD), care va impune companiilor ce își desfășoară activitatea în Uniunea Europeană (UE) să facă publice informații și date referitoare la aspecte legate de mediu, social și guvernanță. Se așteaptă ca pe 28 noiembrie 2022 Consiliul Uniunii Europene să adopte propunerea, după care aceasta va fi semnată și publicată în Jurnalul Oficial al UE. Directiva va intra în vigoare în a 20-a zi de la publicare. Statele membre vor avea la dispoziție 18 luni pentru a o transpune în legislația națională. Această decizie va face din UE liderul mondial în materie de standarde de raportare privind sustenabilitatea, și va avea un impact asupra a aproximativ 50.000 de societăți la nivelul UE (față de 11.700 în prezent). Companiile vor fi obligate să publice mai multe informații legate de sustenabilitate decât oricând, inclusiv informații despre modelele lor de afaceri, strategia și lanțurile de aprovizionare, punându-se un accent deosebit pe conecti vitatea dintre declarațiile fi nanciare și cele de sustenabilitate. În România, se preconizează că peste 6.000 de companii vor fi obligate în viitorul apropiat să raporteze informații privind sustenabilitatea, față de aproximativ 750 de companii în prezent. Conducerea acestor companii va trebui să facă schimbări semnifi cative în ceea ce privește modul în care pregătesc și prezintă informațiile de sustenabilitate, cum ar fi să se asigure că aplică o viziune prospectivă (obiective) și retrospectivă, luând în considerare atât impactul activităților companiei asupra mediului și societății, cât și impactul extern asupra procesului de creare de valoare al companiei (conceptul de „dublă materialitate”).

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RIGHT TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT DURING THE PANDEMIC

Author(s): Mirjana Drenovak-Ivanović / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2022

The protection and preservation of the environment and stable climatic conditions, as well as the right of public participation in environmental decision-making in public spaces, are emerging as topics of special significance, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for integrated protection of natural goods of general interest, harmonization with the EU acquis, the need to simultaneously overcome the COVID-19 crisis and implement the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans raises numerous questions, some of them being: is environmental protection a priority during the pandemic and, if so, which aspects of environmental protection represent the primary concern; have the measures limiting public gatherings had an impact on public participation in decision-making; and, do the proposed legislative amendments and additions complete the environmental protection system, with clear criteria for an environmental impact assessment of the related activities and the decisions to support their pursuit?

South African Study into Healing Planetary Pollution

Author(s): Stephen David Edwards,Caroll Hermann / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

The accelerating destructive effects of pollution threaten the existence of all inhabitants of planet earth. Health promotion interventions inevitably include a dynamic harmony of various interacting planetary components and contexts, bio-psycho-social as well as spiritual, cultural and ecological. This study was based on a broad research question as to what would best heal polluted planet earth. As with most countries, South Africa is slowly recovering from the effects of COVID-19. It seemed timeous to investigate a local sample of knowledgeable and experienced persons with regard to their views on pollution prevention and health promotion. Sixteen local KwaZulu-Natal persons responded to an online google questionnaire. There were 5 men and 11 women, with a mean age of 55 and age range from 25 to 73 years. Data analysis using NVivo12 software indicated that participants’ responses generally coalesced into a coherent health promotion theme including subthemes of awareness, education, regulation, and action to prevent human destructiveness, promote healing and the holistic integrity of nature. Unique local findings as well as those similar to other studies are discussed. Further research could include formal scales with larger local and international samples in interconnected, ecological and health promotion initiatives.

Microplastic in the Soil Environment – Classification and Sources in Relation to Research Conducted in Poland

Author(s): Monika Kisiel,Agnieszka Poniatowska,Anita Kaliszewicz / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2022

In less than a century, plastics have gained enormous popularity and it is now difficult for us to imagine our lives without them. They are very widely used in industry, agriculture, medicine and many others, mainly due to their stability and low production costs - which contribute to a steady increase in demand worldwide. They biodegrade very slowly, and the limited and inappropriate recovery of this raw material from waste has led to a visible accumulation of residual polymers in the environment. As a result of physical, chemical and biological processes, e.g., ultraviolet (UV) radiation, weathering or mechanical abrasion, plastics degrade to fine particles - those less than 5 mm in size are called microplastics. They can be found in the natural environment in various morphological forms, e.g., as fibres, granules, scraps, spheres, particles or fragments, e.g., film, of primary or secondary origin. The presence of microplastics has been found all over the world, in all environments. Only recently has there been a broader focus on microplastics, which includes terrestrial systems where soils are an important part of the environment potentially exposed to contamination. Their main source in soils may be within agriculture (where composts, organic fertilizers, sewage sludge and mulching, as well as irrigation are used) plus transport, landfills and the deposition of atmospheric pollutants.

