For more than 50 years, the Nordic countries have together played a significant role in Europe in raising awareness, scientific understanding and policy development for the control of acid rain and related air pollution problems. The Nordic cooperation has most of the time been organised by the Nordic Council of Ministers. It began within OECD in 1969 and was followed by the establishment of the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) under UNECE and the Convention for Long-Range Transport of Air Pollutants (the Air Convention), signed in 1979. This paper examines Nordic collaboration across three distinct phases: 1970-1980, 1985-2000 and post-2000. We analyse the defining characteristics of each period and their varying influences on international policy development in Europe, initially focusing on the Air Convention and later extending to the European Union. Finally, we explore potential pathways for maintaining an influential international role of the Nordic countries in advancing air pollution control when climate change, energy transition, increased security uncertainties and the AI revolution pose significant challenges and opportunities for air pollution management and control.

We, the representatives of the organizers of Saltsjöbaden and FICAP, are grateful to all those involved in the planning and execution of the workshop, particularly the Advisory Board, those leading the working groups, giving presentations, and taking active part in the discussions.

You have accessMoreSectionsView PDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Cite this article Fowler David, Brimblecombe Peter, Burrows John, Heal Mathew R., Grennfelt Peringe, Stevenson David S., Jowett Alan, Nemitz Eiko, Coyle Mhairi, Liu Xuejun, Chang Yunhua, Fuller Gary W., Sutton Mark A., Klimont Zbigniew, Unsworth Mike H. and Vieno Massimo 2021Correction to ‘A chronology of global air quality’Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.3792021011320210113http://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2021.0113SectionYou have accessCorrectionCorrection to ‘A chronology of global air quality’ David Fowler David Fowler Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Peter Brimblecombe Peter Brimblecombe Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , John Burrows John Burrows Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Mathew R. Heal Mathew R. Heal Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Peringe Grennfelt Peringe Grennfelt Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , David S. Stevenson David S. Stevenson Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Alan Jowett Alan Jowett Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Eiko Nemitz Eiko Nemitz Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Mhairi Coyle Mhairi Coyle Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Xuejun Liu Xuejun Liu Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Yunhua Chang Yunhua Chang Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Gary W. Fuller Gary W. Fuller Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Mark A. Sutton Mark A. Sutton Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Zbigniew Klimont Zbigniew Klimont Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Mike H. Unsworth Mike H. Unsworth Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author and Massimo Vieno Massimo Vieno Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author David Fowler David Fowler Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Peter Brimblecombe Peter Brimblecombe Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , John Burrows John Burrows Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Mathew R. Heal Mathew R. Heal Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Peringe Grennfelt Peringe Grennfelt Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , David S. Stevenson David S. Stevenson Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Alan Jowett Alan Jowett Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Eiko Nemitz Eiko Nemitz Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Mhairi Coyle Mhairi Coyle Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Xuejun Liu Xuejun Liu Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Yunhua Chang Yunhua Chang Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Gary W. Fuller Gary W. Fuller Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Mark A. Sutton Mark A. Sutton Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Zbigniew Klimont Zbigniew Klimont Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Mike H. Unsworth Mike H. Unsworth Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author and Massimo Vieno Massimo Vieno Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author Published:24 May 2021https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2021.0113This article corrects the followingReview ArticleA chronology of global air qualityhttps://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0314 David Fowler, Peter Brimblecombe, John Burrows, Mathew R. Heal, Peringe Grennfelt, David S. Stevenson, Alan Jowett, Eiko Nemitz, Mhairi Coyle, Xuejun Liu, Yunhua Chang, Gary W. Fuller, Mark A. Sutton, Zbigniew Klimont, Mike H. Unsworth and Massimo Vieno volume 378issue 2183Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences28 September 2020Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A378, 20190314 (Published online 28 September 2020). (doi:10.1098/rsta.2019.0314)In the original version of this article, there was a typographical error in the author list. This has now been corrected. Previous Article VIEW FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD PDF FiguresRelatedReferencesDetailsRelated articlesA chronology of global air quality28 September 2020Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences This Issue12 July 2021Volume 379Issue 2201Theme issue ‘Topics in mathematical design of complex materials’ compiled and edited by Xian Chen, Miha Ravnik, Valeriy Slastikov and Arghir Zarnescu Article InformationDOI:https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2021.0113PubMed:34024135Published by:Royal SocietyPrint ISSN:1364-503XOnline ISSN:1471-2962History: Published online24/05/2021Published in print12/07/2021 License:© 2021 The Author(s)Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. Citations and impact Subjectsatmospheric chemistrybiogeochemistryenvironmental chemistry

