9 14 June 2007 – Issue 3

Editorial Driving the urban Keeping the big picture in mind In the space of a few years, debate over climate change has moved from academic dynamic and environmental circles into mainstream media reports, The environment needs to become the driver of development Hollywood fi lms and even in our regions, and nowhere more so than in the cities. US military reports. It now With ever-increasing economic weight, more than half of the occupies a place at the top of population and three-quarters of our energy consumption, the political agenda. Europe’s cities hold the key to tackling climate change and This is how it should be as other environmental challenges. That was the message from climate change is the greatest yesterday’s Green Week session on ‘regions and cities as environmental challenge motors for environmental sustainability.’ facing the planet and has far- reaching economic and societal consequences. As Commission “Climate change is the overriding prior- must mobilise and work together,” Ms President José Manuel Barroso ity for London,” said Nicky Gavron, the Gavron said. “Nobody wants to be too noted in his opening speech at city’s deputy mayor, noting that cities are far ahead of the pack, so the challenge highly vulnerable to climate change. is to move the whole pack together.” Green Week, it has the potential to redraw the face of our planet, Whereas Britain aims to reduce its Danuta Hübner, European Commis- cripple economies and threaten greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by sioner for Regional Policy, said direct global security. 2050, London aims to meet that target investment in the environment will by 2025. The British capital would be increase from about 5% of the Struc- However, we should not let the unliveable and largely under water if it tural Funds this year to around 15% scale of the threat blind us to waited until 2050 to make deep emis- over the 2007-13 period. Indirect ac- the other serious environmental sions cuts, Ms Gavron said, so “as a re- tions aff ecting the environment, such problems that we face, and the sponsible city we must set ourselves as in energy and transport, will rise links between them. more ambitious targets”. from 17% to about 30%. London has also launched the C40 Cit- “We have been very satisfi ed at seeing Loss of biodiversity is of ies, in which the world’s largest cities can the commitment of Member States particular concern and is linked work together, amongst other things as and regions to putting the environ- to climate change. Biodiversity a “buying club” to reduce the costs of en- ment at the heart of their 2007-13 loss is in many cases being REGIO vironmentally friendly technology. “We Operational Programmes, she said.” accelerated by changing climatic conditions. Degraded eco- systems make natural defence systems less resilient. Photo: © CEC DG Photo:

Materials, resources and services from nature are the support system for human life, the backbone of our well-being In the driving seat and economic activities. Yet we Simon Hooton of South-West Eng- But Mr Hooton said what they had forget this all too easily. These land Regional Development Agency done was still not enough and there ‘eco-services’ are not factored said his region had put the environ- was a need to do “more, more urgently”. into traditional economic models ment at the centre of its economic The critical factor, he said, is getting and we may only realise their true development strategy more than business engagement – “persuading value once they have gone. a decade ago. The Eden Project – a businesses of the economy’s depend- futuristic environmental complex of ence on the environment”. And from The UN’s Millennium Ecosystem two gigantic greenhouses contain- one of England’s most rural areas to its Assessment found that two-thirds ing more than a million plants from capital that is a common factor, as Ms of ecosystems are in decline. This many of the world’s climatic zones – is Gavron also emphasised the need for results in economic losses that are perhaps the best-known example of partnership between political leaders going to increase in the future. the area’s successes. and business leaders. Nicky Gavron Danuta Hübner Environmental policies need to be balanced and we must keep an eye on the bigger picture. In this way, we may be able to fi nd common solutions to Compute with nature interlinked problems. The “world’s fi rst eco-friendly computer”, developed with help of EU funding, is on display in the Green Week exhibition.

