Environmental policy statement 1995

Historisk arkiv

Publisert under: Regjeringen Brundtland III

Utgiver: Miljøverndepartementet

Tale/innlegg | Dato: 11.05.1995

Minister of the Environment Thorbjørn Berntsen

Environmental policy statement

Statement to the Storting, 11 May 1995

1. State of the environment

We could list a number of positive environmental trends in Norway in recent years. Releases of various types of pollutants to air, water and soils have been substantially reduced, a growing proportion of our waste is recycled, we have intensified our efforts to protect the environment and our cultural heritage, and more and more sectors of society are taking their share of the responsibility for further environmental improvement.

Nevertheless, we still face major challenges nationally as well as regionally and globally. Much of the responsibility for finding solutions to global environmental problems lies with the industrial countries, and binding international cooperation is essential if we are to achieve results. The depletion of the ozone layer, the risk of climate change, the generation of large amounts of hazardous waste, and to some extent, the global loss of biodiversity, are all results of our current production and consumption patterns. Furthermore, poverty leads to growing pressure on natural resources, and the present inequitable distribution of the world's common resources is not acceptable. Taken together, these are some of the greatest challenges facing us as we approach the new century.

2. Production and consumption

As the Storting has previously been informed, Norway has organized two conferences on the work of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development and the implementation of Agenda 21. We have taken on a special catalytic role in ensuring that the production and consumption patterns of industrial countries become part of the international agenda, and our efforts have been successful.

In February, we hosted the Oslo Roundtable, which was attended by environment ministers from countries throughout the world in addition to experts and representatives of NGOs. The participants drew up elements for a work programme on sustainable production and consumption which I presented at the CSD session in New York in April. The programme was well received and will be used as the basis for important further work on this issue.

Sustainable consumption includes a number of key issues such as meeting fundamental human needs, greater resource and energy efficiency, greater use of renewable energy sources, sound management of renewable resources and improvement of environmental quality as an important consideration throughout the life cycle of a product. Moreover, sustainable development is concerned with both the structure and the distribution of production and consumption. If we can integrate these elements into our overall policies, we can hope to provide a better quality of life for people both today and tomorrow, and at the same time help to reduce the risk of ecological crisis.

Governments, the business sector and NGOs have already started efforts to change towards more sustainable patterns of consumption. It is a clear that an international consensus on the need for change is emerging. In the long term, sustainable patterns of production and consumption on a global scale will require far-reaching structural change.

It will be necessary to develop strategies to share the responsibilities between governments, local authorities, the business sector, trade unions, NGOs and consumers. Governments have a particular responsibility to take the lead in this process, and they must define a framework for action by means of policies for land use and planning and the use of administrative and economic instruments. Moreover, information and education will become increasingly important as some of the main tools for achieving the necessary changes in attitudes.

Efforts to achieve sustainable patterns of production and consumption both internationally and nationally will require firmness of purpose and the political will to effect change. The recommendations for a work programme from the Oslo Roundtable reflect this. I would particularly like to draw attention to the following high-priority areas in the programme:

Firstly, sustainable patterns of production and consumption will involve long-term structural changes in our economy and lifestyle. At both national and international level, we must focus not only on how and what we produce and consume, but also on how much. We must also examine more closely the effects of the restructuring process on developing countries.
Secondly, governments must take responsibility for providing a suitable framework for change. In this connection, ecological taxes and a shift in the burden of taxation from labour to the environment will play a central role in efforts to reduce environmental damage and stimulate employment.
Thirdly, the public and business sectors must use their purchasing power to influence patterns of demand for goods and services through environmental procurement policies.
Fourthly, we must strengthen binding international cooperation to achieve more equitable and sustainable patterns of production and consumption on a global basis. We must reverse the international trend towards declining flows of development assistance, increase transfers of cleaner technology and environmental expertise, and promote the export of environmentally friendly goods and services from developing countries.
Fifthly, the business sector must take responsibility for change throughout the entire life cycle of products, i.e. follow a cradle-to-grave approach. In future, all goods must be produced, used and disposed of within natural limits.
Sixthly, consumers have a right to information about the environmental impact of the goods and services they use, and environmentally sound alternatives must be available.

