The
Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development (Allan Wilson):
I am pleased to respond to the motion. I congratulate Sylvia Jackson on
securing the debate, because the subject is close to the heart of the
Executive's environmental justice agenda, to which she referred. When we
debated the issue in January 2002, much work remained to be done to complete
Scotland's contribution to the European pollutant emission register.
As Sylvia Jackson said, publication of the EPER data earlier this year
marked a step change in the availability of emissions information in
Scotland. The next step will be the launch next week of a website that
presents the EPER data in a geographical format. I hope that members will be
patient about the two to three week delay in launching the map-based
inventory, as I am reliably assured that the product is well worth the wait.
Publication of the EPER data at the European level has been delayed by
several months to February next year, so Scotland remains well placed in
relative terms. However, I acknowledge the point made by my colleague
Roseanna Cunningham and I assure her that the link to the Scottish site will
be added. I commend her for her close attention to detail.
I stress that the EPER is not an end point, but a starting point. In
February, I announced that a more comprehensive pollution inventory would be
in place by August 2005. The priority that the Executive affords that
objective is shown by its inclusion in the partnership agreement.
As Sylvia Jackson said, when I spoke in the debate in January 2002, I set
out an aspiration that the Scottish pollution inventory should match the
best in the world. That remains our aspiration. The proposals for the
inventory will allow us to match the rest of the United Kingdom and to be
among the best in Europe by 2005, but that is not the end of the process. I
want the inventory to go further—like Scotland in Europe, we want to
succeed. SEPA has signalled its intention to expand the inventory to cover
emissions from a further 2,000 or more installations; I support that
intention, subject to the outcome of a cost of compliance study.
The protocol on pollution release and transfer registers under the Aarhus
convention sets a common baseline standard for reporting emissions
information. I am confident that Scotland is in a strong position to have a
compliant inventory in place in good time before the protocol becomes
legally binding, which we expect to happen in 2007.
Comparisons have been drawn with North American pollution inventories, which
green pressure groups consider to be the model to aspire to. As I have said,
I share the aspiration that the Scottish inventory should be among the best
in the world, but the comparison should be made not only on the number of
chemicals, because larger amounts of information that is difficult to
interpret will not necessarily take us to where we want to go. As Roseanna
Cunningham said, putting the data in context is a more important short and
medium-term objective. I am glad that that priority was reflected in the
motion and in most of the speeches.
Analysis of the reaction to publication of the EPER data makes it clear that
the public—if journalists are included—do not find it easy to relate mass
emissions data to effects on humans and the environment, as Roseanna
Cunningham said. Indeed, even the normally reliable Press Association
appears to have deserted us. An important first step to address that problem
will be the addition of contextual information that describes the
environmental and health impacts of the substances that the inventory
covers. SEPA and the Scottish centre for infection and environmental health
have worked together to develop that information, which I assure members
will be launched alongside the map-based version of the website to which I
referred.
Mass emissions and substance data are only part of the information that
people need. We also need more information on the exposure to the chemicals
experienced by people, as well as by the environment. SEPA has a water
classification scheme that provides a quality measurement of water bodies in
terms that are easy to understand. Those data will be added to the inventory
in 2004.
Like Karen Whitefield and others, I support SEPA's approach of giving
priority to improving contextual information and links to information on
environmental quality. I also support its view that that is a higher
priority than expanding the list of chemicals in the short and medium term,
important as that might be.
As the motion recognises, the pollution inventory is not just a public
information service; the EPER has set an important baseline against which to
measure progress and set targets for reducing emissions in the future.
Setting targets in terms that measure environmental outcomes is important.
Equally important are the tools to regulate and reduce emissions, which are
already well developed.
Pollution prevention and control regulations provide a stringent regulatory
regime for activities that have the greatest environmental impact. The
regime is being phased in over the period to 2007 and has been supplemented
by specific controls on waste incinerators, an issue that I know arouses
much public concern. The revised large combustion plant and national
emissions ceilings directives will further limit emissions of several key
air pollutants over the next few years. The Water Environment and Water
Services (Scotland) Act 2003 provides a comprehensive framework for
protecting the water environment from harmful emissions.
I believe that the combination of emissions information, regulatory controls
and market incentives provides a powerful set of tools that can be used to
pursue reductions in emissions, as has been done in North America. Such a
set of tools ensures that we build on the generally good environmental
quality that Scotland currently enjoys but that we want to make better. We
also want to use those tools to address problem areas more effectively than
has been done in the past.
In summary, the motion is a timely reminder of the progress that has been
made and of the work that needs to be done to fulfil our aspirations for the
inventory. Sylvia Jackson talked about environmental justice. I say to her
that the Executive is considering work in that area as part of its
environmental justice agenda. When that work is developed, it will be
brought back to the chamber.
I hope that members and others will take the opportunity, as Roseanna
Cunningham has done, to visit the new user-friendly version of the website
when it is launched next week and that they will contribute to the SEPA
consultation on the content of the 2005 inventory. |