Contents Coming in natural wooden casings, equipment more environmentally the ‘Iameco’ computers combine high friendly. The initiative is a benefi ciary Growing the carbon market 2 levels of performance without the use of the EU’s LIFE programme. Living with climate change 2 of harmful substances such as brom- “LIFE has brought it to this stage,” said inated fl ame retardants, plastics, PVC the company’s managing director, Paul Love thy neighbour 3 and lead. What is more, their power Maher, adding that making a product The better life 4 supply units use up to a third less like this viable without support in the energy than traditional machines. research and marketing phases is very Getting to the roots The Dublin-based company MicroPro diffi cult for a small company like his. of sustainability 4 has been developing the computer For more details on the Iameco com- for the last 14 years. Financial help puter and the HEATSUN initiative, go came through the local authority’s to stand 45 on the second fl oor of the HEATSUN initiative to make electronic Charlemagne building. Tough choices

Photo: © iStockphoto Photo: It is easy for the world’s advanced economies to advocate sustainable development: they have the money, the institutional structures, the political support and rising public awareness to move their societies toward a greener profi le. But what about the poorer regions of the world? Do the environmental benefi ts exceed the initial investments for countries where overcoming poverty is a fi rst priority? Regional policy experts think they do.

Getting the EU’s Mediterranean and Turkey alone needing to spend some 300 NGOs scattered across the Arab South-eastern European neighbours 60 billion euro or 819 euro per person. world, said: “We see public awareness to clean up their environments and in our countries that cannot be trans- “Is it worth it? I’m convinced it will be,” embrace climate change goals will lated into political pressure, govern- said Mr Lust, whose fi rm does environ- cost money – lots of it – but the pay- ment commitments that do not lead mental impact assessments in Balkan off for better living conditions and to national action, and public-private countries. “The Turkish government healthier populations will exceed the partnerships that, if they exist at all, estimates as many as 135,000 cases of cost, Arnoud Lust, environmental con- chronic bronchitis could be avoided are weak.” When I grow up I want to be… sultant with Antwerp-based Arcadis by 2010 by reducing air pollution. The When he visits small villages and tries Ecolas NV, told a Green Week session benefi ts are clear.” to convince the villagers to work to- on 13 June. gether on climate change, their re- a policy-maker Setting priorities He estimated that for the EU’s three sponse is that their priority is feeding Ever wondered how EU environmental Representatives of international regu- candidate countries, Turkey, Croatia Not everyone is as optimistic. Emad their families. Their awareness about laws come to be? Wonder no more. A lators, EU institutions and policy ex- and Macedonia, to fully comply with Adly, from the Arab network for global warming is overridden by other session today gives you a unique in- perts will guide you through a fi ctional Union environmental legislation Environment and Development, a priorities, such as survival, concluded sight into the policy-making process. case study in this interactive session. would cost 80-110 billion euro, with Cairo-based group that liaises with Mr Adly. Session 15, ‘Be a policy-maker for a day’, Thursday 9.30-11.00, Room S1. Adapt to survive ETS – we are not alone How are we going to live with the inevitable eff ects of The EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is currently working well. climate change in the 21st century? How do we respond now But can it serve as a role model for other schemes around the world? that climate change is here? These questions were the focus of Wednesday’s session on the impacts of climate change Damien Meadows of DG Environment He could envisage a possible North Toru Morotomi from Kyoto Univer- believes so. “Yes, we can move towards American ETS that covered green- sity talked about the Japanese JVETS and the need to adapt. a global ETS,” he told yesterday’s Green house gases and other pollutants, scheme – a small-scale voluntary pro- Week session on a global carbon trad- although he cautioned that links may ject. Mr Morotomi described it as a “Water, soil, nature biodiversity and ing scheme. “Schemes need to be built air – in fact the whole ecosystem will be diffi cult. “slow but steady step in the right direct- from the ground up and will come to- ion” that provided the basis for a future be aff ected,” said Grant Lawrence of As Vicky Arroyo of leading US think- gether over time.” full-scale mandatory ETS in Japan. DG Environment. Climate change will tank the Pew Centre on Global Cli- have a direct impact on a vast swathe Mr Meadows stated that the EU ETS is mate Change pointed out, the Bush Jos Delbeke of DG Environment con- of policies including fi sheries, energy, open to linking with other schemes. Administration remains opposed to cluded that Europe “is not alone” with agriculture, tourism and research. And presentations from Canada, the an ETS at the federal level. But she the ETS concept. He felt that nations US and Japan gave some encourage- He announced that the Commission underlined that there are several bills were converging in their basic ap- ment in this direction. will be issuing two important policy currently before Congress to intro- proach to tackling climate change documents in this area soon. A Green Erik Haites, President of Margaree duce a federal scheme, and on the though such instruments. Paper (discussion paper) on adapta- lic transport would be valuable contri- Consultants, described the Canadian ground many states, including Cali- tion to climate change will be pub- butions, he suggested. Mr Hegyi also government’s recent proposal. This fornia, are setting up their own state lished before the end of the month favoured using eco-taxation to favour has many similarities to the EU ETS. or regional schemes. to stimulate Europe-wide debate and environment-conscious activities and encourage the public and private sec- support social goals. tors to identify their adaptation needs. Andrea Cocco of Italian NGO Legambi- A major stakeholder conference on 3 ente described the current water crisis July and a public internet consultation in his country. Agriculture was taking over the coming months will feed into the biggest hit due to water shortages Taxing matters for the environment a White Paper (policy paper) on adap- but sectors such as energy production tation to be published next year. were also suff ering. Solutions off ered Market-based instruments such as energy taxes can Before the summer break the Com- by Legambiente include the promo- mission also aims to issue a Communi- tion of energy-saving seeds and best be good for both the environment and the economy, cation on water scarcity and drought. practice in the use of water, but also, according to representatives from several Member States “This is an area where the need for where possible, to ensure that trad- who described their national experiences at a Green Week adaptation is urgent,” Mr Lawrence itional food production is defended. said. The key, he added, is to look at session on Wednesday afternoon. the demand side and ensure the most Taking out insurance Kai Schlegelmilch from the German Mr Schlegelmilch also pointed to appropriate technologies are being Can the insurance industry help? Environment Ministry justifi ed such other economic benefi ts of market-

