1. Political, Economic and Social Impacts on Environmental Protection at the Spring of 1994
1.3. Social Changes
ALBANIA
The first few years of the transformation towards democracy can best be described as anarchy. The new freedoms sometimes led to serious environmental damages. An example is the uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel. Estimates are that 80-90% of the households are dependent on wood for heating. Albania has been struggling for decades with the problem of providing sufficient heating for dwellings. The recent reduction in energy supply caused the shortage to become even more severe. In the last 45 years 30% of the forest area has been destroyed by clear-cutting. In addition, hunting and fishing, as well as the sale of medicinal plant species, have become popular ways of earning hard currency. Rare bird species and fish have been exported and sold for relatively high prices. The hunting practices themselves often have serious consequences. For example, explosives are sometimes used for fishing and are damaging habitats. Although laws on hunting and fishing were established in the 1970's, no means for enforcing these laws exist.
Unemployment in Albania is extremely high. The personal problems of the people with regard to their basic needs are enormous. As many people in Albania are homeless, unemployed, and live under the poverty level, it is understandable that the environment is not a priority issue among the population. The environmental awareness of the public can be described as very low.
Unemployment in the countryside has resulted in a rapid growth of the cities. Tirana grew in a few years from 300,000 to 400,000 inhabitants. The new inhabitants, often people from the northern mountainous parts of Albania, settle mainly in the suburbs of the cities, where the infrastructure is not sufficient to support the increasing population. The rapid urbanization is significantly increasing the pollution in cities because adequate waste management is lacking and the water supply is poor.
BULGARIA
The political changes brought new social freedoms. Now people have the right to speak and to pressure the government to take certain actions. Public pressure has actually been successful in defeating some proposed environmentally harmful activities, such as the expansion of a dangerous metalworks plant. Environmental NGOs working on a professional level have had a positive impact on environmental protection. The MoE has even created a special office for NGO relations. (The experts had conflicting opinions, however, as to whether public awareness was declining or rising).
Other changes, especially economic, have created social pressures having negative effects on the environment. After the initial euphoria generated by the new freedoms of democracy, environmental issues have fallen far on people's agendas. People still express concern, but not enough to act. To some extent the environmental movement was used merely as a tool for advancing political reforms. Political activism of some NGOs diminished their public standing. Once the political reforms came, interest in the environment fell and people found other priorities. The romantic period of change was brief and people are now faced with the reality that the transition period will include great difficulties. Because of the collapse of the previous economic system many people, and the government as well, have financial crises. Job security is now a priority issue with unemployment about 16% and rising. In such an atmosphere the environment is just not a priority.
CROATIA
The democratic changes stimulated a new approach towards political, economic and social questions as well as environmental protection, but neither the government nor the citizens are active enough in the field of environmental protection.
Unfortunately, the economic crisis and the war have led to mass poverty. In addition, the huge flood of refugees has also become a priority requiring immediate attention. In this situation much of the population is not in the position to give attention to environmental problems. Furthermore, the conditions necessary for the development of civil society are substantially lacking. As the economy is in a difficult situation, there is always the pressing question of how to bridge the gap between social and economic (industrial) interests. There is strong pressure on the politicians to secure reconstruction and the return of refugees before any issues are addressed.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Shortly after the revolution, environmental protection was considered the second most important issue for the country (after preventing the return of the totalitarian socialist system). Four years later environmental protection is considered much less important by the public. This changing attitude could already be observed in 1991. This occurred partly because environmental activism was partially tolerated in the former system and so the environment was partly just a carrier for "half legal" protest.
A significant portion of the public, like the government, is now concerned with the pressing economic situation and private business development. They are primarily concerned with new possibilities and challenges, but also new threats facing the country. However, the social situation is basically stabilized (strikes are rare). As an expert stated, the society is rather sensitive to impoverishment and measures to fight that exist.
