ABSTRACT
Some of the most polluted areas in Europe are in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and this pitiful state of affairs is no accident. Both the form and content of any environmental policy is dependent on the economic and political systems, and Soviet-type economies (STE) were no exception. Political and economic system is being changed in the process of systemic transformation, the link between various constitutive elements of the process and the natural environment is certainly worth investigating. Although the link between industrialisation and environmental damage was eventually spotted and to some extent dealt with under democratic capitalism, those in charge of STEs failed to take notice. The negative environmental consequences of economic inefficiency, both allocative and productive, unavoidable in practice as they were, were strengthened by the desire to increase production at any cost. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
