EU Announces Sustainable Development Road Map

European Commission President Romano Prodi of Italy received a generally warm reception on May 16 when he

European Commission President Romano Prodi of Italy

presented a long awaited sustainable development road map for the EU. It will be discussed by heads of state at next month’s Gothenburg summit.

The strategy consists of broad objectives that address the six greatest threats to EU sustainability. The six areas are: climate change, public health, resource management, transport congestion and pollution, poverty and an aging population. Since recent EU summits have already adopted measures to deal with poverty and an aging population, Prodi’s announcement focused on the other four objectives:

* EU greenhouse gas emissions cut by 20 percent by 2020;
* An EU energy tax that includes “full internalization of external costs” adopted by 2004;
* Incentives to increase the use of biofuel in transportation to 20 percent by 2020;
* A system of “resource productivity measurement” developed by 2003;
* Reduce transport congestion by introducing charges that “reflect transportation costs to society” by 2005.

EU leaders will review progress annually using “headline indicators.” John Hontelez, a spokesperson for the European Environmental Bureau said the strategy is “a real attempt to describe a long term vision – much stronger than we expected.” He pointed out certain omissions such as a lack of a deadline for abolishing perverse agricultural subsidies, and expressed optimism that the plan would be improved with further discussion. Source: Environment News Service

Sweden – Sustainability in One Generation
Environment Minister Kjell Larsson called the EU sustainable development strategy a good start. In 1999, the Swedish government set a goal to attain environmental sustainability within one generation. They developed 15 overarching environmental objectives to achieve it. Now, the government is proposing concrete, aggressive targets and deadlines – 60 concrete “measures and strategies” – to meet 14 of the 15 objectives by 2010.

To implement the measures, government funding for environmental protection will increase by 70 percent by 2004. The draft “environmental quality objectives bill” contains targets for clean air (large reductions in sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compound emissions), forest and wetlands protection, and waste discharges to the Baltic Sea (“zero eutrophication”). 1.6 million euros will go towards reducing lake and river acidity. 50 million Swedish krona per year, starting in 2004 will be spent to eliminate oil discharges to the sea. The plan calls for a minimum of 50 of the 100 highest priority contaminated sites to be cleaned up by 2005.

Concrete actions for the 15^th objective, “Climate Change,” will be completed by the Fall. It will include strategies to reduce car use and increase energy efficiency.

An “environmental quality objectives council” will use a new system of environmental indicators to monitor progress. They will report to parliament annually and conduct a “fundamental review” every four years.