2.3. RELEVANCE TO THE CEE REGION
The environment of the CEE countries is frequently cited as one of the main obstacles in their quest for EU accession. Recent CAPE surveys identified the main environment priorities to be poor air quality arising from traffic emissions, noise pollution, waste problems, wastewater treatment and a keen desire among 90 percent of decision-makers to improve public access to environmental information. These priorities broadly correspond to the main priority areas identified for environment telematics applications, namely tools supporting waste management, environmental monitoring (of air and water), emergency management, and public access to environmental information.
This section, based on CAPE survey results and according to the priorities identified for telematics tools, aims to detail why these environmental issues are of importance in CEE.
Waste Problems and Contaminated Sites
Some 25 percent of CEE public administrations and local governments identified domestic waste as their most important environmental problem, according to CAPE. Annual growth rates are around 8 percent. Among those waste-related problems most frequently cited, acute short-term problems included: increasing levels of domestic waste, illegal waste dumping, the disposal of hazardous waste, and the treatment of sludge from wastewater plants. It is not surprising that some 70 percent of surveyed authorities indicated a desire to use telematics to "support waste management."
CAPE also found that, in Western Europe, around 66 percent of waste is now being landfilled, while in CEE countries, the figure stands at approximately 80 percent (and 6 percent goes uncollected). Improperly managed waste landfill sites can lead to groundwater pollution and soil contamination. This problem is of increasing concern to CEE countries. Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, and Lithuania were earmarked by CAPE as being particularly at risk from groundwater contamination. Furthermore, decades of socialist rule within the CEE region left a legacy of contaminated military installations and a landscape dominated by heavy industry. Some 275 military bases covering one percent of the country were identified as susceptible to the threat of pollution. As a consequence, contaminated site remediation was an earmarked priority among 30 percent of the public administrations surveyed.
Air and Water Pollution
Nearly all CEE countries have experienced reductions in the emissions of major pollutants, including sulphur dioxide and particulates, owing in part to a decline in heavy industry and the use of cleaner production technologies. However, transboundary air pollution continues to be a problem. Many CEE countries are also now experiencing increasing nitrous oxide (NOx) concentrations, ozone and noise, due to rising levels of urban traffic (see Figure 1 over). Up to 40 percent of surveyed authorities claimed long-term policies will need to be developed to tackle long-term problems such as traffic emissions, and already as many as 30 percent have policies in place. Some 40 percent considered telematics will play a major role in the future in modelling and forecasting air quality.
The capital city of Lithuania, Vilnius, is a typical example of a CEE city experiencing increasing air quality problems arising from traffic pollution levels and industry. In response, the city estab-lished an entire unit devoted to air quality management, and adopted a coordinated urban air pollution management strategy. In order to support this and define future policy, monitoring and modelling equipment has been implemented and combined with a decision support system.
Figure 1: Rising levels of car ownership in Prague, Czech Republic. (Source: IOZIP)
Transboundary air quality problems are common in the CEE region. Slovakia, Romania and Lithuania are known to be net-importers of atmospheric pollution and acid rain. The Black Triangle Region, which includes part of the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany is perhaps the most well-known example of pollution with no respect for borders. Decades of heavy industry in the region has had a hugely detrimental impact on the environment, with acid-rain helping to create an ecological disaster by destroying mountain forests and acidifying the soils. Some 3 million tons of sodium dioxide (SO2) and approximately 1 million tons of NOx are emitted each year.
In response, international donors and governments in the region initiated the Black Triangle Programme in 1991, which included activities such as the establishment of an automated monitoring system.
Much of the groundwater in CEE remains polluted by non-point sources including uncontrolled runoff, untreated sewage, contaminated soils, bacteriological pollution and nitrate excesses. In many cases these conditions are found to be worsening. Some reductions in surface water pollution have been detected across CEE. However, it is clear that measures need to be taken in order to ensure better quality control and adequate resource management. Given that only about 20 percent of households in CEE countries are connected to a sewage system, effective water resource management remains critical. For these reasons, as many as 72 percent of the surveyed public authorities indicated environmental policies are in place in order to deal with increasing levels of sewage water and some 36 percent have already begun to monitor groundwater.
Environmental Emergencies
The occurrence of natural emergencies has risen in recent years in the CEE region, particularly with respect to flooding. Fewer instances of forest fires were noted by CAPE, however, countries with large forested areas like Romania and Bulgaria, and those experiencing rapid urbanisation, may be threatened by such incidents. Industrial accidents and oil spills are of concern in countries like Slovenia and Latvia, and have been a major cause for concern along international waterways like the Danube for many years. The need to be better prepared for such events and to ensure their effective management, through telematics tools, appears to be already apparent. Some 46 percent of the CEE authorities surveyed expect telematics tools to have a considerable impact on the sector over the coming two-to-three years.
In some places, like the town of Olomouc in the Czech Republic, the use of telematics has already begun. In 1997, Olomouc experienced its worst flood of the 20th century and in response, as was reported at the CAPE Telematics User Forum and Workshop in Munich, June 1999, the town began operating a simple emergency warning system. Flash-floods are becoming increasingly commonplace in southern European cities too, particularly those cities surrounded by steep topography and experiencing rapid urban development, deforestation and the effects of greenhouse gases.
Industrial accidents and oil spills have frequently occurred along the Danube waterway during the 1980s and 1990s. These have threatened water supply and caused the shutdown of water intakes. Downstream countries, and less economically developed countries among the 13 countries in the Danube basin, are particularly threatened by such events. These countries need advance notification in order to effectively deal with spills and other accidents. In 1991, the international donor community initiated the Danube Environment Programme, which seeks to improve cooperation among the Danube countries. This programme has also helped realise the implementation of a network of alert "centres" and an emergency warning system along the international waterway.
Improving Public Access to Environmental Information
Some 90 percent of self-governing public authorities in CEE
indicated high interest in telematics-based, public environmental
information systems. This is partly in response to legal requirements
such as the EU's Access to Environmental Information Directive
90/313/EEC and the "Aarhus" Convention on Access to
Information, Public Participation in Decisionmaking and Access
to Justice in Environmental Matters, signed by all CEE countries.
However, in order to disseminate up-to-date environmental information,
local and regional public administrations must first establish
mechanisms to collect and store this data. Often this poses a
significant challenge, since information is collected and stored
in different locations, by a variety of organisations and in
incompatible formats.
According to CAPE, 8 percent of respondents store data in GIS format, while 20 percent record information in different electronic databases. Furthermore, information is often collected by different organisations and research institutes with whom effective cooperation must be developed. This often results in delays in access, for both decision-makers and the public.
The Internet is an increasingly common means for disseminating
environmental information. However, its use in many CEE countries
is hindered by poor telecommunications networks and the high
costs of access. The surveys performed by CAPE showed 40 percent
of decision-makers now have access to e-mail, and 43 percent
to the Internet. Nevertheless, limited technical expertise and
poor quality equipment within public authorities are still major
hurdles preventing public authorities from taking full advantage
of the opportunities offered to disseminate information to a
wide audience.
* Qualitative Survey of
Ten Central and East European Countries on the Requirements and
Framework for Environment and Transport Telematics Implementation,
August 1999 and Quantitative survey based on questionnaire responses
of the needs and policy priorities of public authorities, summarised
in the report on Status and Priorities for Environment Telematics
Applications - A Survey of Local Government in Ten Central and
East European Countries, August 1999. Both online under: http://www.rec.org/ist/cape.
Updated:
CET