used. The true cost of water supply Trevor Maynard from Lloyd’s of London REGIO measures, saying that encourag- based instruments, saying increased also needs to be evaluated. Only then sees education and empowerment ing eco-innovation was key to his energy taxes combined with reduced should methods for additional supply, to enable better consumer choice country’s economy. “We view envir- labour taxes had succeeded in creat- such as desalination, be considered. as critical. “Essentially, insurance onmental policy as an essential part ing 250,000 jobs in Germany.

Photo: © CEC DG Photo: of economic policy – in the future our premiums represent pre-funded Pelle Magdalinksi of the Swedish Envir- Facts not sensation competitiveness will depend on our disaster relief,” explained Mr Maynard. onmental Protection Agency illustrat- energy effi ciency.” “We need to be nearer to the scientifi c Insurance can support adaptation by ed how Sweden’s emissions have been facts rather than the tabloid sensa- off ering premium incentives to clients Eco-innovation is essential to econom- decoupled from economic growth tion,” said Hungarian MEP Gyula He- who ‘climate proof’ their homes ic success because global demand for since 1996 with the help of market- gyi. For many new Member States, – for example, by making them more these technologies will grow rapidly, based instruments, in particular en- eff orts to support eco-effi cient district resilient to fl ooding and reducing the he said. “Today, Europe is ahead and ergy taxes. These had brought about a heating and cooling systems and pub- potential for storm damage. we must make sure we stay that way.” switch to cleaner sources of heating. 1990s: TANGIBLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• UN warns of dangers if global temperatures rise • Legislation to protect waters from nitrate pollution • UN Conference on Environment and Development • Maastricht Treaty gives EU • European Environment Agency (EEA) by more than 2°C (Rio Earth Summit) environment policy legal status starts work in Copenhagen • Two directives on genetically modifi ed • Directive on the conservation of natural habitats and • Directive on packaging and packaging waste organisms (GMOs) of wild fauna and fl ora

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1 Giving obsolete ships a clean bill of health

Nowhere is the problem of waste management more evident than in the ship-dismantling sector, where impacts on workers’ health and the environment can be devastating. The Green Week session on ship dismantling highlighted current practices and international eff orts to improve the situation.