Because of its serious large-scale effects on ecosystems and its transboundary nature, acid rain received for a few decades at the end of the last century wide scientific and public interest, leading to coordinated policy actions in Europe and North America. Through these actions, in particular those under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, air emissions were substantially reduced, and ecosystem impacts decreased. Widespread scientific research, long-term monitoring, and integrated assessment modelling formed the basis for the policy agreements. In this paper, which is based on an international symposium organised to commemorate 50 years of successful integration of air pollution research and policy, we briefly describe the scientific findings that provided the foundation for the policy development. We also discuss important characteristics of the science–policy interactions, such as the critical loads concept and the large-scale ecosystem field studies. Finally, acid rain and air pollution are set in the context of future societal developments and needs, e.g. the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. We also highlight the need to maintain and develop supporting scientific infrastructures.

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. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Air quality, past present and future'.

Proposed projects and other initiativesWe propose the following projects to be considered as activities under the Nordic

Sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions cause acidification and human health problems which are, despite present policy instruments, projected to remain even after 2030 in Europe. Additional instruments are needed to solve the problems, and impact analysis of already used policy instruments would contribute to the development of new effective instruments. We present a study on how much of the decoupling of SO2 emissions from economic growth 1990-2012 that was due to SO2 policy instruments in general and to what extent it is possible to estimate the impact of individual instruments. Focus is on Sweden, a country with problems reaching its SO2-related environmental policy targets and with detailed data available. We applied decomposition analysis combined with an analysis of the chronological development of emission factors and mandated emission limits. Our use of official emission inventory data and publicly available data on the development of SO2 policy instruments increase the usefulness of our results to policy makers. The results indicate that at least 26-27% (corresponding to similar to 35-36 ktonne annually) of the decoupling 1990-2012 was due to SO2 policy instruments. 4-5% (similar to 6-7 ktonne) of the decoupling was caused by one environmental permit decision and stricter sulphur emission limit for marine oils. Most of the total impact of SO2 policy instruments could not be causally connected to an individual instrument, because many events and developments overlap in time. The implications of the results are that: a) SO2 policy instruments should still be important to reduce SO2 emissions in many countries; b) a lower boundary total emission impact of SO2 policy instruments can be estimated, but with current knowledge and data the impacts of individual instruments are rarely possible to estimate. Research on how to increase the precision in total impact estimates of SO2 policy instruments is needed to improve future impact analyses. More detailed emission inventory data would improve impact analysis of individual instruments.

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 ...

Mistra's Climate Policy Research Program, Clipore, is one of the largest research programs directed to support international climate policy development, involving research groups in Sweden, Norway, United States and India. It has been running from 2004 to 2011 with a budget of more than 100 MSEK (15 M USD). The paper briefly describes the program and its outcomes in relation to climate policy development. Discussion focuses on how the program has been able to be in the front of and include the development of emissions trading systems in Europe and the United States and how the program has been able to follow and produce inputs to the agenda of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The paper also discusses how the program has managed to present its outcomes and maintain an active dialogue with the various stakeholders. The paper emphasises options and obstacles in the communication between science and policy.

The objectives of this analysis, decided by the Bureau of the Working Group on Effects, are to:  Provide information on the effects of air pollution on ecosystems, human health and materials to support decisions for the revision of the Gothenburg Protocol.  Demonstrate the application of new science and indicators, developed since 1999, to illustrate the potential impact of policy /decisions on the environment, human health and materials.  Illustrate the effectiveness of emission reductions scenarios to improve the environment and human health. This analysis has been carried out by the International Cooperative Programmes (ICPs) and Task Force on Health under the Working Group on Effects (WGE) between October 2010 and December 2011. The analysis is based on scenarios of air pollutant (sulphur, nitrogen and particulate matter) and precursor emissions (ozone,O 3) provided by the Task Force on Integrated Assessment Modelling (TFIAM) and the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP). A first draft was based on data available in October 2010 and described in CIAM report 1/2010 (Amann et al, 2010). The present document is an update based on scenarios published by IIASA in August 2011 (described in CIAM report 4/2011, Amann et al, 2011). The update reflects the discussions during the various phases of the negotiations of the Gothenburg Protocol revision. Relevant data was formatted by the Coordination Centre for Effects (CCE) in order to facilitate the ICPs modelling work and comparison with field data. Results have been presented and discussed at different meetings under the Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution Convention (LRTAP) in 2011. The scenarios and projections referred to in this report are:  NAT2000: historical data for the year 2000 based mainly on national information.  COB2020: Cost Optimised Baseline for the year 2020. This dataset is generated assuming that only current (2011) legislation still apply in 2020.  Low*2020, MID2020 and High*2020: These are generated assuming increasing ambition levels for environmental targets.  MTFR2020: data based on a scenario assuming that all technically feasible technologies are implemented by 2020. The baseline activity data on energy use, transport, and agricultural activities were issued from different sources, including national submissions to IIASA and from specialized sectorial energy, transport and agricultural models (e.g., PRIMES, TREMOVE and CAPRI). They were then used as input data for the GAINS model with which scenarios were optimised so that emissions control scenarios would achieve environmental targets for human health and environmental impacts …

