Björn Hassler

Accidental Versus Operational Oil Spills from Shipping in the Baltic Sea: Risk Governance and Management Strategies

Marine governance of oil transportation is complex. Due to difficulties in effectively monitoring procedures on vessels en voyage, incentives to save costs by not following established regulations on issues such as cleaning of tanks, crew size, and safe navigation may be substantial. The issue of problem structure is placed in focus, that is, to what degree the specific characteristics and complexity of intentional versus accidental oil spill risks affect institutional responses. It is shown that whereas the risk of accidental oil spills primarily has been met by technical requirements on the vessels in combination with Port State control, attempts have been made to curb intentional pollution by for example increased surveillance and smart governance mechanisms such as the No-Special-Fee system. It is suggested that environmental safety could be improved by increased use of smart governance mechanisms tightly adapted to key actors’ incentives to alter behavior in preferable directions.

Towards an Ecosystem Approach to Management in Regional Marine Governance? : The Baltic Sea Context

Currently, European marine governance seems to be undergoing significant changes. From having been based largely on scientific expert knowledge, restricted risk assessments and governmental regulation, we are now witnessing a management turn towards holistic perspectives, the inclusion of stakeholders, adaptive governance, and co-production of knowledge—the so-called ecosystem approach to management (EAM). By using the Baltic Sea as an example of these changes, we have taken a closer look at the 2007 Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) of the Helsinki Commission and the recent organizational changes within the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Informed by a Reflexive Governance perspective, the primary objective has been to analyse the extent to which institutional preconditions for using an EAM exist in these two cases. Our results show that even though the BSAP has been designed with an EAM approach as its core philosophy, existing implementation, financing, monitoring, and enforcement structures make it unlikely that actual management modes will change significantly in the near feature. Changes in the ICES have occurred as a result of an internal restructuring process characterized by integrative and learning elements. It has been shown that adopting a broad social science perspective and a reflexive governance viewpoint can elucidate how factors such as inadequate institutional change, limited cooperation over sector borders, and adjustment problems caused by path dependency can threaten the successful turn towards the EAM in marine governance.

Global regimes, regional adaptation; environmental safety in Baltic Sea oil transportation

Despite significant efforts to improve environmental safety in marine oil transportation, the risk of a major accident with devastating oil spills has most likely increased. Building on the regime analytical approach where it is assumed that international collaboration may benefit participating countries, it is argued that bilateral and sub-regional initiatives may increase maritime safety significantly, compared to exclusive reliance on universal conventions. A distinction is made between on the one hand investments in safety-increasing infrastructure and local capacity building and on the other, vessel design, on-board installations and crew qualifications. It is suggested that bilateral and sub-regional initiatives are more likely to be taken on the former kind of objects, targeting issues, such as modernization of port facilities, monitoring support, assistance in emergency capacity building and designation of ports of refuge, because the interaction between the involved countries are comparably stable in the cases. Actual efforts to improve safety seem to follow the logic of separation between these two types of safety-increasing measures. It is concluded that similar drivers of bilateral and sub-regional initiatives targeting specific aspects of marine safety and contributing to overall collective benefits from improved environmental protection probably exist also in other regions than the Baltic Sea.

The Ecosystem Approach to Management in Baltic Sea Governance : towards increased reflexivity?

This chapter analyses the governance structures linked to the marine environment of the Baltic Sea. The purpose is to assess whether current developments of the governance structures have a potential to take into account requirements of an Ecosystem Approach to Management (EAM). We use the concept of reflexive governance to understand key components and weaknesses in contemporary governance modes, as well as to elaborate on possible pathways towards a governance mode more aligned with EAM. The reflexive governance framework highlights three elements: (1) acknowledgement of uncertainty and ambiguity; (2) a holistic approach in terms of scales, sectors and actors; and (3) acknowledgement of path dependency and incremental policy-making. Our analysis is based on a comparative case study approach, including analysis of the governance in five environmental risk areas: chemical pollution, overfishing, eutrophication, invasive alien species and pollution from shipping. The chapter highlights an existing governance mode that is ill-equipped to deal with the complexity of environmental problems in a holistic manner, with systematic attention to uncertainty, plurality of values, ambiguity and limited knowledge, while also pointing at important recent cognitive and institutional developments that can favour pathways towards reflexive governance and consequently EAM.

