Environmental policies in Norway and the Netherlands

Transcription

1 Environmental policies in Norway and the Netherlands a comparison study In this paper the environmental policies in Norway and in the Netherlands will be examined. A comparative study of the policies will be done of the four main topics air pollution, spatial planning, waste management and biodiversity. The paper will start with a general introduction of Norway and the Netherlands, with focus on environmental management and the resources, which reflects the environmental policies that are implemented in the two countries. The four main topics will then be presented, and a comparison of the two countries environmental policies will be made for each topic. The paper will be ended with a discussion and reflection around these environmental policies. Written by Maya ter Laag, Inga Haukaas, Ida Langvik Flåten, i

2 Table of contents Introduction... 1 Air pollution... 2 Waste Management... 5 Spatial planning... 6 Biodiversity and nature policies... 7 Discussion Bibliography ii

3 Introduction It is important to have in the back of our mind that the Netherlands and Norway are two very different countries when it comes to population density and natural resources. In Norway, 5 million people live on km 2 (Wikipedia 1, 2015), while in the Netherlands 16.8 million people live on km 2 (Wikipedia 2, 2015), which makes the population density of the Netherlands several times bigger than the population density of Norway. When it comes to resources the countries are also very different. While Norway exports mostly crude petroleum and some fish (OEC 1, 2015), the Netherlands are exporting IT-technology and refined petroleum and petroleum gas (OEC 2, 2015). The available resources and the population density reflect the focus area of the countries and the environmental policies. Norway has a strong focus on the production of renewable energy, and the rate of renewable resource use per person is among the world s highest (Nordic Energy Research, 2015). The main focus areas of Norwegian environmental policies are climate change, reduction of deforestation and clean energy (OECD 1, 2011). However, Norway contributes to global CO 2 emissions due to the oil and gas production. Norway has been criticized to take an easy way out of this problem, by buying international CO 2 quotas instead of reducing the emissions (SGI 1, 2015). The high population density in the Netherlands has led to pressure on the environment. This became a big focus area of the country in the 1980s, and sustainable thinking was implemented in different areas. Some of the main focus areas are disposal of waste, water depletion and climate change. (OECD 3, 2011) An important factor that also makes a big difference in the comparison of Norway and the Netherlands is the membership of the European Union (EU). Norway is not a member of the EU, while the Netherlands is. However, Norway is a member of European Economic Area (EEA), and takes part in almost all EU directives and implements them into Norwegian law. This counts for all the directives besides the ones for agriculture and fisheries. (OECD 1, 2011) Although Norway is not part of the EU, the country plays an active role in promoting international environmental co-operation. The country has been especially active promoting bilateral agreements concerning Barents Sea and North-East Atlantic (OECD 2, 2011). The government of the Netherlands actively supports the EU in the development of global environmental regimes (SGI 2, 2015). The environmental issues in the Netherlands also have an international dimension, due to the fact that the country is vulnerable to climate change and sea level rise (OECD 3, 2015). The choice of main topics reflects the background information given above, and a comparative study of the four main topics air pollution, spatial planning, waste management and biodiversity will now be given. 1