There are now increasing concerns and the accelerated phase-out in the EU Possible actions for the shorter term in- that demolition yards in developing mean existing facilities will not be able clude better checks at European ports, countries are exposing employees to to cope with the increased volume. greater co-operation between national serious health risks and harming the authorities and the creation of a list of environment. An industry originally The International Maritime Organisa- ‘clean’ ship-dismantling facilities. located in the USA and United King- tion (IMO), the International Labour dom, ship dismantling is now based Organisation and the UNEP Basel Con- New standards largely in countries such as Bangla- vention have all set non-binding stand- and positive action desh, India and Pakistan. ards covering ship recycling. The EU has gone further and introduced laws Sveinung Oftedal of the Norwegian Muhammed Ali Shahin of the Young that defi ne categories of vessel waste Ministry of Environment outlined a Power in Social Action (YPSA) in Ban- draft of the International Conven- and set conditions for the import and gladesh argued, “We can no longer tion for the Safe and Environmentally export of hazardous waste. But these accept the sacrifi ce of human life sim- Sound Recycling of Ships. “The object- rules can be circumvented as owners ply because it furthers the economic ive is to set up instruments for imple- can decide simply to scrap ships out- interests of certain companies.” mentation and enforcement. With side the European Union. Problems include blatantly unsafe governments and industry on-board, I believe this can be a good and eff ect- practices and inattention to highly toxic EU strategy materials. Substances now banned, ive convention,” he said. such as polychlorinated biphenyls Since nearly one in three ships in the “We do not want to be associated with (PCBs), tributyl tin (TBT), anti-fouling world’s fl eet sail under an EU Mem- the practices we have seen in Mr Sha- paint and asbestos, are still present in ber State fl ag, the EU needs to take a hin’s presentation,” said Peter Blank- older ships sent for recycling. strong role at an international level in estijn, of Danish company Maersk. The future actions to establish safer ship More vessels company is taking voluntary steps scrapping. The Commission is work- to ensure environmentally friendly With some 700 large commercial ves- ing towards developing an EU strat- recycling, including checking ships sels being scrapped every year, ship egy on ship dismantling and issued a for radiation and hazardous mater- recycling is a highly profi table business Green Paper at the end of May. A key ials before delivery to recycling yards. with a total annual global turnover of initiative for the long term is to estab- “With proper planning and the right around €1.2 billion. But the decision to lish an international ship-dismantling joint ventures, we believe we can all Photo: © Greenpeace/Lam, Clement © Greenpeace/Lam, Photo: phase out single-hull oil tankers by 2015 convention under the IMO. do much better,” he said. Beauty under our feet Wind of change Construction will start this evening Two street artists painted visions of natural beauty in front of the fi rst-ever wind turbine in the of the Charlemagne building yesterday. heart of Brussels. The 25m turbine on Schuman roundabout outside The three-dimensional technique Working in pastel chalk, Edgar Müller the Green Week event is part of the gives the impression that paving and Manfred Stader’s have been mak- celebrations for European Wind Day. stones have been lifted off the ground ing tailor-made artwork at events for to reveal mountains, a waterfall and several years. “We work in cities and The event – one of 60 taking place other natural wonders underneath countries around the world, from Paris around Europe – kicks off at 12.30 on the city streets. to Mexico to Taipei,” says Müller. Friday and ends in the evening with a street party featuring live DJs and a light show. For more details, see: www.ewea.org Photo: © EWEAPhoto:

Environmental landmarks:

“We are not actually painting on the EU legislation street,” explains Stader. “This is a spe- cial, made-to-fi t canvas that we lay The European Union has often taken a 1992 – The Habitats Directive paves on the ground and then work on. This leading role in pioneering innovative the way for the creation of Natura way we can remove it overnight and green legislation. 2000, the world’s largest coherent the artwork can be preserved beyond Here, Green Week Daily focuses on network of protected nature areas. To- the event.” three key measures: gether with the 1979 Birds Directive, The work is being sponsored by Vinyl it forms the core of EU policy to con- 1976 – Adoption of the Bathing Water 2010 (www.vinyl2010.org), an organ- serve biodiversity. Directive protects the public from isation working towards sustainable health risks by requiring polluted 2005 – The EU’s Emission Trading development in the European PVC coastal and inland bathing waters to Scheme (EU ETS) opens for business. It industry. be cleaned up. Bathing water quality is the world’s fi rst international market For more information, see: in Europe has improved considerably for carbon trading, and a milestone in www.european-street-painting.com as a result. the battle against climate change.

