Umhverfisþáttur í Norðlægu víddinni

Siv Friðleifsdóttir samstarfsráðherra Norðurlanda
Ræða á námsstefnu um umhverfisþáttinn í Norðlægu víddinni.

Brussel, 11. október 1999

Address by Siv Friðleifsdóttir Minister for Nordic Cooperation and the Environment in Iceland

Seminar on the Environmental Aspects of the Northern Dimension

At the same time as I thank Magnús Jóhannesson, Secretary General of the Ministry for the Environment for his opening remarks, I would also like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to Ambassador Gunnar Snorri Gunnarsson and his staff for organizing this seminar. Ambassador Gunnar Snorri could unfortunately not be with us today due to a tragic death of a family member, and Magnús Jóhannesson will therefore chair this meeting.

Mr. Chairman
The concept of solidarity could be described as the foundation of the cooperation of the Member States of the European Union. Cooperation of states which are determined to address issues jointly issues which cannot easily be solved within the boarders of the nation state. No other issue than environmental protection, is in my view, better suited to illustrate the necessity of States to cooperate, in the spirit of cooperation.

The theme and aims of the Northern Dimension are very wide-reaching, involving issues of the environment, development, employment, regional cooperation and infrastructure in the region.

At the present seminar, however, the theme is restricted to the Environmental Aspects of the Northern Dimension, which is a high political priority for Iceland as well as the Nordic Council of Ministers.

I would at the outset like to thank in particular the Finnish Presidency and the European Commission for the goodwill and interest they have shown towards this seminar. Particularly, I would like to thank the Commission for presenting to us the draft of the Commission's Strategy for the Environmental Component of the Northern Dimension. Thus giving us the opportunity to present viewpoints on the content of the Northern Dimension before it is presented at the Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsinki on the 12th of November.

The main priority during Iceland's tenure in the presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers has been devoted to the environment of people of the West Nordic region and in the Arctic. We have incorporated these aims into our program for the presidency, under the title "People and Ocean in the North". This initiative has been inspired by the Finnish proposal on the Northern Dimension and the Declaration of the Prime Ministers of the Nordic Countries adopted in November 1998 on Sustainable Nordic Region.

Mr. Chairman
The aims of the Northern Dimension are primarily targeted at the problems faced by neighboring regions in Northwest Russia and the Baltic States. It is however clear that the area covered by the Northern Dimension is much larger and extends to more westerly regions, all the way to Iceland. This is a very important point, not least in light of the fact that environmental problems in this region are so interlinked that they can only be solved by broad-based international co-operation.
Thus the conclusions adopted by the EU Council on May 31st this year, on the implementation of the Northern Dimension, deserve to be specially welcomed, as well as the resolution of the European Parliament on the same issue.

Environmental issues are an important component of the rationale for the Northern Dimension initiative. The region faces some major environmental threats. It is therefore important to respond constructively to this invitation and I hope that we will come up with a realistic program of actions.

The Northern Dimension encourages intensive cooperation and increased interaction between all major players in the region, not only the EU member states and the Commission, but also the partner bodies and the regional bodies. With respect to the regional bodies, it is worth recalling that the Nordic Council of Ministers organizes its co-operation with neighboring regions in Northwest Russia and the Baltic states according to a special program. The Nordic Council is therefore a conceivable partner in co-operation with the Northern Dimension, as well as the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, the Council of Baltic Sea States and the Arctic Council. Ten years operation of NEFCO, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporations, and now more lately growing activities of the Nordic Investment Bank are good examples of how the Nordic Council's activities have sought to move from words to actions in dealing with environmental problems in the region.

I would also like to underline the fact that the priority sectors of the Northern Dimension, include natural resources, the environment and nuclear safety as well as education, training and research. Thus it is natural to bear in mind the opportunities that could lie in research co-operation between nordic scientists and those elsewhere in the Northern Dimension regions. Here I refer in particular to the Fifth Framework Program of the EU.

