The 1990-1992 period has initiated a permanent communication and permanent personal cross-borders between people in governmental and non-governmental positions. Many people were still active in NGOs, while already working for the government. Environmental issues were important for citizens and both governments and parliaments considered environmental protection, at least at the beginning of this period, as a high priority. The result was visible: agreement between the government and non-governmental organizations on a large scale, an active participation of non-governmental leaders in the policy-making process and massive feedback from NGOs to the government. The "Green Circle" of non-governmental organizations was established to coordinate the role of NGOs in society. A "Green Parliament" was initiated by the first Czech Minister of the Environment in order to maintain communication and get feedback for the government. The influence of business to environmental policy was not too big between 1990 and 1992.
Elections in 1992 greatly altered the situation. These elections can serve as an illustration of the decline in interest of average Czech people in environmental issues. This decline was visible both in opinion polls and in the everyday behavior of people. According to opinion polls "to live in a healthy environment" was "very important" for 83% of citizens in 1990, for 76% in 1991 and for 67% in 1992. Issues such as the economic situation of families, increasing crime and Czech - Slovak relations replaced environmental problems as the main interests of Czech citizens. People still consider environmental problems mostly to be very urgent (50 to 60% of respondents) or reasonably urgent (30 to 40% of respondents). On the recent list of top priorities, the environment held the 6th position according to the results of polls (after problems of safety and crime, social insurance and living standards of families). Thus, the perception of environmental problems in society is still quite strong. Since 1992 the role of new business people in society has become more and more important.
Economic ministers became the key decision-makers in the government. The Ministry of Environment now has a weak position in the government. Also links with non-governmental organizations are weaker, thus diminishing further the influence of environmental considerations in the government. The absence of direct communication and feedback is visible and NGOs became on average more critical of the ministry. Most NGOs have little or no chance to influence state environmental policy and the dialogue is conducted more in newspapers or magazines than directly.
The approach of the government to environmental protection after the 1992 elections proved that government policy is based in principle on the famous saying of Prime Minister Václav Klaus, that the environment and the economy are like whipped cream and cake: whipped cream (environmental protection) can be used to decorate the cake only if the cake (economic reform) is ready. The priority given to the economy is obvious, and the meaning, that only a strong and sound economy can afford environmental protection, is largely accepted. It was criticized by Czech NGOs.
NGOs trying to propose less radical solutions and alternatives have very restricted space in the media. Also politicians are trying to pay less attention to them. These NGOs are often specialized and their members are often very qualified experts in specific environmental issues. Some of them concentrate on efficient use of energy (SEVEN - Center for Effective Energy Use, EkoWATT, League of Energy Alternatives), others to waste management, environmental legislation and environmental advocacy (Institute for Environmental Policy, Union for Environmental Rights), nature protection (Czech Union of Nature Conservation, Brontosaurus), environmental education (VITA, EVA) - etc.
The most prestigious environmental NGO in the Czech Republic, the Society for Sustainable Living issues, statements on the main current or urgent environmental problems in the country. Despite the fact that the members of the Society are often the best experts on particular environmental issues in the Czech Republic (3 former ministers of the environment, a number of scientists and experts from various regions of the Czech Republic are among the Society's members), the reactions to these statements from the government are relatively rare.
The increasing influence of businesses on environmental policy is visible at present. This development has both positive and negative effects. The development of "green businesses", especially in the area of waste management, is clearly a positive result of this process. New technologies, good ideas, imported know-how and the ability to prefer long-term goals to short-term ones are the main hopeful features of the best environmentally friendly businesses in the Czech Republic.
Economic demands seem to have retarding effects in many other areas of environmental protection. The process of creating new environmental laws was very slow after 1992 in comparison with the situation before. Laws adopted in 1990-1992 often have no or very inadequate provisions. Exploration of natural resources, especially non-renewable ones, is huge and a big portion of these resources is exported to other countries. There is great pressure from business to prioritize economic development over environmental protection even in protected areas. The list of examples is very long.
A big role in environmental protection is played by the media. A Club of Environmental Journalists has been working in the Czech Republic since 1993. Generally, the attention given in the media to environmental issues is relatively low, except on such topics as environmental disasters, scandals or sensations. Environmental pages in many dailies have been canceled and replaced by economic reports. Journalists' understanding of environmental needs and problems varies greatly from person to person, but generally - except for specialized environmental journalists - is not too high.
