ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION AND HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT: A MEDITERRANEAN PERSPECTIVE
Director
of the School of Specialisation in Law and Economics of the European Communities
University
of
Rome "La Sapienza"
SUMMARY
Environmental
degradation and environmental sustainability. 2. The European environmental
policy. 3. Protection of Mediterranean environment. 4. Environmental Liability.
Environmental
degradation and environmental sustainability
The
effects of environmental degradation are sometimes comparable with those of the
most devastating natural catastrophes, such as violent earthquakes. But while
the gravity and extension of the latter are immediately evident, on the
contrary, the effects of environmental degradation are not immediate, but only
become evident over time. Unfortunately, when such effects appear, it is almost
always very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to recover from heavy
damages.
Hazardous
wastes, such as the by-products of mining, if corrosive, infectious, flammable,
explosive, toxic or oxidising, are dangerous to human health and the
environment. As their safe disposal is sometimes very difficult or expensive, in
the absence of adequate controls, the party responsible for the plants could
avoid managing them properly, thus determining severe health problems in time
through poisoned water and land.
In
fact, unless adequately confined, wastes deposited on land may contaminate
surface and groundwater for drinking or irrigation for many decades. Finally,
the cumulative effect of the concentration of chemicals may lead to serious
manifestations such as mutations, cancer and reproductive failure in animal and
human beings.
Hazardous
waste may be treated using physical-chemical or biological processes that reduce
the volume and detoxify the wastes. Recycling, removal and secure land-filling
are other operations that may allow a strong reduction and control of the
negative effects of hazardous
wastes.
Not until recently have the general public, local governments, and national and international organisations begun paying more attention to the damages produced by environmental degradation and the means to prevent them. One of the major concerns regards the international extension of these effects that are without political or geographic boundaries. In fact, it is very well known that air and water pollution may travel long distances affecting regions even very far from the place where the degradation has been produced.
Moreover,
the break with the principle of "environmental sustainability" very
often determines intergenerational effects. Overexploitation of natural
resources, air and water pollution, depletion of the ozone layer, and
destruction of vegetable and animal species resulting in the reduction of
biological heterogeneity, are clear examples of environmental damages whose long
term effects concern not only the present but also future generations.
For
all these reasons, risks connected with environmental
degradation and hazardous waste management can no longer be considered issues of
local interest to be treated locally. Instead they should fall under
international jurisdiction because their dimension requires a global cooperation
and partnership among private firms, local and national governments and
non-governmental organisations.
It
is important to mention that, according to a resolution adopted by the UN
Security Council in 1992, non-military actions creating negative repercussions
beyond the national borders constitute threats to international peace and
security. It seems therefore indisputable that environmental threats with
trans-national repercussions should be considered subject to regulations under
international law.
Need
for a global environmental policy did not become evident until the 80's and the
issue is now at the top of the political agenda of national and international,
public and private organisations. In particular, the 1987 report "Our
common future" presented by the Bruntland Commission to the UN World
Commission on Environment and Development set in motion the international
debate.
This
first realisation of the vital importance of the problem resulted in the World
Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, known
as the "Earth Summit". Five basic documents were agreed upon: The Rio
Declaration, The Agenda 21, The Biodiversity Convention, The Climate Convention
and The Forest Principles. They were reaffirmed in the Kyoto Protocol, adopted
in December 1997, and in the Conference to the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change, that took place in Buenos Ayres in 1998. Unfortunately, the 2000
Conference on Climate Change in The Hague closed without reaching any agreement.
The
European environmental policy
In
1987, the European Union presented a formal legal basis to its legislation on
environmental protection with the Single European Act (Article 130r), which set
out three objectives:
In
1998 the European Commission, that in 1971 had launched an Environmental
Protection Programme (EPP), created at Ispra (Italy) an Environment Institute
that embodied the EPP's activities and was given the mission of
carrying out research in support of EU policies for the protection of the
environment and citizens. The primary objectives of the European Institute are
to investigate the level and fate of contaminants in the air, water and soil,
assess the effects of these contaminants upon the environment and individuals,
and promote a sustainable energy supply.
In
December 1988, in the Rhodes Declaration, the European Council, requested a
major European effort in environmental matters. The European Commission reacted
immediately and, in January 1989, President Delors announced to the European
Parliament "the setting up of a European measurement and control
network".
In
1992, Article 2 of the EU Maastricht Treaty formally defined the concept of
Sustainable Development as "a harmonious and balanced development of
economic activities, sustainable and non-inflationary growth respecting the
environment". That is another version of a similar definition given in 1987
by the World Commission on Environment and Development "It is sustainable
the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs".
The
Maastricht Treaty gives specific indications concerning the Community policy on
the environment, by saying that "It shall be based on the precautionary
principle and on the principles that preventative action should be taken, that
environmental damage should as a priority be rectified at source and that the
polluter should pay. Environmental protection requirements must be integrated
into the definition and implementation of other policies."
In
October 1993, the European Environment Agency was established in Copenhagen to
provide independent, objective, reliable and comparative information on the
state of Europe's environment. A European Environment Information and
Observation Network (EIONET) was conceived to deliver improved information on
the environment. The EIONET is now a comprehensive institutional telematic
Network comprising EU Member States and some Central European Countries. Cyprus
and the other candidate countries became members of the Agency early this year.
The
concept that the polluter should pay is also present in the Amsterdam Treaty,
1997, which, strengthened previous declarations by explicitly mentioning, as a
Community tasks, "a high level of protection and improvement of the quality
of the environment".
In
December 1997, the Luxembourg European Council stressed an integrated approach
to environmental issues and asked the Commission to prepare a strategic plan to
achieve this goal.
