“Next year we will be directing over EUR 400 million to make sure that the environment in Estonia is cleaner and resources are conserved,” stated Keit Pentus. “This serves as confirmation that we are taking seriously the plan to shape Estonia’s economy into one which improves the standard of living for the people, while at the same time reducing environmental risks and alleviating the shortage of resources.” Green investments are directed towards contemporary water systems, environmentally friendlier forms of transportation, proper boiler plants and heating piping, combined heat and power production and wind energy, more energy efficient buildings and several other fields. “More than EUR 90 million will be invested next year in water projects. This includes investments to improve the quality of drinking water, but also, for example, the improved purification of water reaching the Baltic Sea,” explained Keit Pentus. In 2012 there are plans to also contribute to making it possible for fish to bypass damns on rivers, clean reservoirs of sediment and restore fish spawning grounds. Increased attention will also be paid in 2012 to the air quality in larger cities. “The air in Estonia’s cities is generally clean, but there are periods in which there are a large number of inquiries from residents about the state of our air quality,” explained Keit Pentus. “Continuous and more precise measurement provide the opportunity to reach better conclusions about the reasons for the fluctuation in air quality and about what must be done so that it does not bother people.” Next year a total of EUR 2.2 million will be directed to obtaining an overview of the state of Estonia’s environment and for performing monitoring. “The most effective method for protecting nature and directing an environmentally-conscious attitude is, of course, through education. Next year, we will be investing EUR 11 million in environmental education; thereby allowing school children to receive a contemporary nature education under modern conditions.” In 2012 EUR 8 million will be directed towards supporting the objective that private forests be conserved and looked after. In order to better identify damages to the environment, the monitoring equipment of the Environmental Inspectorate – which was recently granted status as an investigative body – will be updated in the sum of EUR 2.6 million. The Government approved the 2012 draft state budget on Thursday, 22 September. |