4 Air pollution Air pollution is a big topic, and in this paper the focus will be on greenhouse gases, mostly CO 2 because it is the main pollutant that is causing global warming (National Geographic, 2015). Global warming is an important issue because when the average temperature is rising, the ice will melt in the North and South Pole which causes the sea level to rise and the water streams to change. Reduction of the CO 2 level is a global responsibility and in Kyoto in 1997 the United Nations made an international agreement that entered into force in The agreement was to reduce the CO 2 emissions and other greenhouse gasses (CO2 now, 2015). The EU also made binding legislations for members of the EU and the EEA that entered into force in The three key targets for 2020 are: 20 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions (from 1990 levels), 20 percent of EU energy from renewables and 20 percent improvement in energy efficiency (EC, 2015). The most important tool to reduce greenhouse gasses is the EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS). It works by the cap and trading principle, where the EU has set a limit of emissions that reduces each year and within this limit companies are given their total emission quotas. The companies must buy quotas from other companies if they pollute more than their limit (UNFCC, 2014). Renewable Energy Directive sets the binding targets to increase renewable energy, and the Energy Efficiency Directive has set a set of binding measurements, for example: the energy companies have to achieve 1.5 percent energy saving per year by implementing more efficient technology (EC, 2015). The Pollution Control Act of Norway, implemented in 1981, has the purpose of protecting the environment against pollution and reducing the amount of waste by introducing better waste management. According to this law it is illegal to pollute, unless it is permitted by the relevant authority or according to law. The permission may have a condition to implement required technology, for example the requirement to implement carbon capture and storage (CCS). (Regjeringen NO 1, 2013) The Environmental Management Act (EMA) of the Netherlands includes almost all of the legislations concerning the environment, like the quality criteria of emissions and obligatory environmental reports from the companies to ensure that they are following the law. Around 80 percent of the environmental legislation is derived from the EU legislation, like the EMA (Government NL 1, 2015). Both Norway and The Netherlands are bound to meet the 2020 targets of the EU and both countries are part of the EU ETS. The air quality regulations of the EMA laid the foundation for the National Air Quality Cooperation Programme (NSL). To stay under the EU limits, the programme includes measures to be implemented and also spatial developments and projects to ensure low emissions. (Rijkswaterstaat Environment, 2015) Carbon capture and storage Today the government of Norway is investing in research and development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and wants to realize a large-scale CCS demonstration facility by It is difficult to make this demonstration in Norway, so the government looks at the opportunity to collaborate internationally. Norway has been requested by the European Commission to take part in the funding of a large-scale CCS project in Europe, where the most established project is the ROAD project in the Netherlands. If the dialogue is successful, Norway will start contributing in (Regjeringen NO 2, 2014) 2

5 The Netherlands is a gas-producing country and one of the leading countries in CCS including Norway. In the energy report from 2011 by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, it is concluded that the government will invest more in CCS because it will make gas production cleaner and gas production is the most profitable income of the country. These are the same motives for Norway in the CCS investments and research. In the energy report it is also concluded that the government will support entrepreneurs and researchers on new energy technologies to develop renewable energy further. The 2020 target for the Netherlands is to increase the renewable share of total energy consumption to 14 percent. (Energy Report 2011) Compared to Norway, with the goal of increasing to 67.5 percent, 14 percent is quite small, but in 2011 the amount was only 4 percent so that means an increase of 250 percent. (INVINOR, 2015) Carbon tax and EU ETS The Norwegian policy on reducing greenhouse gases consists mainly of high CO 2 tax and the EU ETS. The carbon tax was introduced in 1991 to make a cost-effective policy (Regjeringen NO 3, 2014). The emission intensity in Norwegian oil and gas extraction is lower than the world average and one reason for this is the high CO 2 tax. The tax is one of the highest in the world and today it is about 50 Euro per tonne CO 2 and according to Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment in 2014, the CCS technology and implementation was motivated from the high tax (SSB, 2015). Norway has been a part of the EU ETS since 2008 and has had its own national ETS since Norway pollutes more than the given carbon units and the polluting companies must buy quotas from less polluting companies in other countries to cover their emissions. In figure 1, the green line represents the given units from EU ETS and the red line represents the actual emissions. Figure 1: CO 2 -emissions in Norway until 2013 (Norske utslipp, 2015 ) Electric car policy Another policy the Norwegian government has implemented to reduce carbon emissions, is the policy to increase the share of electric cars in Norway. There are tax reductions and incentives to make it more appealing to own an electric car. The government gives free parking on every municipal parking, free pass in every tollbooth, no taxes when buying a car and free charging on many of the municipal charging stations (EL-BIL 1, 2015). This policy is the reason why Norway is the country with the biggest percentage of electrical cars: 2 percent in 2015 (EL-BIL 2, 2015). 3