It has been considered important to ensure that the recommendations set out in the work programme are cost-effective, achievable, assessable, and attractive to the groups involved. They may help to start a dynamic process which can result in the necessary long-term structural changes.

I am very pleased with the results of the CSD session in New York as regards this issue. The CSD is to develop the work programme further, and efforts to bring about the necessary changes in patterns of production and consumption in industrial countries have thus been reinforced and firmly based in an international process.

We need indicators for assessing progress and correcting the course of development. Governments should report regularly to the CSD on the implementation of measures to achieve sustainable production and consumption patterns. In this country, the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority has started a pilot project to develop indicators for sustainable production and consumption. Internationally, similar work has been started within the OECD.

Norway will continue to play a central role in the CSD's efforts to change patterns of production and consumption.

It is essential to accelerate the implementation in practical terms of the whole of Agenda 21, the programme which was adopted at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. Progress is to be reviewed in 1997, and both national governments and the UN system must be able to present concrete results.

The national follow-up process

Action plan

As mentioned before, the CSD's work programme on sustainable production and consumption proposes various types of action throughout society. Using this as a starting point, the Ministry of the Environment is now drawing up an action plan for the national follow-up process within its own sphere of responsibility. This will supplement the national action plans on climate change, NOx and biological diversity. If we are to speed up the pace of the work, it is essential for the public administration to base its efforts on a cross-sectoral strategy, such as we are familiar with from the Government's Green Book. Steps will be taken to follow this up. In addition, the Ministry of the Environment has invited public and private organizations to take action themselves and report to the Ministry. I intend to call together representatives of both the public and the private sector to a national conference to pursue this work further.

I am fully aware of the fact that we will not be able to carry out the reform process needed to achieve sustainable development unless we take care to safeguard the foundations of our welfare society and the basis for employment at the same time. This is also an important starting point for the national follow-up process. The Government's most important task is still to lay the groundwork for a permanent increase in employment by adopting the strategy described in the "Solidarity alternative" presented in the Government's Long-term Programme. I refer to Chapter 7 of the 1995 Revised National Budget, which contains a more detailed discussion of environment, employment and economic growth. The work will take several decades at both national and international level, but it is imperative that the choices we make today lead towards a more sustainable world.

Some of the most important measures being implemented in Norway are described below.

Green taxation policy

The "Green taxation commission" has started its work and is to submit a report next summer. One of its main objectives is to evaluate more closely the role that taxation policy can play in increasing employment and bringing about environmental improvement in a long-term perspective.

The commission's members are drawn from a wide range of fields: environmental organizations, labour and management, ministries and independent experts on environmental economy and taxation theory.

One important aim of the commission's work is to assess the possible benefits to employment and the environment of a revenue-neutral shift in the burden of taxation towards greater use of environmental taxes combined with a reduction of other forms of taxation. Such a shift in the tax basis would also affect the structure of the business sector. Raising environmental taxes could increase the cost of activities that generate large amounts of pollution or which use large amounts of more heavily taxed resources. Similarly, lowering the tax burden on labour would reduce the cost of labour-intensive activities. Such a shift in taxation could in itself stimulate employment and improve environmental conditions. However, restructuring costs, the impact on competition and the effects of loss of trade must also be assessed. Other measures that could raise employment levels and bring about environmental improvement in the longer term will also be considered.

Green procurement policies

An environmentally sound public procurement policy is an important element of any policy for sustainable production and consumption. Countries such as Denmark, Germany and the USA have already made substantial progress here, and the markets involved are anything but small. In 1993, the public sector in Norway made purchases totalling more than NOK 140 billion, and the state accounted for about NOK 70 billion of this. We therefore have a special responsibility to spend wisely and carefully.