HUNGARY
The population, largely brought up on egalitarian slogans, finds itself at a loss with polarizing incomes. Unemployment, never experienced by these generations, is currently at 12%. As a result, an increasing portion of society is in immediate danger of becoming economically and socially marginalized. These groups regard environmental protection as a luxury, if not an outright liability. Environmentalists are sometimes perceived as factory-closers, investment-blockers, or people whose action leads to the depreciation of real estate prices. At the same time, the above-average income group is increasing their environmentally harmful consumption of cars, fuel, energy and purchase of goods with non-recyclable packaging. While the pollution per car is decreasing, the total number of vehicles is increasing, leaving transport-related pollution at about the same level. While the perceived Western attitude to frequent health checks and physical exercise has been quickly adopted by these people, environmental awareness is not "fashionable" yet. A typical example is the failure of selective waste collection schemes in wealthy districts of Budapest due to non - compliance. A clearly positive
development from the democratization of society is the emergence of environmental NGOs of which their number are well over 200. Some of those organized in the eighties are now near-consulting level organizations. International groups like WWF, Friends of the Earth etc. are also present, and new groups are constantly emerging. However, some argue that environmental NGOs are losing their constituencies. They are certainly not perceived anymore as spearheading social reform, and, when successful, their actions are thought to be economically damaging. Public participation in environmental decision-making has few success stories. Those existing are indeed about closure of plants, prevention of waste disposal site investments, and not success stories on mutually advantageous solutions of a problem. Media interest in the NGO actions is also decreasing. Until now, no strong environmental lobby has developed.
FYR MACEDONIA
The social changes in the FYR Macedonia of recent years have occurred largely as a result of the political and economic changes, having wide-ranging effects on the environment. Political changes resulted in new social freedoms, with which many more people became involved in environmental protection activities. Previously, public opinion was controlled and there was no public participation in government decision-making. Now citizens and citizen groups are willing and able to take part in government decision-making. The number and activity of NGOs has expanded rapidly, from 13 in 1991 to about 60 now. Two members of the Macedonian Ecological Movement serve as advisors to the Parliamentary Committee on Environmental Protection. Now some industrial and governmental officials are concerned about their reputations on environmental issues.
Nearly all of the experts explained, however, that the social changes resulting from the worsening economic conditions have had destructive effects on environmental protection. Because of the dire financial situation of many people, much of the public is more concerned about job security and economic welfare than environmental issues. Most people are concerned about the immediate issues of daily life, not the long-term health of the environment. As an example in support of this, one expert cited the increased exploitation of forest areas through the
illegal harvest of trees and poaching of wild game. Government efforts in addressing the problems have been inadequate and a few experts stated that some government and parliament officials were simply not interested in environmental problems at all.
POLAND
The considerable social changes which have taken place in Poland over the past few years are closely related to the economic and political changes mentioned previously, and like them, are having both positive and negative effects on the environment. With market reforms driving the closure of many large industrial facilities, unemployment has increased dramatically. According to all of the expert participants, it is now one of, if not the, dominant issues on the social, economic and political agendas. As a result, other important issues, such as the environment, are receiving little serious attention. The overriding concern of many citizens and decision-makers alike is now "economic growth at all costs". Naturally, this has many effects. Citizens, while expressing concern about the environment, say that they simply cannot afford to sacrifice money or time on behalf of its protection. Citizens' financial difficulties have been worsened by high inflation which has helped create a situation where prices for many goods are approaching Western levels, while salaries remain low at Eastern levels. In such an atmosphere the pro-environment lobby is having difficulty convincing decision-makers and the general public that the health of the economy and the health of the environment are inextricably linked.
It is true that with the advent of democracy, the pro-environmental activities of NGOs and local governments have increased substantially. These groups, as well as private citizens, are taking advantage of the new freedoms and opportunities to express their concerns and to participate in policy-making. The pro-environment lobby remains, however, relatively weak in comparison to other interest groups such as labor unions and the trade and industrial lobbies. This situation could be improved, though, through better cooperation within the environmental protection sector. Many opportunities exist for NGOs and governments to cooperate, and they should do so to promote the importance of environmental protection within the policy-making arena and society generally.