Under
this legislation, Europe has made progress in reducing air pollution and its
impact on human health and ecosystems. The main improvements have been in
acidification and urban air quality, due to the reduction of sulphur emissions
and the introduction of unleaded petrol for passenger cars. However, for other
environmental problems related to air pollution (greenhouse effect, climate
change, ozone) there has been no improvement, or only stabilisation, in recent
years.
Water
quality protection is also a priority area of EU intervention. The urban
wastewater treatment directive set the goal of cleaning up all surface and
coastal waters of organic pollution by the end of 2010.
Wastewater
of industrial plants is a big problem but the rule "polluters will
pay" is a useful deterrent and this kind of pollution is gradually
decreasing everywhere. On the other hand, it is difficult to control water
pollution caused by nitrate run off from agricultural fields. Action programmes
are to be developed which contain legally enforced constraints on agricultural
practices and limits on the spreading of organic substances.
In
September 2000, a new "Water Framework Directive" was adopted by the European
Parliament and the European Council. It is a milestone in the field of EU water
policies. In fact, the WFD is a legal instrument that fixes ambitious objectives
in terms of quantity, quality and ecology, provides the means to achieve these
objectives through programmes of measures for each river basin, and associates
all stakeholders and the public in the development of these programmes of
measures.
The
EU, endorsing UN Agenda 21, has launched the "Fifth environmental action
programme" to command and control directives and regulations on the
economic sectors of industry, transport, energy, agriculture and tourism.. A few
days ago, in preparation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to be
held in South Africa in 2002, the European Commission launched the "Sixth
Environmental Programme" that establishes the principle and the actions to
be undertaken by the EU Member States until 2010.
The
emphasis of this Programme, entitled "Environment 2010: our future, our
choice", is to work with industry and consumers to make production and
consumption patterns less environmentally damaging. The Commission also intends
to propose measures to protect soil quality. The chemical industry will be
confronted by the Commission's quest for a "non-toxic environment" and
its aim to test and better control hazardous substances.
It
is clear that the European Commission is also making every effort to push
towards more effective action on national levels, with stronger international
monitoring, in order to protect the natural resources on which economic and
social development are based.
The
Mediterranean area, which has the most varied and rich cultural patrimony in the
world, is characterised by a very delicate environment. The people and economic
activities of twenty states on three continents are linked together by the
Mediterranean sea. The social scenario around the see is really variegated: people
living north of the Mediterranean are, on an average, twelve times wealthier
than their neighbours living in the south. The total GDP of the Mediterranean
countries’ non-EU members is about 6% of that of the 15 EU members.
Pollution
in the Mediterranean sea is due not only the result of the activities of its
bordering countries but also to the numerous rivers empting into it all kinds of
pollutants coming from the non-Mediterranean countries they are flowing through.
It has been estimated that about 85% of the Mediterranean sea pollutants are of
terrestrial origin.
Pollution
of this fragile ecosystem, causing destruction of natural habitats, has of
course disastrous effects on the quality of life of hundreds of millions of
people and the possibility of improvement of the social and economic conditions
of the most disadvantaged countries. In the affected areas pollution has in fact
negative impacts on opportunities for economic development such as the expansion
of tourism, agriculture and fishing.
Urgent
need for environmental protection of the Mediterranean area was high on the
agenda of International Organisations and Mediterranean countries early in the
70's. In February 1975, in an intergovernmental meeting in Barcelona, with the
intervention of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the governments
of Mediterranean coastal states approved the Mediterranean Action Plan, that
became legally binding in 1976, after the signature of the Barcelona Convention.
Several Protocols have been signed since then to prevent and combat specific
sources of pollution.
Following
the European Council in Cannes, June 1995, that resolved to finance the
Euro-Mediterranean Partnership with budgetary resources totalling 4,685 million
Euro for the 1995-1999 period, a large part of which was managed through the
MEDA Programme, on 27-28 November 1995, the Euro-Mediterranean Conference of
Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the EU member States and 12 non-EU Mediterranean
countries established a Euro-Mediterranean partnership with grants subsidies
mainly covering sectors relating to structural adjustment and development.
The
MEDA Programme was supplemented by loans from the European Investment Bank for
relevant projects with positive impact on the environment such as the
improvement of wastewater treatment and management of water resources in Egypt,
Lebanon, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
It
is absolutely clear that the EU Member States and candidate countries have the
highest responsibility for their environmental policies: taking care of the
environment means taking care of the well being of present and future
generations.
The
polluter should pay, this is the European rule. On February 2000 the European
Commission highlighted this principle in its "White Paper on Environmental
Liability". The Commission concluded that the most appropriate option is a
Community framework directive on Environmental Liability.
So
far, the Member states have establishes national environmental liability regimes
that cover damage to persons and goods and have introduced laws dealing with the
liability for, and cleaning up of, contaminated sites. Unfortunately all these
legislations consider responsibility towards people's health or property, but
tend not to consider their responsibilities for the broader damage to the
environment. The White Paper introduces liability for damage to nature, in order
also to increase the level of prevention.
The
EU is taking into particular consideration the environmental protection of
Cyprus and the Mediterranean sea and has funded, among other things, the control
of industrial waste in Cyprus under the EU's environmental programme LIFE. Over
the past years the European Investment Bank has made available loans to Cyprus
to support projects on water supply, waste water treatment, industry, energy and
transport infrastructure.
To
contribute to the European programme of environmental protection, it is
necessary for Cyprus to evaluate the "sustainability" of its various
policies. Public awareness, with particular regard to young people, of the need
for protection of the ecosystem of Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean, should
be adequately enhanced with environmental campaigns promoted by authorities,
civil society and environmental NGO's.
In
fact, civil participation in the decision making concerning the environment is
essential to prevent environmental damages and search for solutions to eliminate
or reduce the impact when they have already occurred.
REFERENCES