As the country's largest consumer, the public sector must ensure that the products it buys meet tomorrow's high standards. The Ministry of the Environment is currently running a project called "A green state procurement policy", which is part of a wider programme dealing with state procurement policy. One of the aims of the project is to steer purchasing towards more sustainable alternatives in order to reduce the burden on the environment, act as an example to other sectors of society and apply pressure on the market to supply products with less environmental impact. A state procurement policy that gives high priority to environmental considerations can be instrumental in the development of environmental expertise in the Norwegian business sector, which may provide competitive advantages in international markets for environmentally friendly products in the future. The standards the public sector sets for its suppliers will probably act as a strong incentive for the production of environmentally sound products in other sectors as well.

Green consumer policy

As consumers, we need ready access to greener options for our everyday lives. This is why the Ministry of the Environment is working with the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs, consumer organizations and the Research Council of Norway on a green consumer policy. This includes eco-labelling, greener marketing, the development of a green standard budget and applied consumer research.

Many of the "green" arguments used in marketing are misleading rather than instructive. The Consumer Ombudsman is responsible for ensuring that claims made in advertizing products are correct and can be proved. To assist the business sector and NGOs, the Office of the Ombudsman has drawn up guidelines for the use of environmental arguments in marketing. The Government has also proposed amendments to the Marketing Control Act that would allow stronger penal measures to be used against anyone attempting to acquire a competitive advantage by means of misleading marketing.

Most Northern European countries have drawn up standard budgets for consumers, but these are not based on the principle of sustainable consumption. We wish to remedy this situation. By using "green" product lists and pricing these to construct environmentally sound standard budgets, we can produce realistic budgets that also take account of the need to achieve sustainable patterns of consumption. The first step must be to define sufficiently specific environmental criteria. This is a complex task which requires international cooperation. In Norway, the National Institute for Consumer Research is responsible for drawing up standard budgets.

Waste

Our modern throwaway society generates huge amounts of waste. This is nothing less than a waste of natural resources, and results in serious environmental damage, thus shifting the problem to future generations. The Government therefore continues to give high priority to reducing waste volumes, and to diverting waste streams away from landfills and incinerators towards recovery and recycling in cases where this is justified by cost-benefit considerations.

A Report to the Storting on waste minimization, waste recovery and recycling and sound waste management was submitted in 1992. Since then, developments in this sector have been extremely rapid. The introduction of new policy instruments directed towards municipalities and the business sector has reversed the former trend, and the proportion of waste reclaimed is now growing. More and more municipalities are introducing schemes for sorting waste at source and ensuring that organic waste is recovered. Through negotiations with the business sector, the Ministry of the Environment has established return and recovery schemes for various categories of waste, including glass, brown paper, drinking cartons, tyres and lead accumulators. Si milar schemes are being developed for plastic and metal packaging, electric and electronic products and household appliances. In addition, there are state-run deposit-refund schemes for the collection and recycling of waste oil and scrapped cars.

In connection with a discussion of taxes on packaging materials in this year's fiscal budget, the Storting asked for a plan for the management of all waste packaging to be drawn up. In the revised national budget, the Government presented a plan which will ensure a substantial reduction of the volume of waste packaging materials and an increase in the proportion of such waste reclaimed.

There is also a positive trend as regards hazardous waste management. However, one important piece is still missing, i.e. a plant for the treatment of hazardous organic waste. The partly state-owned company Norwegian Waste Management A/S has drawn up an environmental impact assessment for a waste treatment plant, which has now reached the public consultation stage. The plan is to construct such a plant along the lines laid down in Proposition No. 103 (1990-91) to the Storting on the establishment of a company to manage hazardous waste, etc and within the limits of the annual budget of the Ministry of the Environment. Once the plant is operative, Norway will have achieved its national goal of ensuring that practically all hazardous waste is collected for treatment at approved Norwegian facilities by the year 2000.

