Reflections of Local Environmental Board Decisions on Air Pollution: The Need for Advocacy Against Non- Decision-Making

Air pollution occurs due to many reasons such as the rapid and irregular development of urbanization, the increase in the number of motor vehicles, the selection of unsuitable places for industrialization and the lack of adequate measures for waste gases, topographic and meteorological conditions. Air pollution directly threatens human health and can cause global problems such as climate change, depletion of the ozone layer, and acid rain. In order to prevent these, threshold values of air pollutants are determined in the international arena, and measures should be taken where the thresholds are exceeded. However, despite the international and national regulations, there is no success in preventing air pollution. In Turkey, air pollution is constantly on the agenda with the decisions of the Local Environment Board on an urban scale, but no solution can be found for this problem for many years. The issue is discussed in the axis of air pollution through non-decision-making and inaction. In order to overcome this lack of policy, the study aims to raise advocacy proposals for the reduction of air pollution in the context of the right to environment and the right to clean air in relation to the right to health. The research is cross- sectional and pollution data has been revealed as of 2010, and the decisions of the Local Environmental Board have been evaluated as of 2014. The current situation of local civil society was evaluated. In the light of the data provided by all these indicators, it has been concluded that the air pollution problem in Erzincan is related to the production of indecision, and that advocacy activities are necessary in Erzincan over the concept of the right to clean air in order to overcome this and solve the problem.