Environmental management instruments: topics for atmospheric pollution control strategy

This paper focuses on the analysis of environmental management strategies, covering decision and control, economic and information instruments as well as the fundamental principles of an environmental policy including: the different available tools, their acceptability and applicability, their advantages and disadvantages. Technical measures for control and management are assessed taking into account their implementation, their integration with other measures. As a study case the analysis of Portuguese atmospheric emissions is presented. Major conclusions are the importance of coastal zone with a contribution of over 80% on total emissions for the most common pollutants. The most relevant emissions sources are power generation, road traffic and industry. Despite of projected economic growth, Portugal still presents a great potential to reduce emissions if an environmental management strategy is defined and implemented. A quantitative approach is needed in order to establish specific measures for the most sensitive areas and to integrate different issues related with scientific, economic and social aspects.