Екологічні та кліматичні кризи як фактор розвитку сучасного конституціоналізму та екологічної безпеки

Author(s): Svitlana Muravyova / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 159/2022

Due to the significant and often deliberate human impact on the natural environment, there are serious problems facing both present and future generations of people. Today, ethical, religious, political and economic arguments in favor of preserving and protecting the environment are unfortunately not taken seriously enough in society. Our responsibilities towards other people explain why we have responsibilities towards the environment. On the other hand, there is a growing voice in favor of recognizing that our duties to nature derive from the rights of the very components of nature, its flora and fauna. This raises the question of recognizing the rights of nature. The constitutions of individual states interpret nature as a subject of rights. The assumed interconnectedness of humans and nature introduces a systemic worldview. This shift to a holistic narrative serves as a catalyst for the growing acceptance of the new systemic worldview. The "rights of nature" embody a distinctive position of agricultural and environmental ethics that sets limits on human activity and justifies a partnership with the planet. Legal equality is perceived as a prerequisite for a symmetrical conceptualization of human relations with the planet. The environmental policy of the "green state" is aimed at ensuring sustainable development, which, among other things, includes ensuring environmental human rights, reducing socio-economic inequalities, eradicating environmental injustice (both within nation-states, regionally and globally, as well as between generations) and ensuring that the needs of the human economy do not exceed the regenerative capacity of the ecosystems on which this economy depends. In this context, there is a need for research on the political and institutional dynamics of the nation-state towards moving away from unsustainable development paths. Living in a sustainable ("green") political order, different from the current liberal-democratic one based on the laws of the free market, requires new legal, primarily constitutional, and institutional innovations. The purpose of this article is to invite a broad debate on the nature of the ecological state, its content and correlation with traditional principles of constitutionalism, and its impact on national security policy. Such a discussion will contribute to the recognition that the greening of the constitution is aimed at protecting national environmental interests and will contribute to improving environmental security.

Climate risk as a key risk for the energy sector

Author(s): Bartosz Sobik / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2022

The ongoing energy transition is irreversibly changing the nature and functioning of the energy sector and emerging new types of risks, with climate risk standing out in particular, being a result of the EU’s energy and climate policy as well as global trends related to sustainable development. The materialisation of climate risk gives rise to a number of mutually interpenetrating new types of risk, among which financial, regulatory and social risks can be distinguished. Climate risk also manifests itself in the performance of the EU ETS CO2 emissions trading scheme, as well as in weather risks. The purpose of this paper is to define accurately the types of risk affecting the activities of energy entities and to indicate the impact of climate risk on them. The methods used in this research are literature review and data analysis. Climate risk is therefore an accelerator of new risks in the electric power sector and should thus be duly taken into account and mitigated, as ignoring it can have serious consequences. Hence, climate risk management is becoming one of the key elements of risk management across the energy sector. Decisions made by energy companies in line with the sustainable development paradigm will catalyse their growth and allow them to increase their value.

Energy security in Poland – transformation and role of nuclear energy

Author(s): Piotr Betkowski / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2022

Currently, Poland is facing the challenge of energy transformation towards a zero-emissional energy system. In this article author presents basic assumptions of Poland’s energy security system. Moreover, a particular focus is set on replacement of coal power plant, which are currently a fundament of Polish electricity production system. Therefore, in this article is examined a several aspects of transformation of national energy mix with analise of nuclear energy as a potentially significant part of future energy security fundament. This article also presents the possibilities of implementing various types of nuclear power facilities, as well as de lege lata and de lege ferenda postulates in the Polish nuclear law.

Effectiveness of environmental policies on carbon emissions: A panel threshold analysis

Author(s): Hale Akbulut / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2022

The aim of this study is to test the possible non-linear effect of environmental policy stringency on carbon emissions and thus make policy recommendations for emission reduction. For this purpose data for the period 1995–2015 for selected emerging countries were used. According to the findings obtained from fixed-effects panel threshold regressions environmental policy stringency has no significant effect on the relationship between gross domestic product per capita and carbon dioxide emissions. However, it has statistically significant effect if the share of the service sector and the foreign direct investment are taken as regime-dependent variables. Accordingly, in the high policy stringency regime an increase in the share of the service sector and the foreign direct investment reduce emission levels. In the case of using market-based environmental regulations the threshold effect faced by foreign direct investment is much more pronounced. In order to reduce carbon emissions it is recommended to increase environmental policy stringency, especially in market-based tools.

