Environmental Review 2005
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Estonian environment I ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW 2005 ESTONIAN ENVIRONMENT INFORMATION CENTRE TALLINN 2005 Printing of this publication was supported by the Environmental Investment Centre. Foreword Dear reader The present Estonian environmental review that you Of course, in comparison with other European hold in your hands is a proof of the fact that Es- countries, Estonia often shows lower indicators. tonia is firmly moving towards the set objectives. This, among other things, is due to a small popula- On September 14, 2005 the Riigikogu approved a tion. So, for example, emission amounts for air pol- strategy Sustainable Estonia 21. This means a new lutants per person are high in Estonia, in compari- quality and serves as a strategy for other strategies. If son with other countries. In spite of that, Estonia is we will not make right decisions now, Estonia might one of the first countries to achieve a lot discussed become a remote area in the European Union. We air pollution level objectives of the Kyoto Protocol. It shall focus more on social, personal, cultural and shows good developments in the final consump- language issues, we should see developments in a tion of energy, use of water resources and increase society as a holistic process. in the recycling of municipal waste. Politicians and officials alone will not be able to guarantee a clean Membership of the European Union means re- natural environment. Here, we all have our every- sponsibility not only for fulfilling national aims, but day role to play – starting from a change in attitudes also aims deriving from EU legislation. Estonia s towards environmental issues and understanding large number of forests and variety of species is well- that every action has a consequence. It is an impor- known in Europe. tant skill to act with a view into the future, because our children and grandchildren also want to drink At the same time energy industry based on oil-shale clean water, swim in a clear water, breathe without in Ida-Virumaa is a worrying fact. The industry a respirator. The Ministry of Environment in coop- needs additional investments to achieve environ- eration with the Ministry of Education and Science mentally-friendly production and reduce the level is developing a „Concept of education (incl. nature of air pollution in the region even more. The new education and environmental education) promot- Packaging Act, Packaging Excise Duty Act and Waste Act ing sustainable development“. Its initial tasks fore- have promoted waste management through collec- see the creation of network of support centres for tion of waste by types and re-cycling of packaging. environmental education. Environmental educa- Welfare of Estonian people increases and economy tion shall be paid much more attention. In that develops, this is also proved by the constant raise in area Estonia is lacking behind from several coun- the number of cars. But car transport is, besides oil- tries, but after all, this is a precondition to keep our shale industry, one of the biggest air polluters. environment habitable for a longer time. Villu Reiljan The Minister of Environment Introduction This publication is a special one among previ- that the review is aiming at analysis of the en- ous Estonian environmental reviews, because vironmental status and factors causing it, it is for the first time we have tried to analyse the natural that one can’t find a comprehenisve status of the environment in the light of nation- presentation of climate changes. But we have al objectives. It is a good thing, if we can see taken a first step by studying emission amounts right movements in figures, but a diagramme of greenhouse gases and we hope to continue will gain additional value, if we can see the re- with this issue in the future. maining distance to the set objectives. Environ- mental strategy, Sustainable Estonia Strategy, Environmental information is available to the sectoral strategies and action plans, EU legisla- public. tion and international conventions are the doc- The Constitution of the Republic of Estonia (RT uments, that provide objectives for improving 1992, 26, 349) stipulates that everyone has the or maintaining the achieved environmental sta- right to freely obtain information disseminated tus. The present environmental review reflects for public use. The Public Information Act (RT environmental trends since 2000 (in some cases I 2000, 92, 597) admits that environmental in- also from an earlier period) until now. Pursuant formation is public, except in cases provided to EU and Estonian legislation an environmen- by law. Making environmental information tal review reflecting environmental trends will available to the public will help to fulfil every be published every fourth year. All main envi- person’s duty to save natural environment and ronmental areas will be covered in the review. natural resources, i.e. to preserve our national A drawback is that the topic „Environment and wealth. Developing information technology of- human health“ that is very important at a Euro- fers constantly new opportunities to develop pean Union level is covered very briefly. Data environmental legislation in Estonia as well as exchange between environmental and health in the European Union and on an international authorities is not sufficient at the moment – hu- level. For example, with the help of new IT solu- man health is not seen in relation to pollution tions it will be easier to show the compliance of loads and environmental status, i.e. there is no Estonian legal acts with the EU directives, regu- data on which environmental indicators have an lations and approved international agreements. impact on human health and how. Even there On the other hand, modern information tech- exists data exchange concerning drinking and nology makes environmental information easily bathing water and hazardous substances, still a accessible for everyone and allows too choose lot should be done. Improvements in the situa- freely the extent and form of a query. tion are also hindered by scientific problems in reliable integration of data on environmental The Ministry of Environment with its sub-of- status and health impacts. In order to solve that fices has developed many Internet-based data- problem methodological cooperation between bases, regitries and information systems. In the authorities should be intensified. Improving next stage these databases should be integrated Internet-based environmental information sys- into a unified main national register – the en- tems facilitate the possibilities of authorities vironmental register. In Europe the European to insert data, make queries and keep control. Environmental Agency plays the central role in Climate changes are in the focus of the EU en- the collection and disclosure of environmental vironmental policy. For the first time, in the data. The Agency coordinates the collection long list of Estonian environmental reviews in and transfer of environmental data from mem- this publication climate changes are covered as ber states to the European level through its a separate topic. Taking into account the fact EIONET network. The trend – to take more and 4 ENVIRONMENT AL REVIEW 2005 more environmental information to the public nated environmental information. During the through public data communication network – last decades in addition to the government and is in compliance with the Directive 2003/4/EC businesses the target group for environmental of the Council and the Parliament on the pub- information has extended to the third sector. lic access to environmental information (OJC It means non-governmental organisations of- L041, 14.02.2003; replacing since February 14, fering and consuming environmental infor- 2005 the previous Directive 90/313/EEC) as mation. The increased number of interested well as the Århus Convention on access to Infor- people have helped to increase environmental mation, Public Participation in Decision-making awareness and have focused attention to several and access to Justice in Environmental Matters. environmental problems. The need for a new directive derived from an increased amount of environmental informa- tion and continuously developing information technology, also from the wish of the European Union to ratify the Århus Convention. The new Directive 2003/4/EC extends the concepts of environmental information and state authority. Main principles for the public access to The new legal act also emphasises on active ways environmental information: of information dissemination, the previous ver- sion did not make any difference between the • environmental information shall be scope of active and passive information dissemi- available to everyone, except in cases nation. Pursuant to the directive environmental listed in the directives reviews shall be published every fourth year, the review shall reflect environmental status as well • environmental information and holder as pressure to the environment. The directive of the information shall be defined establishes also public disclosure of data from environmental monitoring. With regards to • public interest served by disclosure the public interest, environmental data is im- should be weighed against the interest portant in a country’s development, as based served by the refusal on the data socio-economic development and population policy (plannings, development • as a rule environmental information will plans, programmes) are planned, economic be supplied free of charge, or, if neces- activities are regulated, restrictions