• UN Commission on Sustainable Development • Directive on ambient air quality assessment • Kyoto Protocol adopted – enters into force in 2005 • Århus Convention on Access to Information, • Amsterdam Treaty makes environment policy establishes intergovernmental panel on forests and management Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access a key EU political objective. (now UN Forum on Forests) • Directive on integrated pollution prevention to Justice in Environmental • Erika oil tanker chemical spill and control (IPPC) • EU Forest Strategy • Directive on environmental damage from waste landfi ll • International Commission for the Protection • World population reaches 6 billion. of the Danube River (ICPDR) • Rotterdam Convention on the implementation of the Prior Informed Consent procedure

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 3 KH-AI-07-003-EN-C Industrial controls under the microscope

European controls on industrial pollution need to be more ambitious and encourage “The review needs to promote high controls: “The EU should act as a fore- greater innovation in eco-technologies, regulatory experts said on Wednesday. uptake of BATs and to promote stand- runner on the road to more sustainable ards beyond,” she said. industrial production. BATs should be made compulsory,” he argued. The European Commission is currently A proposal should come by the end of reviewing the EU’s Integrated Pollution this year; Ms Wenning said the Com- Lesley James, from the European Envir- Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive. mission is considering a number of onmental Bureau, agreed. She said only Since 1999, the legislation has governed options, including making the refer- binding legislation gave the certainty the emissions to air, water and land of ence documents to BATs (known as that industry needed. “The regulatory around 50,000 industrial installations. BREFs) compulsory and setting EU- framework plays a very important role It requires plant operators to obtain wide minimum standards. in innovation”, she said. “We need to set permits for their emissions and aims to Michael Parth, from the European more demanding standards.” ensure that their operations use “best IPPC Bureau, said that the while the But Jean-Marie Demoulin from Busi- available technologies” (BATs). Directive was making progress in pro- ness Europe expressed concern about Speaking at Green Week, Marianne moting established technologies, “in- the eff ect tighter pollutions controls Wenning from the European Commis- novations are triggered by emerging would have on competitiveness. He sion’s DG Environment highlighted technologies not by the applications suggested that the legislation was weaknesses in the legislation. Areas of of BATs”. fi ne as it was at the moment. “The IPPC concern are an insuffi cient reduction Let’s be ambitious Directive is an eff ective tool. If it is not in emissions, an overly complex legal broken, don’t fi x it.” He also warned framework, a lack of progress towards There were calls for more ambition from against the dangers of “double regu- the BATs and a lack of transparency in a number of speakers. Dieter Cohors- lation” if suggestions to extend the how the permits and emissions levels Fresenborg, from the German Federal emissions trading scheme to other are set by national authorities. © iStockphoto Photo: Environment Agency, urged stricter gases were adopted. Living the good life Time to get radical As the international debate over the successor to the Kyoto Justin Rowlatt, the BBC’s ‘ethical man’, concluded a year- Protocol heats up, the main message coming out of the long experiment in April living the green life: that is, trying Wednesday’s sustainable production session was that the as much as was feasible to reduce his and his family’s time for half-measures is over – now we have to get radical. carbon footprint. Green Week Daily gets the low-down on the low ‘carb’ approach. Swedish MEP Anders Wijkman, a “Because all our products are own- member of the European Parliament’s brands, we know exactly where they What prompted you to aim for a What else did you do? environmental committee, brought are coming from and how they are greener lifestyle and were your family a sobering tone to Green Week. “It is produced, which makes ensuring their We changed our light bulbs for low- willingly to go along with that? interesting to see how relatively little sustainability easier,” Jane Hill, the energy ones and got a smart meter progress we’ve made over the years. company’s government aff airs man- The idea was cooked up by my boss at which tells you how much power The challenges we face today have ager, told the Green Week audience. BBC Newsnight who called me into his you’re using at any one time. That was been known for quite some time,” he offi ce to brainstorm. While I thought it really useful because we could see Ms Hill spoke of a successful adver- said, displaying a list of books and really sounded like a dull idea, it was my how much power it took to boil water, tising campaign the chain embarked reports dating back to the 1960s fi rst day on the job, so of course I said run the dryer and so on. upon last year to raise customer accurately forecasting contemporary “Yes, great idea!”