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The stakeholders' views and opinions are important in the process of developing the environmental policy in the businesses. Depending on the developments that have taken place, environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) have become one of the important stakeholders of the businesses and have begun to have a say in environmental practices and environmental policies of them. Examining the relationship and interaction between these organizations and the accommodation establishments are important for new start-ups in terms of developing environmental policies. In this study, the effects of environmental nongovernmental organizations on environmental policies of chain hotels were investigated. The data were gathered by implementing a face-to-face questionnaire to the middle and senior managers of 156 chain hotels operating in Turkey. Ordinal logistic regression was used for the analysis of the data and 4 models were designed for this purpose. Findings of the research indicate that the relationship and interaction of chain hotels with ENGOs play an important role on environmental policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term "security" which is used in daily life has taken on a more comprehensive structure, isolating itself from the threats and dangers, which are found in "traditional security" definitions. Today, it is foreseen that the environmental menaces will also affect the security. Whether the environmental changes and disruptions lead to a security problem was discussed within the context of the concept and features of "the environmental security". The new concept was treated distinctively with the dimension of political stability. The study ended offering recommendations to public officers, taking into consideration that the environmental changes and disruptions will affect both the political stability and the national security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) and its protocols aim to tackle transboundary air pollution problems. LRTAP is the first binding international environmental regime and forerunner of other environmental regimes. It aims to solve regional air pollution problems through scientific collaboration and deliberation within the framework of détente and rising environmental movements. Started as a weak regime, LRTAP became a stronger regime with the addition of new protocols. At the beginning LRTAP focused on sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions and later incorporated volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, eutrophication and ground level ozone pollution into its agenda and contributed to substantial cuts in emissions. Having signed the LRTAP and its first protocol concerning the financing of EMEP, Turkey hasn't been a party to other protocols without binding itself for cuts in emissions. Although a legal and institutional framework for air pollution control was introduced, Turkey lacks a comprehensive monitoring system and suffers from rising air pollution levels. Turkey's efforts towards harmonising its environmental legislation as a part of its EU membership process do not produce tangible results given the problems of implementation and discrepancies between the limit values and long transition periods. Prevailing developmentalist discourse that prioritises economic development over environmental concerns contributes to postponement of sound pollution control efforts until Turkey becomes a full member. Yet again rising pollution levels reminds us that Turkey should take LRTAP and its protocols into account to solve those problems left unattended for quite some time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While proponents of the Precautionary Principle regard it as a guide for environmental protection at all levels in dealing with uncertain risks, opponents point out many problems related to its various aspects such as its formulation, application and legal status. This paper highlights main arguments for and against the Precautionary Principle. The paper concludes that further refinement of the principle is necessary to govern environmental decision making under conditions of uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relations between the European Union (EU) and Turkey and the impact of the EU on social, economic and political spheres in Turkey have been discussed for a long time both in the EU and Turkey. On the eve of a new turn in this relationship, however, a long-forgotten dimension of European integration seems to challenge the debates concerning the environment and development in Turkey. Parallel to the developments taken place at the international level, both Turkey and the states constituting the European Economic Community, and the European Economic Community itself started to establish some administrative units and to develop policy responses for ever-growing environmental problems in the 1970s. Hence the evolution of the EU environmental policy was closely associated with the requirements of economic rationality of the integration which at the same time promised regional development, stability and peace in the region. The aim of this rather brief study is two-fold. To begin with it underlines that environment and development is inexorably linked. The overriding focus, here, however is not about the corrective and preventive ramifications but is also about alternative views on development. Secondly this study asserts that environmental considerations have an important role in shaping the future of the European integration project. Through an incremental process now it is possible to talk about "European environmental governance" which engenders domestic changes in Member States in economic, social, legal and political terms. Integration of environmental considerations into the legal structure of the European Union has also paved the way for new discussions on the possible effects of membership of candidate countries' economic and social structures. It is possible to assume the current status as a departure point to discuss whether and how patchwork environmentalism in Turkey can turn into a more integrated and comprehensive approach or to assume the current... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]