Energy efficiency

The objective of Norway's energy efficiency policy is to make rational use of its energy resources. An important supplementary goal is to reduce the negative environmental impact of our energy use. Both the public and the private sectors are involved in work to improve energy efficiency, which makes it possible to provide a broader range of energy services without a corresponding increase in the amount of energy used. To achieve this, it is essential to provide consumers with more information on their energy use, and this is the main focus of our efforts.

The establishment of regional energy efficiency centres is well under way. Several centres have already opened, and in the next one to two years regional centres will be opened in most counties. A substantial proportion of the supplementary charge of NOK 0.002 per kWh which grid owners may use to provide information on energy efficiency and advisory services for users will be channelled through the centres. The most important tasks of the centres are to provide customers in the areas they serve with information on energy efficiency, energy use, tariffs and environmental considerations.

In the course of 1995, all refrigerators and freezers sold in Norway will be labelled to show their annual energy use, in order to allow comparison with other appliances on the market. It is expected that other appliances will be included in the scheme at a later date.

The activities of the Industrial Energy Efficiency Network are the most important means of promoting energy efficiency vis-à-vis the industrial sector. Its main activities are the development of expertise, the exchange of information and the spread of information about energy efficient solutions and experience of their use. Efforts will be made to arrive at voluntary agreements on energy efficiency with the industrial sector, and the work of promoting the use of new renewable energy sources as a supplement to the hydropower-based system will be continued. In the short term, bioenergy in the form of wood and wood chips or processed pellets is of interest. State-funded energy efficiency measures will also be discussed further in a Report to the Storting on climate policy.

Centres of expertise

There are still many ways in which Norwegian enterprises can reduce their environmental impact and at the same time strengthen their competitive position. Many firms wish to strengthen their environmental profile simply because it makes sound business sense. The authorities wish to encourage this process, not primarily by providing money, but by providing expertise. Expertise is precisely what is in greatest demand. The establishment of the Norwegian Centre for Sustainable Production and Consumption (GRIP) is therefore an important development.

GRIP is intended to play a part in achieving the goals of sustainable production and consumption. By combining environmental marketing expertise with environmental management, it will promote sustainable development in private and public enterprises in Norway. The Centre will develop and market methods of integrating economic considerations with a reduction of the use of resources and the environmental consequences. In other words, GRIP will primarily be a centre of expertise and act as a catalyst vis-à-vis Norwegian enterprises. The centre will expand the "Green Work" programme run by the Ministry of the Environment.

The international follow-up process

This brings me to efforts to follow up Agenda 21 at the international level. There is a growing demand for expertise in environmental management in Eastern Europe, Russia and developing countries. Ministers from developing countries also requested this type of assistance during the Oslo Roundtable.

Until now, the authorities' efforts in this field have been dominated by ad hoc activities. It will be necessary to improve such assistance and develop it more systematically. The Ministry of the Environment is currently considering the possibility of establishing a network of expertise with a coordination unit for transfer of environmental expertise. One of the objectives is for Norwegian experts in environmental management to assist developing countries to build up their own expertise in the field. In addition, the unit will offer courses and training in Norway for foreign professionals in a number of fields such as development of institutions and legislation, environmental monitoring, pollution control, and result-oriented management of natural resources and the cultural heritage, land use and resource planning.

The coordination unit would be set up in the environmental administration and would work closely with other countries to tailor solutions to their needs. Projects would be carried out under professional supervision and with adequate quality control. The plan is for this project to become operational by the end of this year.

Development assistance

In order to eradicate poverty and achieve permanent improvements in social and economic conditions for people in developing countries, large investments in resource-efficient and environmentally sound production systems will be required to avoid widespread degradation of the natural resource base and the environment both globally and locally.

Our growing knowledge of the serious consequences further environmental degradation may have for the world's ecosystems has resulted in constant expansion of the international markets for environmentally-sound products. The transition to sustainable patterns of production and consumption in the rich countries of the world will lead to even greater demand for such products. If developing countries are to make full use of this market, the goods they sell must satisfy international quality and environmental standards.