Interpreting the Strategic Environmental Assessment Protocol to the Espoo Convention

Author(s): Felix Zaharia / Language(s): English Issue: 27/2022

In 2022, the Espoo Convention Implementation Committee issued its first findings and recommendations regarding compliance with the Protocol on strategic environmental assessment, providing at the same time useful guidance for interpreting the Protocol. While the specific guidance prepared by the Committee remains to be confirmed in 2023 by the Meeting of the Parties to the Espoo Convention, it marks the Committee’s first in-depth examination of the Protocol’s transboundary practice. The paper provides a brief analysis of the Committee’s interpretation of Article 10 of the Protocol, aimed at assisting Parties in implementing their obligations.

Koncepcje dywersyfikacji źródeł i kierunków dostaw ropy naftowej do Polski w myśli politycznej Sojuszu Lewicy Demokratycznej w latach 2001–2005

Author(s): Michał Paszkowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2021

The construction of a more diversified crude oil supplies structure to domestic re- fineries was treated differently by individual political parties in poland. for the democratic left alliance, a key element contributing to energy security was the need to ensure a constant supply of this commodity at the lowest possible price, and not to diversify the sources and directions of crude oil supplies. therefore, the sld government held talks on regulating the transit position of poland (an initiative of the russian side), but at the same time raised the need to build the odessa– Brody–plock pipeline. the aim of the article was to analyze the political thought of the democratic left alliance in terms of ensuring alternative sources and directions of oil supplies to the russian federation, and to identify the potential consequences of the views and decisions made. the main assumption was that in the sld concept, supplies from the russian federation played the most important role, but cooperation with other oil exporters created an opportunity to build a more diversified structure of import this commodity to poland. taking up the topic was important due to the lack of studies in which we can find the results of original studies on the position of political parties in the context of building a diversified structure of crude oil supplies, as well as the con- struction of the odessa–Brody–plock pipeline.

Problematyka bezpieczeństwa energetycznego w kampanii wyborczej Bronisława Komorowskiego i Andrzeja Dudy na urząd prezydenta Polski w 2015 roku

Author(s): Michał Paszkowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2020

The article analyzes the concepts formulated by the two main candidates for the office of the President of Poland in 2015. the aim of the article was therefore to analyze the ideas of bronisław komorowski and andrzej duda in the field of energy security and to identify potential points of convergence of the formulated political concepts. the views of both candidates differed significantly, which resulted from a different vision presented by the two main political groups in Poland – civic Platform and law and justice, which supported these candidates.

In search of decision-making situation (DMS) in international relations: a review of unpacked Paris climate change agreement

Author(s): Majid Asadnabizadeh / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

The Paris Climate Agreement (PCA) of December 2015 marks a decisive point in international relations. The Paris Agreement (PA) established unpacked climate change pledges and policies which offer a significant situation to the international relations decision-making process. Therefore, this paper stands on the Decision-making Situation (DMS) in International relations to inform unpacked Paris climate change agreement.The approach of this paper to the Decision-making Situation (DMS) embedded in the Paris climate change agreement focuses on review, identifying incentives, Decision-making Situation of the Paris agreement (DMS-PA), and EX- Political steps on the Paris Agreement (EXP-PA) model. The paper briefly assesses specific incentives: Copenhagen, Cancun, Durban, Doha, Warsaw, Lima to track review methods towards DMS related to PA. The review and analysis in this paper lay out a detailed process, techniques, and guidelines for the future framework of DMS in international climate change system (ICCS) analysis.

Projekt rurociągu Odessa–Brody–Płock jako element zapewnienia bezpieczeństwa energetycznego Polski w myśli politycznej wybranych polskich partii politycznych w latach 2005–2015

Author(s): Michał Paszkowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2023

The construction of a more diversified crude oil supplies structure to Poland has been an important element influencing the Polish energy policy for years. Many political parties have raised the legitimacy of diversifying the sources and directions of supply of this commodity, and one of the most important projects in this area was the construction of a pipeline connecting the Polish and Ukrainian crude oil systems. Ultimately, the crude oil was to be imported from the Caspian Sea region. The article aims to analyse the political thought of Law and Justice, Civic Platform, and the Polish People’s Party regarding the construction of the Odessa–Brody–Płock pipeline to Poland. The considerations in the article make it possible to highlight the main arguments formulated by politicians of these political parties on the problems of supplying energy resources to Poland. The starting point of the analysis is the thesis that, in the opinion of Polish political parties, cooperation with the Caspian Sea countries was a key component of the efforts to diversify the sources and directions of crude oil supplies to domestic refineries.

Uwarunkowania i konsekwencje ambicji Unii Europejskiej w polityce klimatycznej

Author(s): Tomasz Grzegorz Grosse / Language(s): Polish Issue: 7/2022

The aim of the article is to present the most important factors contributing to the growth of the EU’s ambitions in climate policy. As of now, they have been threefold: (1) scientific and media reports on the increase in global temperature and natural disasters resulting from these changes, (2) the consensus of major political forces and societies in Western European countries, along with a strong ideologization of the approach to climate policy, (3) big business interests represented by the largest member states, including Germany. Moreover, the aim of the article is to present the main consequences of the adopted climate agenda, as it could be assessed at the beginning of 2022. The final part of the article will present the consequences of EU policy for Poland, including a discussion on the tightening of the policy of Polish authorities in the EU arena.