6 The Dutch government also wants to stimulate more environment-friendly transport by making it easier to get access to alternative power sources like electricity. However, today the electricity in the Netherlands comes mainly from non-renewable sources, which makes the electric cars not as environment-friendly as in Norway. A European agreement is that at least 10 percent of all fuel used for transportation must come from renewables in 2020 (Government NL 2, 2015). The government has decided that the BPM tax for electric cars and for low emission cars are not charged. The BPM tax is a one-off tax that must be paid when registering a car in your name, and it increases with the increase of CO 2 emissions (Government NL 3, 2015). Renewables Norway, together with Sweden, has a goal to increase renewable energy production under EU s Renewable Directive. To reach that goal, a green electricity certificate market has been implemented in the two countries. This policy says that companies that are producing renewable energy, and that are approved by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) and Swedish Energy Agency, will get electrical certificates for the amount produced. Otherwise, the electricity suppliers need to buy a certain amount of these certificates or else they will have to pay a fine. The NVE and Swedish Energy Agency administrate the system to make it efficient and make sure everyone follows the law. (NVE, 2015) The Netherlands is also obligated to fulfil the goal of a 1.5 percent increase of renewable energies by EU s Renewable Directive. In the Climate Agenda 2014 by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment it is concluded that the country needs to change the legislation and regulation to increase on- and offshore wind energy. 4

7 Waste Management Waste management is an important issue for environmental policies. With an increasing level of material consumption and less space for landfill, waste management plays a significant role in environmental management. All the sources in this section are from the European Environment Agency report Municipal waste management in the Netherlands and Municipal waste management in Norway, both from Responsibility In the Netherlands the central government is responsible for the waste management. This was a change that came into force in 2002, before this change the provincial authorities had more responsibility. The change came into force at the same time as the Environmental Management Act. The act says that the Ministry for Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment (today named Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment) must make a waste management plan every sixth year. In Norway, regional policies mainly influence the waste management and set the overall policies, and the municipalities are responsible for household waste. One major initiative that has influenced waste management in Norway is The White Paper from 2007, issued by the Norwegian government, which sets national waste targets and provides the instruments needed to reach them. Landfill The Netherlands has, according to EEA, been ahead of EU policies in waste management and influenced them the recent years. Decreasing physical space forced the government in the Netherlands to reduce the landfilling of waste in the 1970s. Several economic regulations have been used to improve waste management, such as tax on landfilling from the Environmental Taxes Act in The landfill tax was introduced to reduce waste by making it more expensive and promoting recycling as a better alternative. In 2010 the landfill tax was increased, and it was the highest in EU, however, in 2012 it was eliminated. The landfill waste tax was introduced in Norway in 1999 to try to reduce the amount of landfill waste. In addition, Norway also had tax on incineration of waste, from 1999 to It was abolished mainly because Sweden abolished its incineration tax, which caused an unfair competition for the Norwegian incineration plants. Recycling The waste in Norway is mainly split in incineration (50 percent) and recycling (42 percent). A large amount of the waste in Norway is incinerated in Sweden. Norway is part of EU s Waste Framework Directive from 2008, which has as a target that 50 percent of the waste from households should be recycled by Since the household waste has been increasing 5 percent per year during the last years, Norway needs to increase its efforts towards increasing recycling to achieve this goal. The Netherlands reached the 50 percent target given by the Waste Framework Directive in 2009, eleven years before the deadline. An important initiative to increase recycling is the Second National Waste Management Plan ( ), which introduced a target of increasing the recycling of household waste to 60 percent by The First National Waste Management Plan ( ) is also very important in this matter, because it set the framework for future waste management and made the policies have a national perspective. 5