In future, Norwegian development assistance will focus more strongly on support for measures and processes that promote the development of environmentally sound products and sustainable patterns of production and consumption. Priority will be given to measures to support primary industries and small-scale industries associated with them. Like all other Norwegian development assistance, support for the productive sector and trade promotion must also be designed to be instrumental in achieving the goals of greater social equity, including equitable access to and control over scarce natural resources.

For many years, Norway has supported measures to reinforce developing countries' own environmental protection work. This policy will be continued. At the same time, it will be considered important to ensure that developing countries have access to and opportunities to develop production technology that is less polluting and more resource-efficient. There may be opportunities for closer cooperation with Norwegian business in this connection.

Norway will also support participation by developing countries in the development of standards for ecological products and eco-labelling.

Many local communities in developing countries have a thorough knowledge of local ecology and have developed management systems based on their own cultural values and traditions that take into account ethical values, the equity dimension and ecological constraints. Norwegian development assistance will focus on maintaining and promoting this type of expertise and knowledge.

Trade and environment

The interaction of trade and the environment is a central element of international efforts to achieve sustainable development. The recently established Committee on Trade and Environment in the World Trade Organization (WTO) will focus on the interdependence of these two areas of concern. Its main objective is to ensure that rules of trade and environmental instruments are mutually supportive. We also support the work of various other organizations in this field.

We must on the one hand take care that the world's trading system leaves room for both existing and future environmental policy instruments at international and national level, and on the other ensure that environmental policy arguments are not use as an excuse for protectionism.

We consider it increasingly important to understand the effects of trade liberalization on the environment, and to ensure that environmental policy considerations are taken sufficiently into account in the development of each country's trade policy. The Government therefore considers it essential to continue international cooperation on trade and the environment as part of our efforts to achieve sustainable development.

3. Other international environmental cooperation

Climate change

The Government will submit a report to the Storting on climate policy in the near future. I shall therefore deal only briefly with this very important issue in this statement.

The first session of the Conference of the Parties under the Convention on Climate Change was held in Berlin this spring. The results of the meeting must be considered in view of the fact that the risk of climate change has an impact on fundamental issues such as relations between industrial and developing countries, economic growth and energy use. The meeting in Berlin was the beginning of a long-term process involving annual sessions of the Conference of the Parties and negotiations on a protocol which will gradually strengthen international cooperation on climate change.

With this in mind, Norway is satisfied with the results of the first meeting. We would of course have liked to make more progress, but the issue is an extremely complex one. However, the Conference of the Parties adopted a useful mandate for further negotiations to extend the commitments under the Convention. The mandate includes all the main issues of concern for Norway. It specifies that the aim is for industrial countries and economies in transition to elaborate climate policies and measures and establish quantitative goals for limitations and reductions of emissions of greenhouse gases within specified time-frames, such as 2005, 2010 and 2020. In this connection, it emphasizes that the principle of equitable economic burden-sharing between the parties must be followed in drawing up the commitments. No new commitments are to be introduced for developing countries, but existing commitments are reaffirmed, and the implementation of these commitments will be continued to achieve sustainable development. An ad hoc group is to be appointed to continue the negotiations. The group is to complete its work as early as possible in 1997 so that the results can be adopted at the third session of the Conference of the Parties the same year.

In my opinion, the fact that the Conference of the Parties came to a decision on Joint Implementation gives further grounds for satisfaction. This has opened the way for a pilot phase during which joint implementation projects involving all the parties may be carried out, but no crediting is foreseen for emission reductions achieved during this phase. The pilot projects will be evaluated at the annual sessions of the Conference of the Parties, on the basis of the reports submitted.

The North Sea

The Fourth International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea will be held in Denmark in June this year. A report on the implementation of the North Sea Declarations by the countries involved is being prepared, including measures to reduce inputs of nutrients and hazardous substances and other preventive measures set out in the declarations. The report will make it clear how far the parties have achieved the goals set for reductions of inputs in the period 1985-1995, and what improvement there has been in the North Sea environment.