Updated air pollution science and policies address human health, ecosystem effects, and climate change in Europe.

This report has been commissioned by the Swedish Government/Ministry of Environment’s request: The general purpose is to inform the Stockholm+40 international conference on sustainable living and innovative solutions held in Stockholm April 23-25 2012. The specific purpose is to look back at the prevailing scientific knowledge and the political processes pertaining to environment in 1972, the subsequent developments in research, knowledge generation, policy formulation and implementation, and future challenges. The report builds on scientific evidence but is deliberately written in a format and style, which can be accessed and understood by a broader target group than scientists, e.g. planners, analysts, development practitioners and decision-makers. This report has been written by Anders Ekbom, Elin Eriksson and Peringe Grennfelt, with input and advice from John Munthe, Research director at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute. Anders Ekbom is researcher and deputy Director at The Centre for Environment and Sustainability, GMV, in Gothenburg, at University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology. Elin Eriksson is Director of Sustainable Organisations, Products and Processes at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL). Peringe Grennfelt is former Director of research at IVL and Program Director of Mistra’s Climate Policy Research Program. The report it is structured as follows: Chapter 2 introduces the Stockholm+40 conference topics (“Sustainable Innovations, Production and Lifestyles”) by taking a historical look at environmental research and environmental policy work since the UN conference on the Human environment in Stockholm in 1972 and changes which have taken place since then. The report then addresses key policy developments over the 40 years, introduction of concepts such as sustainable development, and trends and research on sustainable innovations, sustainable production and sustainable lifestyles, respectively. Regarding sustainable innovations (Ch. 3) the report presents and discusses technical, institutional, organizational, economic and social innovations which have promoted sustainable development, and trends challenges and needs for new innovations to alleviate environmental pressures and find solutions. Other specific issues addressed include incentives for sustainable innovations to develop or reach new markets; legal incentives for sustainable innovations (rules, standards, norms, quotas), R & D (patents, intellectual property rights), and creation of/access to new markets for innovations, and economic, market-based incentives (fees, taxes, subsidies, levies, refunds) as new forms of incentives for innovations. Regarding Sustainable Production (Ch. 4) the report presents trends in production, explains research knowledge on the production-growth-environment dynamics, with a focus on the scale effect, the technique effect and the composition effect. It briefly introduces and discusses concepts such as de-coupling and the rebound effect, and addresses the role of government (policy instruments to promote Sustainable Production), institutions and the business sector for sustainable production and sustainable value chains – from local production to consumers, to reduction, reuse, re-engineering and recycling. Regarding Sustainable lifestyles (Ch. 5) the report presents changes in lifestyles and addresses what is needed to promote sustainable lives and sustainable choices (the individual perspective), and presents trends regarding lifestyles, specifically pertaining to consumption of goods and services, transport, energy use and food consumption. This section ends with identifying and discussing 4 challenges to implement sustainable lifestyles, and ways to reduce/reform non-sustainable consumption towards sustainable choices. The report ends with a Summary and conclusions (Ch. 6), which includes a broader discussion on lessons learnt and challenges which have to be met appropriately in order to promote and ensure sustainable development. Caveat: By necessity a report of this brief format, broad scope, as well as the limited time in which it has been produced, implies by necessity that it does not cover everything in any detail or with sufficiently significant depth. Nevertheless it is the authors’ hope that the report can inform readers on the developments which have taken place in the area of environmental sustainability over the last 40 years, that it adequately points out key challenges ahead, and inspires action.