8 Spatial planning Regulations in spatial planning in context with environmental policies, is important to discuss and emphasize because constructions often cause conflicts of environmental interests. In both Norway and the Netherlands evaluations of spatial planning are made at national, regional and local levels (Government NL 1, 2015) (NVE, 2015). Allocation of land In the Netherlands, the main focus area for the spatial planning is allocation of land and water resources, to maintain a sustainable economic and social development (Government NL 2, 2015). The central government is responsible for protecting the Netherlands from flooding. The main task when it comes to flood protection policy is prevention, but it is emphasized that restricting the impact of the flood is equally important. (Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, 2011) Energy resources and infrastructure In Norway, the main focus areas for spatial planning are energy resources and energy infrastructure. Even though Norway has a small population, the consumption of energy per capita is high (NVE 2, 2012). Therefore a lot of constructions are energy constructions, constructions that often get into interest conflicts with biodiversity and land use. In Norway almost 100 percent of the power produced is from hydropower. Hydropower takes up a lot of space, and therefore regulations of these constructions have to be emphasized. When creating a dam, one must take into consideration the natural habitat and the value of the nature in the area. The policies for concession depend on the size of the dam. If the dam is under 10MW, NVE is doing the decision making. If it is bigger than 10MW the government and OED (Oil and Energy Department) will give the concession. (NVE, 2015) The North Sea Common for the focus areas of spatial planning in both countries is the interest in the North Sea. The North Sea is important for the Netherlands in terms of shipping, extraction of natural resources, generation of wind power, and fisheries. These are factors of major economic importance for the Netherlands, and it is the central government that is responsible of this area (Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, 2011). The North Sea also plays a key role for Norway when it comes to resource extraction in terms of oil and gas, and fishery. It is the department of Marine Management and Pollution Control that is engaged in policy development for the marine environment in Norway. (Regjeringen NO, 2015) 6

9 Biodiversity and nature policies The Netherlands As in the rest of the world, biodiversity is declining in the Netherlands. Since 1900, 614 animal species have gone extinct. On the other hand, exotic species have come to the Netherlands, which has caused suppression of several native species. (Biodiversiteit.NL) Several nature areas designs and legislations on nature and biodiversity are used, with the goal to stop the decline of biodiversity by 2020 (Government of the Netherlands 4). In 2014, the Dutch government has published the Government vision of nature, which explains the government s vision on nature policy for the next ten years (Government of the Netherlands 3). Designs for nature areas For the protection and development of nature areas, the Dutch government uses two designs: the National Ecological Network and Natura Both designs have the goal to protect and link nature areas. The National Ecological Network aims to connect nature areas in the Netherlands with each other and with surrounding farmland. These nature areas are: existing nature conservation areas, including the 20 National Parks; areas where new wildlife habitats are being created; agricultural land under nature-friendly management; over six million hectares of water: lakes, rivers, the North Sea coastal zone and the Wadden Sea; all Natura 2000 areas. Until 2014, the Dutch government was responsible for the realisation of the National Ecological Network. However, in 2014 it was decided that from then on, provincial authorities would be responsible. (Government of the Netherlands 6) As mentioned before, Natura 2000 areas are part of the National Ecological Network. The Netherlands has over 160 Natura 2000 areas (Government of the Netherlands 7). The aim of Natura 2000 is to assure the long-term survival of Europe s most valuable and threatened species and habitats. What areas qualify as Natura 2000 areas is defined in the European Birds Directive and Habitats Directive. (European Commission, 2015) Legislation for nature and biodiversity Dutch legislation on nature conservation consists of three parts: the Nature Conservancy Act, the Flora and Fauna Act and the Forestry Act. Plan is to combine these three parts into one National Nature Strategy, but this strategy hasn t been approved by the parliament yet. (Government of the Netherlands 5) The Nature Conservancy Act, approved in 1998 (Government of the Netherlands 8, 1998), governs the protection of nature areas. For projects that may be harmful to protected areas, a permit is required according to this Act. The Flora and Fauna Act, approved in 1998 (Government of the Netherlands 2, 1998), protects wild animals and plants. In this act it is stated which species are protected and how. It also aims to protect biodiversity from invasive species by prohibiting trade, possession and release of certain animals and plants. 7

