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Pentus: 2011 was a year of solutions

The Minister of the Environment Keit Pentus said when assessing the concluding year that the ministry was successful on solving several problems that had been halted for a long time and challenges that occurred during the year.


“Two of them were related to mining, which by its nature is a field of large environmental impact and thus controversial. There were long and heated disputes over possible opening of a mine near the Nabala area and Tuhala Witch’s Well. Since a proposal for establishing a protected area has been prepared, we stopped all mining-related activity there. You can be absolutely certain that no mining that would cause any damage to the protected Tuhala Witch’s Well will be permitted,” Keit Pentus said.

In the second half of the year, the topic of mining became an issue again in relation to the private sector’s wish to explore the possibilities of mining phosphate rock in Virumaa. “We did not let this topic that caused concern among the local people to grow into another Phosphate Rock War. My stand in this matter has been clear from the start – mining phosphate rock in Estonia is not possible due to its environmental hazard. Phosphate rock is not a natural resource mined in Estonia and there is no intention of changing that.”

From the problems that had been dragged on for a long time and finally found a solution, the minister highlighted a rapid increase in making payments from the EU funds. “2011 was a record year in payment of EU funds in the field of environment; in total, we made payments in the sum of 112 million euros, larger amounts of which were meant for fixing water systems and waste management.”

“In addition to the EU funds, we managed to bring a total of 360 million euros of additional funding into the environmental field thanks to successful CO2 quota transactions. The first modern buses and electric cars purchased for this money are already driving around in Estonia, but the larger investments are still yet to come – new trams to the 4th line in Tallinn, construction of wind farms, insulation of heating networks... All these actions have a positive impact on both our environment and the people’s pockets,” the Minister of the Environment said.

At the end of the year, the Ministry of Environment also managed to successfully complete a five-year dispute with the European Commission on the national allocation plan for the allocation of greenhouse gas emission allowances. In December, the commission fully approved Estonia’s allocation plan submitted by the Ministry of the Environment in September. “Now, Estonian businesses know how much emissions they are allowed to emit. They can now plan their activities better and this is important for all of us – as it was demonstrated by the decision of Eesti Energia to withdraw its price increase applications after receiving clarity on the allocation plan,” Keit Pentus said.