Foreign Assistance as a Policy Instrument : Swedish Environmental Support to the Baltic States, 1991-96

Foreign assistance is often characterized by a mix of altruistic and self-interested considerations of the donor country. Swedish environmental support to the Baltic States during the 1991-96 period was designed primarily to promote Swedish interests. Based on a classification of the different supported issue-areas according to collective good content, it is clear that areas with large trans-boundary effects were favoured. The most important targets for Swedish assistance were wastewater treatment facilities, measures to decrease emissions from point sources and increased nuclear safety, while for example handling of solid waste and nature protection received scant attention. Since Sweden, like most other donors, required the recipient country to cover a significant proportion of the cost of every joint project with local funding, domestic financial resources were furthermore drawn to the areas preferred by the donors. Depending on the scarcity of investment funds as well as of administrative capacity in the Baltic States, other domestically prioritized environmental issue-areas were thus largely neglected.

Coping with Complexity in Baltic Sea Risk Governance: Introduction

Modern society is confronted with the grand challenge of coping with complex socio-environmental risks such as human-induced climate change and hazardous chemicals, typically characterized by scientific uncertainty, socio-political controversy, and ambiguity. This is true not least for the marine environment and for the Baltic Sea, one of the most polluted marine ecosystems in the world. This complexity may relate to multifaceted and uncertain sources and ecosystem responses, ambiguous and controversial scientific advice, or multi-level and multi-actor interactions and communication barriers. All in all, this challenges conventional risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication. Evidently, new strategies for coping with complexity seem to be a key prerequisite for sustainable governance of socio-ecological systems. The aim of this special issue is to describe and analyze the governance of complex socio-environmental risks with a focus on the Baltic Sea. Like the topic of interest, our approach is heterogeneous. The variability in topics and methodology of the individual articles are motivated by two underlying assumptions. First, we are convinced that methodologically pluralistic as well as inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches are required. This is linked to our second assumption that there are more profound differences between various risks than the conventional parameters (probability and harm) suggest, for example, the type and magnitude of impact, the degree of reversibility, and the form of complexity. Going back to Greek mythology, this can be exemplified with the risk and complexity connected with two well-known artifacts, the Sword of Damocles and Pandora’s Box. Clearly, the possible negative outcomes are quite extreme in both cases, but whereas Damocles’ dilemma can be relatively well captured by conventional risk assessment and management, the irreversibility in the case of Pandora’s Box requires new forms of analysis and governance, for example a precautionary approach. Although simplified, these cases are illustrative metaphors for two socio-environmental risks in the Baltic Sea, namely large-scale accidental oil spills and invasion of exotic species, respectively. Our point here is that governance of complex socio-environmental risk is context dependent and might require quite different approaches for various types of risks. The distinction between governing and governance may seem unproblematic, where the former primarily comprises command and control mechanisms and the latter a wide spectrum of actors influencing eventual outcomes. However, this distinction is quite complex, as leadership by governments may be required in order to structure participatory processes. For example, governmental organizations play leading roles in regulating marine transport and coordinating adaptation to climate change. Participatory processes and stakeholder involvement are on the other hand shown important for at least two reasons. First, knowledge not considered by science may fruitfully be brought into decision-making processes, as seen for example for time and place-bound fishermen’s knowledge on sizes and fluctuations of local fish stocks. Second, stakeholder participation in management processes may improve implementation by increasing legitimacy particularly when managing ambiguous risks. Risk management has traditionally been almost exclusively based on risk assessment in combination with economic implications. It is shown in this special issue that the relation between scientific knowledge and political decision-making is more complex than commonly thought. Ambiguity may be caused not only by stochastic components and knowledge gaps, but also by individual, social and contextual factors. It is clear that societies’ responses to various threats to the environment and to human health are not only based on tangible data on probabilities and level of harm, but also on how the risks are framed and communicated, how they relate to social and cultural norms and how the risks and effects are distributed among different groups of people. For example, risks related to consumption of fatty fish from the Baltic Sea with high concentrations of hazardous chemicals have to be balanced against positive health effect from eating fish and subjective values stemming from consumption of traditional food. In a rather different context, macro factors such as level of economic development and individual socio-economic status is shown to affect risk perceptions, and fertility rates in Russia seem to have been substantially affected by changes in how individuals have assessed future risks related to socio-economic conditions after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Complex risks and problems require a more sophisticated iterative approach to risk assessment and risk management than what traditional expert-driven approaches, often set out in policies, offer. This should naturally not be interpreted as an argument against science-based management. Science is central, but often needs to be complemented by academic perspectives from social sciences as well as the humanities. Furthermore, under scientific ignorance, science-based management fails and precautionary strategies, guiding the understanding of uncertainty, offer important complements. Likewise, aspects related to stakeholder participation, communication and increased involvement of civil society, and other concerned representatives all need to be addressed in many cases. We think that the improvement of risk governance in the Baltic Sea region requires moving from holistic perspectives and the formulation of an ecosystem-based approach in theory, to actual implementation in practice. There is a need to identify environmental risks, define appropriate levels of stakeholder involvement, assess needs for local knowledge, identify key actors and their respective interests, evaluate socio-economic impact and normative implications in particular problem areas in order to improve sector integration, and build a basis for a holistic, and often precautionary, ecosystem-based management approach.