Norway will emphasise the need to continue constructive cooperation between the North Sea countries. In this connection, I would like to mention that Norway has offered to host the fifth North Sea Conference at the turn of the century. The North Sea Quality Status Report stresses that the situation of the North Sea is still far from satisfactory as regards inputs of hazardous substances. Within the framework of North Sea cooperation, Norway will do its utmost to ensure that countries agree on undertakings to reduce their emissions based on cost-benefit analyses of such reductions. As regards nutrients, Norway is advocating that the countries involved should develop a new strategy whereby measures are implemented where the need is greatest and the costs are lowest.

Northern regions and Eastern Europe

Sources of pollution in Russia are the greatest threat to the environment in northern regions. Russia is the country most directly affected, and bears the main responsibility for solving existing problems and preventing new ones from arising. Together with other western countries, Norway can provide assistance that will enable Russia to solve its own environmental problems, reduce wasteful use of energy and ensure more efficient use of raw materials in industrial production.

Efforts have been under way for several years to start up a modernization project to reduce emissions of sulphur and heavy metals from the Pechenganikel refineries. The Government has undertaken to provide NOK 300 million in support for the project provided that the modernization project is completed and results in the environmental improvements specified. The Russian Government will shortly make a decision concerning the project.

As regards the threat of radioactive contamination in the north, I refer to Report No. 34 (1993-94) to the Storting on nuclear activities and chemical weapons in areas adjacent to our northern borders, whi ch was debated last summer, and to the Government's plan of action for its implementation.

Natural conditions cause environmentally hazardous substances from the entire northern hemisphere to accumulate in the Arctic. Recent studies show that there are alarmingly high levels of some environmentally hazardous substances, particularly PCBs, in food chains in the Barents Sea and on Svalbard. The main sources appear to be emissions from industrial parts of the northern regions. The Ministry of the Environment, together with other ministries, is providing funding for a major research programme on environmentally hazardous substances which is being started by the Research Council of Norway this year. The Centre for the Polar Environment in Tromsø will focus on environmentally hazardous substances as well. This problem is also being discussed in international fora with a view to reaching agreements to reduce emissions of such substances within the framework of the ECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution and in connection with work to reduce marine pollution.

Cooperation with Eastern Europe takes place both on a bilateral basis and within the framework of the Environment for Europe process. This process involves cooperation between international finance institutions and other organizations and the countries of the region. In October 1995, ministers of the environment from the entire ECE region will meet in Bulgaria to discuss progress so far. Increasing environmental investments, cooperation with business and institutional developments will be important topics. Norway is playing an active part in this process, for instance by running projects which are widely applicable.

One specific example is the programme initiated by the Ministry of the Environment to transfer expertise on cleaner technology to Eastern Europe and Russia. Senior professionals are trained in the techniques of cleaner production assessment and carry out assessments of their own companies under the guidance of Norwegian consultants. Such assessments are designed to identify measures to improve energy efficiency and reduce the amounts of waste and pollutants generated, and at the same time improve production processes and increase profitability. The programme is producing highly satisfactory results, and we are able to achieve substantial environmental improvements in a cost-effective way, since the measures are largely self-financing. This programme can also provide a valuable basis for environmental and industrial cooperation between Norway and Eastern Europe.

The Polish Government has decided that 1995 is to be Cleaner Production Year, as a direct result of the cleaner production programme implemented in several hundred Polish enterprises. Norway's work has attracted international attention. We are collaborating with the OECD, UNEP and others to extend this type of arrangement to other Eastern European countries and developing countries.

4. Nature conservation, the action plan for biological diversity and conservation of the cultural heritage

During European Nature Conservation Year 1995, Norway is focusing on the conservation of biological diversity and strengthening the right of public access to the countryside.

Today, nature conservation needs to focus particularly on preserving the landscape and maintaining biodiversity in areas that are not accorded special protection, which constitute almost 90 per cent of the countryside. These areas hold most of the country's biodiversity and provide most people with opportunities for contact with the countryside and outdoor recreation. However, the same areas must be used for any new economic activity and utilization of natural resources.

