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Διασυνοριακή μεταφορά της ατμοσφαιρικής ρύπανσης σε μεγάλη απόσταση, η ευρωπαϊκή απάντηση (Master thesis)

Βασιλακοπούλου, Ραφαέλα

This paper focuses on the Geneva Framework Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) of the UN Economic Commission for Europe. A convention that was formed over a decade , in which countries dealt primarily with air pollution through national standards and measures and therefore played a key role in regulating the problem and shaping subsequent air policy. The paper starts with the general introduction, the main body of the paper is structured in three chapters and concludes with the conclusion, which summarises the general observations and findings. The first chapter provides an extensive presentation of the Convention, its nature, content and context of its creation. It then goes on to analyse its Protocols and the mechanisms it has developed for their implementation. The second chapter presents all those principles (general and specific) of environmental law that have shaped the Convention. References are made to the articles and generally to the parts of the Convention and its Protocols where these principles are reflected. The third chapter reviews two later 'famous' Conventions, the Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the United Nations Convention on Climate Change. This is followed by a comparative analysis of these with CLRTAP, through which the dynamics and evolution of environmental law and the long-standing values that govern this legal discipline are unfolded. In summary, this research offers a more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of transboundary air pollution and the national constraints that only make it more difficult to control. It highlights the contribution of CLRTAP, admittedly pioneering for its time, as a useful legal tool for regulating the situation. Lastly, the need for coordinated and collective action is highlighted, because unfortunately this cannot be regulated by a single legal instrument combined with - in some cases - unclear environmental principles.