Climate and environment on the EU geopolitical chessboard

Author(s): Anna Zalewska / Language(s): English Issue: 6/2020

Bir Güvenlik Meselesi Olarak Çevre Sorunları

Author(s): Pelin Aliyev / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 2/2022

In the bipolar system that emerged during the Cold War, security was handled within the framework of the threat and anxiety posed by the military power of one state on the other state. Environmental concerns were rarely perceived as a security problem. This approach was also an expression of the traditional understanding of security that has been accepted since the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia. Environmental problems began to be discussed as a security issue both academically and in international conferences from the 1960s. However, with the end of the Cold War, these problems have turned into a global issue for which international cooperation is essential for the solution. The aim of this study is to reveal what kind of change and transformation has taken place in the way environmental problems are handled in parallel with the expansion of the content of security.

Wykorzystanie zielonych obligacji oraz zielonych listów zastawnych w realizacji założeń Europejskiego Zielonego Ładu

Author(s): Joanna Muczyńska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2022

The main aim of the article is to present the prospect of usage of green bonds and green covered bonds as the implementation tools for the principles of the European Green Deal. The material is based on the analysis of the sources of current Polish and European legal and financial public information acts, as well as the case study on the issuance of green bonds and green covered bonds. The European Green Deal was presented on December 11, 2019, as an action plan for more efficient use of resources, by transitioning to a clean circular economy, preventing climate change, countering biodiversity loss and reducing pollution. Special attention was given to the necessary investments and available financial tools. The ways of ensuring a fair transformation were also explained. Achieving the goals outlined in the European Green Deal will require significant investment. It is estimated that in order to meet the currently set climate and energy targets for the period until 2030, it is necessary to increase investment outlays by an amount of EUR 260 billion per year, or around 1.5%. 2018 EU GDP. Such investment will require the mobilization of both the public and private sectors. The aim of the article is to analyze the financial instruments in terms of the possibility of associating them with the implementation of the principles of the European Green Deal. The conclusions of the article indicate that taking into account the necessity to implement the European Union strategy in the field of environmental and climate protection, the use of green bonds and green covered bonds is possible. The basis of green bonds issuance is the realization of investment projects in the field of conservancy which coincide with the European Green Deal goals. Green covered bonds are based on green mortgages intended for financing energy-efficient buildings, which is one of the European Green Deal keystones.

Analysis of the Main Drivers of GHG Emissions in Visegrad Countries: Kaya Identity Approach

Author(s): Dalia Streimikiene / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2023

There are two main ways to reduce anthropogenic GHG emissions: energy efficiency improvement and increase usage of renewable energy sources. Taking these two main ways into account, it is possible to analyze the main drivers of GHG emissions in the country and to make forecast of future GHG emissions based on historical trends. The Visegrad group (V4) countries, including Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Czech Republic were selected to provide comparative assessment of their GHG emission drivers and to evaluate effects of climate change mitigation policies in energy sector on GHG emission trends. The Kaya identity approach was applied allowing to perform simple multiplication. Kaya identity equation substitutes the factors with well-established and measurable quantities, which leave little space for ambiguity. The multiplying population size by GDP per capita, energy intensity, and carbon intensity of energy allows to get total GHG emissions in the country and define its energy efficiency or use of renewables are the main drivers of GHG emissions, including the effect of economic growth expressed by GDP per capita.

Geothermal Energy and Power Generation in Germany

Author(s): Gerhard Braunmiller,Peter Horbaj,Natalia Jasminska / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2009

The EU is the world’s largest energy importer, relying on imports for 50 % of its energy needs. With an energy demand forecast likely to grow by 1–2 % a year, that figure will over the coming 20–30 years rise to 70 %. The Geothermie is an inexhaustible energy source. With the supplies, which are stored in our planet, in principle the world-wide power requirement could be covered. The Geothermie, or terrestrial heat, is the warmth stored in the upper (accessible) part of the earth's crust. It covers the energy, as far as it can be extracted and used, stored in the earth, and ranks among the regenerative energies. It can be used both directly, approximately for heating and cooling in the heating market, and for the production by electric current or in a force heat coupling. Production of heat using geothermal energy can be obtained in two very distinct ways. The first consists of directly exploiting subterranean water tables whose temperatures are included between 30 °C and 150 °C (so-called medium and low temperature applications). The second makes use of geothermal heat pumps that come under the heading of so-called very low temperature applications.