The need for a national environmental inspectorate is greater than ever, and the Government has submitted a bill proposing the establishment of such a body. This would help us to carry out the important tasks of combating environmental crime and enforcing legislation to protect the environment.

While establishing the legal authority for a national environmental inspectorate, the Ministry of the Environment is also considering how it should be organized to provide effective control and ensure satisfactory coordination of its tasks. One of our objectives is to find a core group of experienced professionals who can train others and take part in inspection activities in areas where there are problems, together with the police.

As regards the protection of coniferous forests, the Government will in the near future submit a Report to the Storting containing a detailed evaluation of the protection plan for coniferous forests and a proposal to include larger areas of forest in the plan.

In Norway, as in the rest of Europe, more and more species are becoming endangered or vulnerable, and continuous areas of natural habitat have been contracting rapidly in recent decades. The Government is taking this situation seriously, and the Ministry of the Environment is drawing up a national action plan for protection and sustainable use of biological diversity, based on sectoral plans from several ministries.

Norwegians make frequent use of opportunities for outdoor recreation, and the right of public access to the countryside is a deeply-rooted tradition. In the course of this year, I will invite all important public authorities and private organizations to take part in voluntary cooperation to extend opportunities for the general public to hunt and fish. Because we have recently witnessed a growing tendency to make commercial use of natural assets, it is particularly important to ensure that the state makes use of the policy instruments available to strengthen the rights of the general public. Moreover, the economic benefits derived from natural resources should go directly to local communities and landowners, and not merely end up in the pockets of commercial operators. I believe that one practical solution may be to draw up management plans for relatively large areas. Landowners must also take their share of the responsibility and play an active part if uncultivated areas are to be utilized, and we are therefore currently working out a clear division of responsibilities and labour between public and private organizations involved in fish and game management.

1993 was Outdoor Recreation Year in Norway, and this year is European Nature Conservation Year. It seems logical to follow this up with a greater focus on our cultural heritage next year, thus drawing public attention to another important element of the wide field of environmental protection. The Ministry of the Environment intends to concentrate particularly on the management of important non-renewable resources. The cultural framework within which we all live was created by earlier generations, and old buildings and large areas of integrated cultural landscape are therefore the key to a better quality of life. They also provide a sense of security and stability.

For many years, efforts to protect our cultural heritage have focused on architecturally important buildings, farmsteads and medieval buildings. Although these are important in themselves, we must now make a concerted effort to save other types of cultural monuments that are threatened by structural change, by the closure of traditional industries, by abandonment, by climate change and by commercialization. These include the remains of typical coastal and working class communities. It is worth noting that only about two per cent of protected buildings in Norway illustrate the lives and work of Norway's coastal population.

Next year, special measures will be introduced to protect such cultural environments and thus broaden the basis of our work.

Together with the other Nordic countries, we are also currently establishing a World Heritage Office in Oslo. Its tasks will be related to the implementation of the 1972 UN Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in the Nordic and Baltic countries and other parts of northern Europe that can make use of the office's expertise through a computer-based network. Development assistance organizations in all the Nordic countries will be able to use the office's network of experts. Norway also intends to encourage cooperation with the network of expertise I mentioned earlier.

The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and the Directorate for Cultural Heritage are now starting up joint projects to study the role protection of the cultural heritage should play in Norwegian development assistance. Greater attention will be paid to the relationship between sustainable production and consumption and protection of the cultural heritage as part of the follow-up process after the Oslo Roundtable. For example, efforts to minimize the consumption of raw materials and energy can draw on and make systematic use of the knowledge on which traditional techniques are based.

5. Sustainable towns

Like the rest of the world, Norway has become increasingly urbanized during the past 50 years. More than 70 per cent of the population now lives in towns and built-up areas, compared with barely 50 per cent just after the war.

