Prospects for Improved Air Quality at the Regional Level in Poland

Abstract

Environmental conditions in Poland have improved since 1990 - a trend common to many countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Poland was also among the first former Eastern bloc countries to have its environmental chapter provisionally closed in the European Union (EU) accession process. Nevertheless, environmental quality in Poland severely lags behind that of its neighbours to the west. Bivariate correlations reveal that, at the regional level in Poland, there is a strong linear relationship between private wealth generation and emissions of one of Poland’s most ubiquitous pollutants, sulphur dioxide (SO2). The capital region of Poland has lower levels of SO2 emissions than would be expected for its high income level. However, regression models relating SO2 emissions to economic growth do not demonstrate convincingly the instrumental effect of wealth in tamping down emissions. CEE governments, like Poland, that joined the EU in 2004 have relatively less impetus to make major, additional environmental investments, because they have already crossed the key legal hurdles for EU membership. In Western Europe and in North America, strong public demands and organized interest-group pressure have been necessary for continuous improvements in environmental quality. Comparable bottom-up demand is necessary to drive environmental reforms in CEE. However, surveyed opinion in Poland, including at the regional level, does not intimate any near-term groundswell of support for costly environmental investments and, in particular, investments in air pollution abatement.