mrz
12-05-03, 15:26
Economic growth threatens Europe's environment
14:00 12 May 03
NewScientist.com news service
More pollution, more waste and less wildlife - that is the future for Europe as countries expand their economies, according to a new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA).
Cuts in pollution achieved over the last decade will be wiped out by new roads and more air traffic. Attempts to reduce the amount of rubbish being produced are failing, while levels of toxic waste are rising. And fish stocks, soil and important wildlife habitats are all being damaged.
The report acknowledges that some environmental gains were made in the 1990s, such as reductions in emissions of the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change. But these were mostly the result of the economic recession and the decline of heavy industries in Eastern Europe.
"We know from the past that these gains will be lost again if economic growth continues to be based on traditional, environmentally damaging activities," says Gordon McInnes, EEA interim executive director. The large amounts of manufacturing industry that has been transferred from Western to Eastern European countries poses a particular risk, he says.
Motorway driver
Another key area highlighted by the report is transport. Plans for extending the European transport network east are dominated by spending on motorways. Although road travel is more polluting that rail travel, motorways account for 48 per cent of the Euro 91.5 billion budget, compared to 40 per cent for the rail network.
Eastern European countries "risk ending up with unsustainable transport patterns similar to the EU," the report says. In the EU it complains that "despite regular increases in tax, fuel for road transport remains cheaper in real terms than it was 20 to 30 years ago."
The report concludes that the European Union (EU) must take full account of environmental implications when making economic policy. The EEA, set up by the EU in 1990, published its report on Monday ahead of a conference of European ministers starting in Kiev, Ukraine, on 21 May.
Tony Juniper, director of Friends of the Earth in England and Wales, warns that as "Europe's burgeoning consumer culture" spreads east, it will be the poorer communities who will suffer most. "When are European politicians going to sit up and realise that policies of growth, growth and more growth cannot be continued?" he asks.
Rob Edwards
En nee heb ik niet uit een joint gezogen komt van newscientist gewoon...
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993716
14:00 12 May 03
NewScientist.com news service
More pollution, more waste and less wildlife - that is the future for Europe as countries expand their economies, according to a new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA).
Cuts in pollution achieved over the last decade will be wiped out by new roads and more air traffic. Attempts to reduce the amount of rubbish being produced are failing, while levels of toxic waste are rising. And fish stocks, soil and important wildlife habitats are all being damaged.
The report acknowledges that some environmental gains were made in the 1990s, such as reductions in emissions of the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change. But these were mostly the result of the economic recession and the decline of heavy industries in Eastern Europe.
"We know from the past that these gains will be lost again if economic growth continues to be based on traditional, environmentally damaging activities," says Gordon McInnes, EEA interim executive director. The large amounts of manufacturing industry that has been transferred from Western to Eastern European countries poses a particular risk, he says.
Motorway driver
Another key area highlighted by the report is transport. Plans for extending the European transport network east are dominated by spending on motorways. Although road travel is more polluting that rail travel, motorways account for 48 per cent of the Euro 91.5 billion budget, compared to 40 per cent for the rail network.
Eastern European countries "risk ending up with unsustainable transport patterns similar to the EU," the report says. In the EU it complains that "despite regular increases in tax, fuel for road transport remains cheaper in real terms than it was 20 to 30 years ago."
The report concludes that the European Union (EU) must take full account of environmental implications when making economic policy. The EEA, set up by the EU in 1990, published its report on Monday ahead of a conference of European ministers starting in Kiev, Ukraine, on 21 May.
Tony Juniper, director of Friends of the Earth in England and Wales, warns that as "Europe's burgeoning consumer culture" spreads east, it will be the poorer communities who will suffer most. "When are European politicians going to sit up and realise that policies of growth, growth and more growth cannot be continued?" he asks.
Rob Edwards
En nee heb ik niet uit een joint gezogen komt van newscientist gewoon...
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993716