During this seminar we have chosen, apart from general considerations of the Environmental Aspects of the Northern Dimension, to focus our attention on the problems of marine pollution. Much too often I find that the problems associated with growing marine pollution worldwide are very much underrated. Let us be reminded that large parts of the maritime areas of the Northern Dimension are particularly vulnerable to pollution and thus require an exceptional degree of precaution. We must also bear in mind that although we will during this seminar be looking primarily at environmental problems that have their origin in the region of the Northern Dimension, there are other threats to the marine environment of the region which have to be addressed in another fora. Here I am particularly referring to the discharges of radioactive substances from Sellafield which are carried by ocean currents to the coasts of Norway, Greenland and Iceland.

The present status of the marine environment of the Northern Dimension warrants much more affirmative measures than we have been able to exercise until now. This was clearly underlined by the landmark assessment report from the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program – AMAP – on Arctic Pollution Issues last year.

The AMAP report revealed the threats of Persistent Organic Pollutants which accumulate in the colder regions of the globe. The POPs enter the food chain and tend to concentrate in species high in the food chain. Relatively high levels of POPs in core blood samples of Inuit populations of the North are a grave cause for concern. These findings and other sources of scientific information provide a strong foundation for efforts to negotiate a global legally binding convention on POPs. Under the auspices of UNEP, negotiations are now ongoing with the aim of completing a global POPs Convention by the end of next year. Early ratification and implementation of such an agreement will be an important contribution to environmental protection and public health in the North.

Mr. Chairman
The geographical area of the Northern Dimension includes important ocean areas such as the Baltic Sea and parts of the Arctic Ocean and the North East Atlantic. These regions differ in terms of key environmental challenges. There is a long history of multilateral cooperation aimed at environmental protection in the Baltic region. Important lessons can be learned from this experience.

The Arctic Ocean is still relatively clean compared to other ocean areas. There are, however, reasons for serious concern about the future both due to localized sources of pollution within the region and the long-range transport of pollutants. In 1998 the Arctic Council approved a Regional Program of Action for the Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment from Land-based Activities. Coordination of this action program is in the hands of a working group of the Arctic Council on Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment, or PAME.

Action at the national level is crucial if we are to affect the flow of pollutants from land to the oceans. The adoption of a National Plan of Action for the Russian Arctic by the Russian Federation is a particularly welcome event. It is critically important that multilateral and bilateral support will be available for the implementation of this action plan. For this purpose the Advisory Committee on the Protection of the Sea – ACOPS – aims at organizing a partnership conference on the plan in the year 2001.

Another major threat to the marine environment of the Northern Dimension is radioactive contamination. Leakage of radioactive substances from some of the radioactive waste dumping sites or storing facilities in the Barents region could easily ruin the fishing industry of the Northern region. Today there are many sources with the potential of making a serious impact on the oceans of the Northern Dimension. To deal with these sources we need to join forces and act responsibly.

Conservation of biodiversity is another major issue in the Arctic and therefore has relevance for the Northern Dimension. The Arctic Council working group on Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna – CAFF – is currently working on a major assessment of Arctic biological diversity.

Predictions of climate change in the next century envisage greater warming in the polar region than at lower latitudes. Signs of this future trend are already evident in the continental regions of the high Arctic. A major regional assessment of the impact of climate change in the Arctic is under preparation by the Arctic Council in cooperation with other organizations including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This assessment will be an important contribution to the global debate on climate change.



Mr. Chairman
The health of the natural systems of the North will have a significant impact on living conditions in Europe in the next century. There is a long history of international cooperation on environmental protection in the North. The emphasis has been on gathering information, assessing the situation and making action plans. Now is the time to act and implement these plans. There is a need for political commitment to deal with the environmental imperatives in the high North. They will require significant resources, but these will represent an investment in quality of life in the future.

I see the Northern Dimension initiative of the European Union playing a significant role in supporting many of the critical projects that need to be undertaken in the coming years. It is my hope that during the discussions today we will identify some of the crucial hot-spots that need to be tackled with respect to the environmental component of the Northern Dimension.

I therefore hope that this seminar and the discussions here today will provide a constructive input to the finalization of the Environmental Component of the Northern Dimension.

Thank you Mr. Chairman