. And he, of course, said: carbon emissions when they should awareness of the company’s eco-la- environmental challenges. “Great. You’re the man for it.” My wife, What we did not do was install solar be looking at it in a broader societal belling schemes. The catchy slogans however, is an eco-person and was very panels or a wind turbine on the roof. way. He acknowledged that there has been dreamed up included: ‘After our sand- enthusiastic about the suggestion. As The UK is not the sunniest place and a lot of political action but much of it wiches disappear, so will the packag- for my kids, they’re still young so they solar panels are ridiculously expen- Was the change more expensive than “does not address the root causes”. The ing’ and ‘There’s nothing woolly about had to go along for the ride. sive. You’ll spend some £9,000 to save your previous non-green approach? Swedish politician argued that this was our commitment to animal welfare’. £100 each year – that’s too long to mainly due to the short-term orientation How did your lifestyle change during No – we saved a lot of money. In fact, A powerful tool to ensure that new justify the pay-back. Indeed, if you of our economic and political systems, the year? not having a car saved us £2,000 to ways of production are really more think about it, there’s no point in doing the lack of value assigned to ‘natural £2,500 a year which is a lot of money. sustainable than the old is to use the Well, my wife opted immediately for or- that if it is economically ineffi cient. It capital’, such as forests and biodiversity, We also turned down the heat in the life-cycle assessment approach. As ganic food. We gave up our car and used would be far better to take the £9,000 environmentally harmful subsidies, and house. By lowering our thermostat Helias A. Udo de Haes of the University public transport whenever possible. My and spend it elsewhere – not on your poorly informed consumers. wife belongs to a car club where you own home but to support all the just one degree, we cut our heating of Leiden’s Institute of Environmental use a car for a few pounds an hour. In cheap carbon options in the world. bill by 15% ! Mr Wijkman suggested that we need Sciences described the life-cycle as- exceptional cases, we had to use taxis. People are obsessed with their own to revamp our economic perspective sessment approach takes a ‘cradle to Did your year-long experience change and forge a new European framework grave’ view of a product. Taking alu- your habits and attitude towards a which moves beyond GDP and eco- minium cars as an example, Mr Udo de greener lifestyle? nomic growth as the main measures Haes pointed out that while these cars Oh yes. Overall, we reduced our power of progress, and assign accurate eco- might be lighter they require more consumption by 22% by doing things nomic value to natural capital. He also energy to produce. Using a life-cycle Making a splash that made no demands on our lifestyle proposed a major rethink of prevail- assessment approach in such a case whatsoever, such as simply chang- ing business models to fi nd ways of would help determine whether the ing light bulbs. Once you realise how extending the shortening life cycles of increased fuel effi ciency of these cars easy and logical such things are, you’d many products such as mobile phones outweighs the high levels of energy never go back because it’s so obvious- and other consumer technologies. used to produce them. ly a change for the better. I think the Business as unusual key message here is that we all think this sort of change is impossible, but Some private companies, such as humans are much more fl exible and Marks and Spencer, are making eff orts adaptable than they think. to change their production processes and become greener corporations. Finally, what was public reaction and Conscious of the impact the produc- feedback to your experiment? tion and distribution of its products are having on the environment, the We got a huge response to the green UK retailing giant has embarked on experiment... some 600 viewer e-mails a 100-point environmental strategy. after the fi rst report. That’s because I One of these points is the develop- think it dealt with a big issue. People ment of carbon-neutral ‘eco-factories. are really interested in the environ- ment and the carbon challenge. Anders Wijkman

Editorial information errors which, despite careful prepar ation Green Week Daily is published by the Com- and checking, may appear. Juan Manuel Revuelta Pérez, the Gen- With ten local authorities from around munication Unit of the Environment DG. eral Director of the Valencian Regional Europe on-board, the network aims to Luxembourg: Offi ce for Offi cial Publica- Offi ce in Brussels, presented the new boost innovative projects dealing with Notice tions of the European Communities, 2007 website of the Wateregio Network at water management. For more details, Neither the European Commission © European Communities, 2007 nor any person acting on its behalf the environmental innovation exhib- see www.wateregio.net may be held responsible for the use Reproduction is authorised provided the ition in Cinquantenaire Park yesterday. to which information contained in source is acknowledged. this publication may be put, or for any Printed in Belgium

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