This study looks at the role that liberal economic norms are playing in international environmental negotiations on hazardous chemicals (including wastes), and the implications of these norms for the protection of the environment and human health from the thousands of chemicals on the market. The key trait of liberal economic norms in relation to global environmental governance is their assumption that the liberalisation of trade and finance and economic growth are both consistent with and necessary for environmental protection. From this assumption follows, for instance, the idea that states should adopt the "least-trade restrictive" measures required to protect the environment and human health. I argue that liberal economic norms are "hegemonic," in a Gramscian sense, in chemicals-related international environmental negotiations. This means that a wide range of actors, including those that do not necessarily accept the liberal economic perspective, are upholding liberal economic norms in their statements and proposals if not out of conviction then out of a perceived need to be realistic or persuasive. The most important implication of liberal economic hegemony is that it is widely assumed that human health and the environment can be effectively protected from the negative effects of hazardous chemicals even though the volume of chemicals and chemical-containing products being consumed is increasing at a spectacular rate. The issue of growing consumption of chemicals is therefore consistently framed as a problem of quality (hazardousness) rather than quantity. To understand consumption in this narrow sense is problematic, however, because there is considerable scientific uncertainty concerning the environmental and health effects of most of the chemicals on the market and because chemicals that pose minimal risks to the environment and human health might be very hazardous when they are being manufactured or upon becoming waste. In order to address the problem of hazardous chemicals effectively, it is necessary to challenge the hegemony of liberal economic norms in international environmental negotiations. This can be done, I conclude, by deepening a number of fissures in the hegemony of the liberal economic perspective that can be detected in the context of chemicals-related instruments.

This study looks at the role that liberal economic norms are playing in international environmental negotiations on hazardous chemicals (including wastes), and the implications of these norms for the protection of the environment and human health from the thousands of chemicals on the market. The key trait of liberal economic norms in relation to global environmental governance is their assumption that the liberalisation of trade and finance and economic growth are both consistent with and necessary for environmental protection. From this assumption follows, for instance, the idea that states should adopt the "least-trade restrictive" measures required to protect the environment and human health. I argue that liberal economic norms are "hegemonic," in a Gramscian sense, in chemicals-related international environmental negotiations. This means that a wide range of actors, including those that do not necessarily accept the liberal economic perspective, are upholding liberal economic norms in their statements and proposals if not out of conviction then out of a perceived need to be realistic or persuasive. The most important implication of liberal economic hegemony is that it is widely assumed that human health and the environment can be effectively protected from the negative effects of hazardous chemicals even though the volume of chemicals and chemical-containing products being consumed is increasing at a spectacular rate. The issue of growing consumption of chemicals is therefore consistently framed as a problem of quality (hazardousness) rather than quantity. To understand consumption in this narrow sense is problematic, however, because there is considerable scientific uncertainty concerning the environmental and health effects of most of the chemicals on the market and because chemicals that pose minimal risks to the environment and human health might be very hazardous when they are being manufactured or upon becoming waste. In order to address the problem of hazardous chemicals effectively, it is necessary to challenge the hegemony of liberal economic norms in international environmental negotiations. This can be done, I conclude, by deepening a number of fissures in the hegemony of the liberal economic perspective that can be detected in the context of chemicals-related instruments.

No description available.

This study looks at the role that liberal economic norms are playing in international environmental negotiations on hazardous chemicals (including wastes), and the implications of these norms for the protection of the environment and human health from the thousands of chemicals on the market. The key trait of liberal economic norms in relation to global environmental governance is their assumption that the liberalisation of trade and finance and economic growth are both consistent with and necessary for environmental protection. From this assumption follows, for instance, the idea that states should adopt the "least-trade restrictive" measures required to protect the environment and human health. I argue that liberal economic norms are "hegemonic," in a Gramscian sense, in chemicals-related international environmental negotiations. This means that a wide range of actors, including those that do not necessarily accept the liberal economic perspective, are upholding liberal economic norms in their statements and proposals if not out of conviction then out of a perceived need to be realistic or persuasive. The most important implication of liberal economic hegemony is that it is widely assumed that human health and the environment can be effectively protected from the negative effects of hazardous chemicals even though the volume of chemicals and chemical-containing products being consumed is increasing at a spectacular rate. The issue of growing consumption of chemicals is therefore consistently framed as a problem of quality (hazardousness) rather than quantity. To understand consumption in this narrow sense is problematic, however, because there is considerable scientific uncertainty concerning the environmental and health effects of most of the chemicals on the market and because chemicals that pose minimal risks to the environment and human health might be very hazardous when they are being manufactured or upon becoming waste. In order to address the problem of hazardous chemicals effectively, it is necessary to challenge the hegemony of liberal economic norms in international environmental negotiations. This can be done, I conclude, by deepening a number of fissures in the hegemony of the liberal economic perspective that can be detected in the context of chemicals-related instruments. / Law, Faculty of / Graduate

No description available.

This diploma thesis deals with the methods of population protection from hazardous chemicals in the event of an emergency situation. The theoretical part of the thesis focuses on the analysis of legislation that governs hazardous chemicals and it pays special attention to the risks related to the transportation of hazardous chemicals and their subsequent leakage. The thesis describes selected hazardous chemicals and informs of accidents that have happened recently. It is also pays attention to warnings, evacuation, providing shelter and the means of improvised protection, which is the most important factor for common public. People meet tanker cars transporting chemicals everywhere and every day; therefore, the protection of population should be aimed in this direction. People often do not know how to behave in situations like this. A questionnaire was compiled for research in the practical part; the questionnaire was intended to find out about the level of knowledge among people. Through the evaluation of population informedness and based on the questionnaire results, a suitable form of education was proposed to fill a gap in the knowledge (a pocket guide). At the same time, the questionnaires were distributed among the staff of the Fire and Rescue System with the aim of confirming their preparedness as well. The preparedness of the Fire and Rescue System is also documented by the analysis of photographs from a tactical drill aimed at a leakage of a hazardous chemical during transport.