ROMANIA
The political and economic reforms have led to substantial social changes as well. The possibility now exists for the public to influence government decision-making, and a citizen environmental movement has developed. Improved access to government information and the freedom to organize and to take action have resulted in the true, very poor state of the environment being discovered and publicized. In some areas of the country, especially where the environmental health effects have been acute and well-documented (i.e. Baia Mare and Copsa Mica), there have been dramatic increases in public awareness and pressure regarding environmental issues. The environmental movement has even succeeded in placing representatives in the government administration and parliament. It was mentioned, however, that the impact of the citizen environmental movement remains much too small to sufficiently address the many serious problems.
The social changes have also had adverse impacts on the environment. As already mentioned, the profound political and economic reforms have created instability and insecurity in the society. Economic changes have resulted in a serious economic decline. The general population has suffered from this and many people now struggle to meet their basic needs. Poverty is increasingly driving people to exploit their natural surroundings for subsistence purposes and economic gain (uncontrolled commercial development and illegal hunting, fishing and tree cutting were listed by the experts as examples). Under these conditions the environment is simply off the agendas of most people, including politicians and government officials. Citizens are pre-occupied with securing their economic welfare to the exclusion of other issues. The situation is worsened by a level of passiveness amongst the people, which is a legacy of the previous political regime. People often wait for the government to initiate solutions to the problems, even though the government has profound difficulties of its own.
SLOVAK REPUBLIC
With the opening of the "iron curtain" the society was opened, too. Information about the state of the environment has been prepared and pub-
lished, and environmental experts and organizations have been allowed to influence the decision-making process. In addition, international organizations have offered assistance and were welcomed. However, the environmental advocates stressed that at present the amount and access to information is still insufficient and public participation is limited; the situation was better before the 1992 elections.
The transition period has resulted in serious social problems. The unemployment rate grew to 15% in February 1994, and also there are direct economic threats for segments of the society, not experienced before. Because of this and also growing interest in exercising new, "more attractive" freedoms and choices, awareness and interest regarding environmental problems has decreased. Just after the revolution environmental concerns were a high priority of the public, partially because before, addressing environmental problems was one of the possibilities to criticise the communist government.
SLOVENIA
Democratic changes have brought the plurality of different views. Some political parties include persons with environmental ideologies, but they do not have environmental experts. At the same time, environmental specialists have no access to political channels outside the party framework. This caused a crisis in the green movement and many NGOs left because they did not agree with using environmental issues for political purposes. Environmental issues are returning to the political agenda due to the activities of new NGOs, such as the Slovenian E-Forum (Environment, Economy and Energy) which brings together experts of different institutes and universities. There are other NGOs which have been operating for some time based more on moral values than on expert knowledge. They are organized in local groups, dealing with local problems, and through cooperation they are able to have an impact on the national level. NGOs can act between the state and local level in cooperation with the media through publishing articles and studies and increasing environmental consciousness. NGOs and the media act on two levels: trying to influence the public through awareness raising; and cooperating with the government structure. The relationship between the politicians and scientists depends on the political climate. The NGOs and experts are not involved enough in the discussion of environmental issues.
The environmental awareness of the public in Slovenia is relatively high. People accept that nature and environment have to be preserved. However, the decrease in the standard of living contributes to the lowering of environmental interest. A great number of NGOs are working quite efficiently, but the public is not open to solutions which involve a sacrifice on their behalf. This attitude is caused by earlier experiences when environmental issues were misused and manipulated. They have no real experience of successful environmental projects. Sometimes environmental issues are used by the local communities and parties as tools in political battles.
REC * PUBLICATIONS * STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 1 * ANNEX