10 The Forestry Act, approved in 1961 (Government of the Netherlands 1, 1961), protects the Dutch forests. Only 10 percent of the Netherlands consists of forest (Government of the Netherlands 9), so it is important to protect this small area of the country. This act states that permission is required to cut trees, and that those trees must be replaced within three years. Government vision on nature The vision on nature that was published by the Dutch government in 2014 states that Nature should not only be allowed to flourish in nature reserves, but should be embedded in society. In that way, both biodiversity and the economy will benefit. (Government of the Netherlands 3). To reach the key aim of embedding nature in society, several action plans have been defined, such as stimulating green entrepreneurship, stimulating green working and living, combining agriculture and nature, involving nature in spatial planning, creating more knowledge about nature and having more efficient legislation about nature (Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands, 2014). All these plans are meant to create an environment in which nature is not protected from society, but in which society helps to strengthen nature. Norway In Norway, biodiversity is a very significant issue because the country relies on economic benefits from agriculture, forestry and fisheries. However, human activities have induced great changes to land changes, causing threats to biodiversity. In 2010, the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre released a Red List, that includes 4599 species of which 2398 are ranked as threatened. Changes in land use are the greatest threat to the Norwegian fauna and flora. (SOE Norway 1, 2012) In 2009, the Nature Diversity Act has been approved (Government of Norway, 2009). The purpose of the act is to protect nature diversity. The Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment has set three main goals to protect biodiversity in the environment: to maintain healthy ecosystems, to safeguard threatened species and habitat types and to maintain a selection of nature (SOE Norway 2). Each of these goals is monitored by looking at the status of several indicators. In the following paragraphs the three goals and their indicators will be explained. Maintain healthy ecosystems To reach the goal of maintaining healthy ecosystems, the Ministry of Climate and Environment keeps track of eight indicators. 1. The ecological status and trends for marine and coastal waters, rivers and lakes, wetlands and cultural landscapes. 2. The population status of breeding bird species in forest, mountains and cultural landscapes. 3. The population status of species on which harvesting has significant impacts. 4. The number of invasive alien organisms in marine and coastal waters, rivers and lakes, wetlands, forest, mountains and cultural landscapes. 5. The change in total area of land without major infrastructure development. 6. The number of areas of semi-natural habitat types that are actively managed. 7. The number of wetland and freshwater areas restored. 8. The number of cases where unauthorised genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or levels of GMOs exceeding the permitted thresholds have been detected. Safeguard threatened species and habitat types 8

11 Safeguarding threatened species and habitat types means that no species or habitat types will become extinct or will be lost, and the status of threatened species and habitat types will be improved. To check on the progress of this goal, five indicators are defined. 1. The number of threatened species in marine and coastal waters, rivers and lakes, wetlands, forest, mountains and cultural landscapes. 2. The status of specific threatened species. 3. The number of threatened habitat types in marine and coastal waters, rivers and lakes, wetlands, forest, mountains and cultural landscapes. 4. The number of priority species in marine and coastal waters, rivers and lakes, wetlands, forest, mountains and cultural landscapes. 5. The number of selected habitat types in marine and coastal waters, rivers and lakes, wetlands, forest, mountains and cultural landscapes. Maintain a selection of nature This goal is about maintaining a representative selection of Norwegian nature for future generation, which is monitored by three indicators: 1. The total area protected split between marine and coastal waters, rivers and lakes, wetlands, forest, mountains and cultural landscapes. 2. The percentage of the total number of areas protected and the number of areas protected in major ecosystems where negative pressures are affecting conservation value. 3. The percentage of the total number of areas protected and the number of areas protected in major ecosystems for which approved management plans have been adopted. Comparison First of all, it is clear that regarding nature areas, Norway and the Netherlands are completely different countries. Norway s population density is very low which causes the country to have large nature areas, while the Netherlands is so densely populated that it only has room for very small nature areas. These differences cause the countries to protect their nature areas in different ways. For Norway, the main goals are about maintaining the current nature areas. The species within those areas have to be protected by maintaining and optimizing their habitats. Moreover, these areas have to be protected from human activities that could be a threat to their ecological status. In the Netherlands, focus is not only on maintaining and protecting existing nature, but also on the expansion of the nature network. With the National Ecological Framework and the EU project Natura 2000, the Dutch government tries to expand and link existing nature areas. The government vision on nature also shows that it is the plan to involve society in this process. Regarding biodiversity the two countries have some similarities. Although their native species differ, they both experience the decline of biodiversity and the threat of invasive species. The Norwegian Nature Diversity Act and the Dutch Flora and Fauna Act both contain rules about hunting and fishing as well as the importation of invasive species. Moreover, they have both defined which protected species live in the countries. However, Norway seems to keep better track on threatened species with maintaining a Red List, while the Netherlands does have a list of protected species, but not on potentially threatened species. 9

