2000 IRISH SCIENTIST YEAR BOOK

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Ireland's Environment - A Millennium Report

Environmental Protection Agency
Larry Stapleton & Micheal Lehane

The EPA's major Report on the state of the environment, Ireland's Environment - A Millennium Report , warned that Ireland is in danger of losing the advantage it has of generally good environmental quality unless all economic sectors play their full part in protecting the environment.

Environment problems at the start of the new millennium, according to the Report, are springing from the demands of modern lifestyles and from growth and change in economic sectors. River water quality is affected more widely by agricultural intensification than by discharges from towns and industry.

The other main environmental issues that are currently facing Ireland include the following:

  • For every two vehicles that were on the roads just ten years ago there are now three. The resulting traffic congestion wastes time and damages air quality.

  • Ireland's net greenhouse gas emissions will increase over the next decade by 30% above 1990 levels - and international commitments will not be met - in the absence of abatement measures. This is more than twice the increase, of 13%, permitted in relation to the Kyoto Agreement.

  • Unprecedented volumes of wastes of various kinds are already being produced. The amount of domestic and industrial waste has doubled since the mid-1980s and the recent surge in consumer spending points towards further growth in waste amounts. Litter is a major continuing problem, particularly in cities and towns and on beaches.

  • Certain marine fish stocks are under threat and some vulnerable landscapes, coastal areas, habitats, flora, fauna and archaeological monuments are being damaged.

The Report covers not just the condition of the environment, but also the causal factors, the environmental protection measures taken to date, and prospects for the future. According to the Report, if the warning signs are heeded, there can be a win-win outcome for the environment and business. Irish goods and services can benefit from the market advantage of a green image in an ever more environmentally conscious European market.

Copies of the Report are available from the Publications Office, St Martin's House, Waterloo Road, Dublin 4; Tel: 01-667-4474; price £15. A summary and booklet based on the Report are available free of charge and the summary can be accessed on the EPA website at www.epa.ie .

Contact: Mr Larry Stapleton or Dr Micheal Lehane;
Tel: 053-60600; Fax: 053-60699;
Web: www.epa.ie