It is a paradox and cause for serious concern that our towns, where most people live and which are important business and educational centres, are also the most heavily polluted parts of the country. It is therefore imperative to ensure that towns provide a satisfactory environment and a better quality of life for people who live there. An urban lifestyle can be rich both socially and culturally, and we must also manage to make it a healthy lifestyle and reduce the burden it places on the environment.

Our urban areas have become more sprawling, consisting largely of detached houses and based on transport by private car. This is an area- and energy-intensive form of development. The urban landscape is becoming increasingly dominated by road systems, car parks and business and industrial enterprises built along the roads. Conflicts can arise between car-based shopping centres and efforts to develop lively town centres and maintain local shops and service facilities in residential areas and various parts of towns. In future, we must ensure that urban development is in better agreement with natural limits and human needs.

My vision for the future includes sustainable urban societies. The structure of sustainable towns will become more compact, denser, but continuous green belts along lakes or fjords, rivers and woodlands will be protected. Higher priority will be given to pedestrian traffic and environmentally sound forms of transport such as buses, trams and bicycles. New developments and local centres will be sited near important public transport routes. Existing residential areas will become more self-sufficient, lively local communities. Historical town centres will be revived and become towns' most important meeting places. Sustainable towns will cultivate their most distinctive features, preserve cultural monuments and give high priority to ensuring that buildings and landscape are attractively designed. They will take steps to reduce the amounts of land, energy and non-renewable resources they use, limit pollution, minimize waste generation and promote sustainable production and consumption. Finally, they will foster cross-sectoral collaboration and seek to encourage public participation to develop a living, pulsating local community. These are the ideas underlying an interministerial project on the environmentally sound development of five Norwegian towns, i.e. Fredrikstad, Kristiansand, Bergen, Tromsø and the Gamlebyen (Old Town) district of Oslo.

The five communities are drawing up programmes for sustainable urban development together with county and state authorities and local organizations. The programmes will provide guidelines for municipal planning and administration and for government action. The programmes may constitute the first step towards the development of local Agenda 21s.

The Ministry of the Environment is developing a set of indicators to measure environmental trends in towns as a basis for a more concerted effort to promote sustainable urban development. The project mentioned above should be extended to include all Norwegian towns. As an incentive, a sustainable town award will be instituted, which will focus on appropriate action taken by towns.

Improvement of the physical environment in towns is also sound resource management, and an important means of maintaining the value of the large investments made in towns in the form of housing, schools, day care centres, commercial, industrial and cultural buildings and cultural monuments.

6. Joint responsibility

A policy for sustainable development must include all sectors of society and reach across national borders. It is essential to include environmental protection as a basis for development in all areas of society, and to provide regulatory mechanisms at national and international level to facilitate this.

The provisions of the Planning and Building Act concerning environmental impact assessments are an important administrative instrument in a precautionary environmental protection policy. In accordance with the EEA Agreement, the Storting recently adopted amendments to these provisions. The amendments reinforce the requirements for developers and the authorities to integrate environmental considerations into the decision-making process and to show that this is being done. The Act and regulations pursuant to it are scheduled to enter into force on 1 January next year.

In my environmental policy statement last year, I pointed out how important it is to include environmental considerations as part of the basis for overall, strategic decisions. I mentioned that the Government intended to continue the development of rules and guidelines concerning the use of environmental impact assessments in connection with government decisions, plans and programmes. This has been done by including a requirement for a review of the environmental effects of any developments with a substantial environmental impact in the new governmental instructions, and will be followed up with more specific environmental instructions.

All ministries are now including environmental considerations as an integral part of their responsibilities. A great deal of work on environmental issues is in fact being done, for example in the agricultural sector, and satisfactory results are being achieved.

We are therefore working together across institutional boundaries in the public sector, with other sectors of society, with organizations and the business sector and in many international arenas. The general public has become far more aware of environmental issues, and environmental considerations play a far more important role in Government policy than only a few years ago. We shall continue to develop and reinforce this approach in the years to come. This is the best way to ensure that we are acting in the interests of future generations.

Lagt inn 12. juni 1995 av Statens forvaltningstjeneste, ODIN-redaksjonen