Written Answers. - Environmental Policy.
Trevor Sargent
Ceist:
259
Mr. Sargent
asked the
Minister for the Environment and Local Government
the progress being made by his Department in initiating and assessing Agenda 21 programmes arising from commitments made by the Government at the Rio de Janeiro earth summit of 1992.
[3146/02]
Agenda 21, an action programme for socially, economically and environmentally sustainable development, was adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Sustainable Development: A Strategy for Ireland, endorsed by Government in 1997, reflects and takes forward in the Irish context the programme towards sustainable development set out in Agenda 21.
As regards matters for which my Department has responsibility, significant progress has been made towards good environmental management since 1992 and within the framework of national sustainable development policy. A range of measures has been taken to protect and enhance Ireland's environmental quality, including the building up of a strong and effective Environmental Protection Agency; the putting in place of a modern legislative framework for environmental protection; adoption of a national climate change strategy in November 2000, which sets out actions to be implemented to ensure that Ireland meets its target under the Kyoto Protocol – many of the measures are already being implemented; record investment in water services to meet development needs, tackle water quality problems, and upgrade rural water supplies; implementing water catchment management strategies and other measures to protect and improve water quality in rivers and lakes – the EPA has recently reported that river pollution has decreased for the first time in 30 years; the establishment of clear policy direction for waste management in the 1998 document, Changing Our Ways.
This recognises the need for a dramatic reduction in reliance on landfill in favour of an integrated waste management policy which delivers ambitious waste recycling and recovery targets and brings waste management infrastructure up to modern standards – as an example of what can be achieved, REPAK met the target to recycle 25% of packaging waste in 2001; the banning of leaded petrol, extension of the ban on smoky coal to ten further areas and substantial increases in investment in public transport; publication of revised Guidelines on Local Agenda 21 in October 2001 to help give new impetus towards local sustainable development; inclusion in the Planning and Development Act, 2000, of sustainable development as a yardstick against which development proposals are to be evaluated; the establishment and operation of Comhar to advance sustainable development on the basis of dialogue and partnership; and implementation of a major campaign to promote greater public awareness of environmental issues.
In 2000, Ireland's overall performance was benchmarked against best international practice in the OECD Environmental Performance Review: Ireland, and the EPA published its Millennium State of the Environment report. Both reports acknowledged that the overall quality of Ireland's environment remains good. They noted also that the nature and pace of economic growth are now placing growing pressures on the environment, requiring policy to focus on five main challenges: better management of waste; reducing eutrophication in inland waters; protecting natural resources; controlling greenhouse gases; and protecting the urban environment, particularly from transport-related pressures.
In the specific context of the World Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in Johannesburg later this year, Comhar has prepared a Report to the Earth Council: Assessment of Progress on Agenda 21, copies of which are in the Oireachtas Library. Finally, the national preparatory committee for the summit is working on a review and assessment of Ireland's progress in relation to Agenda 21.
