Natural resources policies and indicators in the European context

Transcription

1 Natural resources policies and indicators in the European context Tomas Hak Charles University Environment Center, Prague, Czech Republic ICSS 2009, Sanjo Conference Hall, University of Tokyo, Japan Presentation Policies and indicators of natural resource use in the European context Trends in material consumption in the recent past in the Central Europe: Domestic Material Consumption (DMC) 1

2 Resource use political agenda Natural resource use political agenda, issue of discussion among wider public as well Pressures: pollution (incl. CO2 climate change), ecosystem services degradation strategic issues: security of supplies, water and food availability, prices of commodities, conflicts and wars Resource use political agenda (2) Problems (management of the amount of natural resources used and waste and emmissions generated) are reflected in a number of high level policy initiatives G8 need of information and indicators on the global use of resources and emmissions(2000) OECD (WGEOI) guidance on establishing sound information UNEP scientific panel on sustainable resource management National level policies, laws, etc. 2

3 Resource use political agenda (3) EU (Eurostat) WG, indicators of SD (incl. resource use indicators) EU (EEA) ETC/SCP (formerly ETC/WR) EU (EC) Renewed SD Strategy Action plan on sustainable production and consumption and sustainable industrial policy Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources Integrated Product Policy (IPP) Thematic Strategy on Waste Prevention and Recycling Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) Ecolabel Scheme Environmental Technologies Action Plan (ETAP) Green Public Procurement (GPP) EU Sustainable Development Strategy The overall aim - to identify and develop actions to enable the EU to achieve a continuous long-term improvement of quality of life through the creation of sustainable communities able to manage and use resources efficiently, The Strategy sets overall objectives and concrete actions for 7 key priority challenges until 2010: Climate change and clean energy Sustainable transport Sustainable consumption & production Conservation and management of natural resources Public Health Social inclusion, demography and migration Global poverty and sustainable development challenges 3

4 Monitoring the EU SDS The Commission submitts every 2 years a Monitoring Report Indicators are to be developed at the appropriate level of detail to ensure proper assessment of the situation EU indicators for sustainable management of natural resources By 2008, the Commission is to develop: indicators to measure progress in efficiency and productivity in the use of natural resources, including energy, resource-specific indicators to evaluate how negative environmental impacts have been decoupled from resource use, and an overall indicator to measure progress in reducing the ecological stress of resource use by the EU 4

5 Some operational goals and targets By 2010, 12% of energy consumption, on average, and 21% of electricity consumption, as a common but differentiated target, should be met by renewable sources, considering raising their share to 15% by Halting the loss of biodiversity and contributing to a significant reduction in the worldwide rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 Some targets for biofuels, car emissions, energy savings, etc. In general - not many quantitative time-bound targets Mostly qualitative, general objectives To improve management and avoid overexploitation of natural resources, recognising the value of ecosystem services Avoiding the generation of waste and enhancing efficient use of natural resources by applying the concept of life-cycle thinking and promoting reuse and recycling. Similarly: to reduce dependency on raw materials and to encourage optimal resource use and recycling (SCP Action Plan) 5

6 There are good indicators! Total GHG emissions, EU15 Change in GHG emissions ( /12) 6

7 EU27 share of renewables in energy consumption Municipal waste generation 7

8 8

9 Built-up area A preliminary finding If we go through all the European SDIs, it will be difficult to interpret/assess some issues: because of lacking targets (e.g. land use - build-up area, material consumption, waste generation, etc. ) because of lacking indicators while having the target (biodiversity loss) 9

10 Changes in material use in transition economies Comparative analysis of CR, Hungary and Poland in the period of transition ( ) Q: Was there a convergence in per capita material consumption? How was it comparing with the EU? Indicator DMC (Domestic Material Consumption) quantifies materials consumed by a given economy (Domestic Exctraction + Imports Export) aggregates fossil fuels, metal ores, non-metal minerals, biomass For explanation of drivers, we used IPAT model (Impact = population x affluence x technology) 10

11 Domestic Material Consumption (DMC), Material productivity,

12 Conclusions General In Europe, there are relatively good data on resource use and many aspects of SCP EU has many policies on those EU does not have appropriate targets and indicators (TMC, BD etc.) MFA specific conclusions from the comparative analysis: Material consumption followed different ways but finally converged close to the EU values All transition economies became more import-dependent Material productivity is still almost 2x higher in the EU15 Little advertizing at the end Special Issue Oct-Dec

13 Thank you! 13