12 Discussion In this paper it has become clear that the Netherlands and Norway have different focus areas and that they have implemented different environmental policies that reflect the countries natural resources and landscape characteristics. The focus areas also reflect what is necessary for the countries, and what is beneficial. For the Netherlands, allocation of land and flood planning have to be focused on, while in Norway energy consumption is important. It is also very convenient for Norway to focus on this area, because it is accessible to implement more renewable resources in Norway. The electricity certificates policy in Norway is well implemented and it is a policy that makes it beneficial to produce environmental-friendly energy, and renewables is a big focus area in Norway. The Netherlands is still improving the share of renewable energy production, however the country has a more well-established recycling and waste management system than Norway. This focus area reflects the population density, which makes it necessary for the Netherlands to reduce the landfilling of waste due to lack of physical space, and the Dutch government was forced to take action due to this concern. Since both countries are experiencing decline in biodiversity they are both concerned about this topic and have similar approaches to protect biodiversity. However, since the nature areas are different due to landscape characteristics, the policies differ in ways mentioned. While in Norway policies focus more on maintaining existing nature areas, the Netherlands try to expand nature areas and to embed nature in society. An interesting discovery that was found while writing this paper, was that EU-membership and non-membership didn t cause major differences in the environmental policies of both countries. This can be explained by Norway being part of EEA, and therefore having to implement major part of policies concerning the environment. Another key finding is that the focus areas of the environmental policies are often economically profitable and economically motivated. An example of this is the CCS implementation: the emission of CO 2 is very costly for the Netherlands and Norway because of the ETS and taxes. Therefore the environmental policies supporting this can be said to be economically motivated. It is also important to emphasize that environmental policies have to be seen in a global perspective. This could be especially important when it comes to pollution because it is a common burden, and also a complex problem when it comes to responsibility. One can see that both Norway and the Netherlands perform well and have regulations concerning national environmental policies, but when it comes to binding global environmental policies, both countries still have a long way to go, together with the rest of the world. 10

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14 2013, Regjeringen NO 2, The Government s carbon capture and storage strategy, , Regjeringen NO 3, Norway s Sixth National Communication, p.9, p. 9 SSB, CO2-emissions from Norwegian oil and gas extraction, , UNFCC, Kyoto Protocol, , Waste management European Environment Agency, Municipal waste management in Norway, prepared by Birgitte Kjær, February 2013 European Evironment Agency, Municipal waste management in the Netherlands, prepared by Leonidas Milios, February 2013 Spatial Planning Government NL 1, EU-legislation, , NVE, Vannkraft, , Government NL 2, Spatial planning and infrastructure, , Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, Summary of National Policy Strategy for Infrastructure and Spatial Planning, March NVE 2, Energy in Norway; Production and consumption of electric energy in 2012, Regjeringen NO, Department for marine management and pollution control, , Nature and biodiversity Biodiversiteit.NL. Stand van zaken biodiversiteit European Commission. Natura 2000 network Government of Norway. Nature diversity act Government of the Netherlands (1). Boswet Government of the Netherlands (2). Flora- en faunawet Government of the Netherlands (3). Government vision on nature Government of the Netherlands (4). International biodiversity protection

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