This thesis is a regional interdisciplinary analysis of the environmental challenge to the liberal democratic state. It situates these new problems of governance in one of the dominating political conflicts of our time, the battle between market and state for the 'commanding heights'. By the end of the 1970s, environmental concerns had added to the social crises associated with the overloaded, welfare state. The study sets the political context through an exposition of the perceived problems of the overloaded state, analysed by neo-Marxist theorists in terms of rationality and legitimacy deficits and by public choice theorists in terms of the incentives and calculations confronting rational individuals. It draws out the association between these alternative perspectives on 'state overload' and the political philosophies of corporatism and neo-liberalism, showing that, on the neo-Marxist understanding, corporatism addresses the functional requirements of late capitalism, while public choice precepts are strongly influential on leading elements of neo-liberalism. This political analysis is developed through the history of a landmark piece of legislation, the Environmentally Hazardous Chemicals Act (NSW) 1985, in toxic chemicals policymaking from the late 1970s to the end of 1997. The interpretation of the case material shows that the response in NSW to the environmental problematic has been driven by the reform agenda of the successive political programs of corporatism and neo-liberalism for the state, the bureaucracy and the democratic process. Neither the corporatist nor the neo-liberal programs succeeded in meeting environmental criteria. Examination of the inadequate responses of both corporatism and neo-liberalism, when measured against sustainability criteria, leads to a deeper understanding of the institutional reforms required if these criteria are to be addressed. The thesis concludes that the failure to effect successful reform of toxic chemicals policy in NSW reflects the failure of leading political theorems of the liberal democratic state to incorporate sustainability criteria successfully into their reform agenda for the state, the bureaucracy and the democratic process. These regional issues are shown to be thematic for the nation-state when raised in the context of the globalisation of the environmental challenge and the inter nationalisation of market forces. The thesis concludes with a brief review of some recent political theory in relation to the programmatic issues of sustainability and democracy which it has pursued.

The United Nations has, during many years, developed a model for a globally harmonized system for classification and labeling of chemicals, with the aim of it becoming a global standard. This system is implemented in the European Union through the CLP-regulation and is now working parallel to the existing directives until 1st of June 2015, when all the new classifications of substances and mixtures must be completed. The aim of this project was to adjust the laboratory to the new legislation, through inventory of stored chemicals, update the list of chemicals and perform self-classifications of mixtures. The work included handling of about 650 different chemicals with varying hazard classifications and search for information in corporate websites and chemical databases. This resulted in a new and complete list of chemicals stored and used in the laboratory and, in addition, an example of how to make a self classification of a mixture. Through this work using web based search for chemical classification according to the CLP-regulation, many difficulties were encountered and one of the conclusions is that due to the many noticed uncertainties and inconsistencies in self classification of mixtures the aim of keeping the globally harmonized system harmonized will be nearly impossible to fulfill.

The theoretical part of this thesis deals with the protection of the population, focusing specifically on events that are associated with the release of hazardous chemicals. The content of the first chapter is the basic division between incidents that are categorised as being events that are caused by human activities and events that occur irregardless of human activity and are mainly of a natural character. This chapter, is focused on events that are related to human activities and events that have some association with the release of hazardous chemicals such as accidents that occur at chemical facilities. In the following subsection the basic classification of hazardous chemicals in accordance with their chemical properties and their toxicity is processed.The following subsection deals with population protection as a whole. For helping with understanding this issue in its entirety this subsection presents basic information that is related to population protection and defines the characteristics of the basic concepts that are related to this issue. Both warning and evacuation are discussed in greater detail in this chapter. The text also defines emergency planning as representing a basic means of population protection. Emergency planning is described from the level of a territorial authority unit, i.e. as a regional emergency plan, to an in-house emergency plan for a chemical plant.In the second part of the thesis research questions are formulated, which read: "What is the readiness of the system for protecting the population of České Budějovice in the event of the leakage of hazardous chemicals?" The research was focused on the content of the relevant plans of the entities that deal with hazardous chemicals in the district of České Budějovice. During the research basic criteria were observed that should be included in those plans; namely whether or not they are listed there.Subjected to research were the 16 plans for tackling emergencies of the entities that deal with hazardous chemicals in both the District and the City of České Budějovice. Following is an evaluation of the results obtained in accordance with the Readiness Index that was established. At the conclusion of the work the research questions were also answered with regard to the serious deficiencies that had been identified in the relevant plans during the research period. The discussion and the conclusion also contain proposed measures that are aimed at improving the overall level of population protection within the territorial authority unit constituting both the District and the City of České Budějovice.

The thesis deals with the issue of emergency preparedness of Nestlé Česko, s.r.o, Zora Olomouc. According to the Act. No. 224/2015 Coll., concerning prevention of major accidents caused by selected dangerous chemical substances or chemical preparations and concerning amendment there is underlimit amount of hazardous chemical ammonia in the area and we cannot classify this as group A or B. On these not-classified resources there are not subject to some duties under this Act, especially the obligation to prepare an emergency documentation. There are a lot of factories like this in the Czech republic (and in the world) and there is certain danger for employees of this companies and for civilian population who is in the danger area. There is more than 6700kg of ammonia in the factory Zora and it is quite a lot. We have to look at special precautions. Ammonia is taken as moderately toxic substance that irritates the eyes, mucous membranes, and in high concentrations can cause death. Another dangerous effect, except the toxicity is its explosiveness and flammability. Impacts of hazardous concentrations are not threat only for people but also for animals and the environment.