Environmental Conventions, Pro-active Countries and Unilateral Initiatives—Sweden and the Case of Oil Transportation on the Baltic Sea

Marine oil transportation in the Baltic Sea has increased significantly during the past decade. This may pose a significant threat to the environment, partly due to the increased risk of accidents and partly because of deliberate flushing of oil tanks at sea and other diffuse emissions. The problem is examined from a Swedish point of view, emphasizing possible ways of reducing environmental risks associated with marine oil transportation in which cooperative solutions will be required to solve current collective action dilemmas. It is argued that since international conventions tend to suffer from lowest-common-denominator (LCD) effects whereby the least interested actors often set the level of ambition, pro-active countries may benefit from adopting dual strategies where unilateral initiatives and convention-based cooperation are made part of an integrated approach. Countries such as Sweden that are especially vulnerable to ecological threats from marine oil transportation may thus have strong incentives to provide targeted support to less exposed countries. It is concluded that unilateral and sub-regional initiatives may serve an important objective in complementing international conventions and thereby reduce negative effects from Lcd outcomes.

Oil Spills from Shipping: A Case Study of the Governance of Accidental Hazards and Intentional Pollution in the Baltic Sea

Despite most tankers being more technically safe than in the past, the increasing volume of transportation probably outweighs most, if not all, technical safety gains. Two major types of threats to the Baltic Sea environment caused by oil pollution are discussed in this chapter: accidental and intentional spills. It is shown that individual countries or coalitions have influenced governance outcomes in both areas. The introduction of double hull regulations by IMO was speeded up significantly by unilateral action taken by the USA and the EU. The move towards differentiated port controls has probably increased efficiency since it has made it possible to target substandard vessels. The Paris MoU has been important in ensuring coherent inspection practices. Intentional oil spills typically result from unlawful cleaning of tanks and engine rooms at sea. Flight surveillance and the No-Special-Fee system have been adopted to reduce oil spills. However, both mechanisms suffer from weaknesses caused by differences in countries’ capacities and priorities. Flight surveillance intensity differs significantly among HELCOM member states, which makes it possible for tankers to avoid detection. The No-Special-Fee system has been only partially effective, due to varying interests and capacities of individual Baltic Sea countries, port authorities and ports.

Transnational environmental collective action facing implementation constraints – the case of nutrient leakage in the Baltic Sea Action Plan

ABSTRACT While scholars have showed a long-standing interest for how to design effective environmental treaties and other international agreements, less interest has been paid to implementation phases of these agreements. This article takes the Eutrophication Segment in the Baltic Sea Action Plan as an example of a regional effort to reduce nutrient leakages, where national reporting of adopted strategies has been a key mechanism to improve implementation effectiveness. It is shown that although transnational collective action theory is a powerful tool to analyse underlying drivers and priorities in state implementation policies, a deeper analysis of domestic and external constraints can shed additional light on observed implementation gaps. Varying views among countries on, for example, the role of stakeholder participation, legitimacy and top-down governing versus multi-stakeholder governance approaches may comprise domestic constraints that make effective and efficient implementation problematic. In terms of external constraints, states’ balancing of action plan objectives versus other international commitments, such as other environmental treaties and EU Directives, is shown to potentially reduce implementation efficiency as well.

The Swedish Environmental Assistance Consensus

There has been a rather extraordinary political consensus in Sweden around the existence and design of the environmental support to the Baltic States. To show the high degree of concordance, the government policy in this issue-area will be described, as well as how the other political parties of the parliament have interpreted this policy. As the cabinets changed twice during the 1991–1996 period, all political parties in the parliament except the Left party and New Democracy have been both in government and in opposition during the period under study.80 The description of government policy is mainly based on official documents.81 This does not mean, however, that influences from other actors are neglected, as these are reflected in the political standpoints of the political parties to a considerable extent. It is assumed that the most important interests of influential actors in one way or another have been internalized into the agendas of at least one of the political parties in the parliament.