The first attempts to build bridges between economic and environmental demands, and between the government, NGOs and businesses, were made by some institutions and individuals (Institute for Environmental Policy, The Czech Center for Conflict Prevention and Resolution etc.) under the new situation of weaker communication. These institutions and individuals used methods of cooperative negotiation, facilitation and mediation and conducted workshops, training and round tables in order to help the environmental policy-making process in the Czech Republic. The results are hopeful.
The new environmental legislation has proven its effectiveness to act as a very powerful instrument inducing considerable environmental investments, especially in the private sector. Since 1992, total annual environmental expenditure has been higher than 2% of GDP and is expected to increase in the coming years. Nevertheless, the quality of the environment in the Czech Republic is far from comparable with that in Western countries.
Comparison of the Czech Republic with the OECD countries indicates that in an international context, the most important measures are those leading to a further decrease in emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. In other matters, conditions in the Czech Republic are comparable with those in the OECD countries, for example in per capita consumption of energy, structure of the energy base, water consumption, waste production, and the extent of sewerage systems. In some cases the figures are much better than average, e.g. in the use of fertilizers or extent of protected areas. This set of indicators, which is suitable for approximate international comparison, is complemented by indicators for monitoring high- priority problems.
The direct impacts of various sectors and affected or contaminated environmental components have negative consequences for human health, especially in the most devastated areas. The most detrimental factors - according to contemporary medicine - are air pollution, noise pollution and contamination of foodstuffs by toxic metals and organic substances. A total of 20% of the population of the Czech Republic is detrimentally affected by noise and this portion is much higher in cities (in Prague 46% of inhabitants).
Now, in the fifth year of the transition process, it may be concluded that the majority of the goals have been generally met. The Czech Republic has a comprehensive system of environmental legislation, some economic instruments have been introduced and institutions like the Czech Environment Inspection Agency and the National Environmental Fund were established. The threatening decrease in the quality of the environment has been stopped and a slight improvement has been observed recently, especially in the air and surface water quality.
Under new conditions, demonstrated not only by satisfactory results of the national transition process but also by important international events, the formulation of the new national evironmental policy accompanied by a national environment action program was found to be essential.
The new policy document, which is being negotiated at present, consists of two parts:
The new policy is focused on the revision of priorities and the completion of the system of legislative, economic and information instruments.
The National Environmental Policy is derived from five basic principles:
The strategic goals of the policy are defined both in static (status to be reached by date) and dynamic (indicators of direction) ways. The static strategic goals are:
The quality of the environment is understood in terms of the Core Set of Environment Indicators proposed and used by the OECD.
The dynamic strategic goals are (in accordance with the EAP) as follows:
The medium-term goals (by the year 2000) have been formulated for each of the components of the environment (air, water, nature, forests, landscape, wastes), economic sectors (energy, industry, transport, agriculture) and social sectors (research and development, environmental education and public awareness, state administration).
The current system of policy instruments is being completed, optimized and improved to increase its effectiveness. The following priorities have been set:
In accordance with foreign policy the Czech Republic participates in European processes (Environment for Europe) and in international bodies (ECE UN, CSD UN, UNEP, OECD, etc.). It also harmonizes its policy and instruments with the EU and the OECD and gradually adopts other relevant international conventions.
On a regional level support is given to regional bodies in the formulation and implementation of regional environmental policies and the formulation of regional legislative and economic instruments. The government also provides financial support to the most polluted regions (Northern Bohemia, Northern Moravia, the City of Prague).
Other drafts of environmental policy including the Environmental Action Program 1994-1996 were disscused by a relatively broad spectrum of environmental non-governmental organizations and individuals. Recently, there have been some signs of the return of some Czech citizens to non-materialistic values, including environmental priorities. These "vital signs" allow us to predict that the interest of citizens (and thus also the media and politicians) in environmental issues may enlarge the role of non-governmental organization in implementing environmental policies.
There is no doubt that disscusion and cooperation among business, government and NGOs should play a key role in enforcing environmental policies and plans. The experience of recent years proved very clearly that environment protection in the Czech Republic does not lack thought and solutions. A lack of readiness to consider other views and to seek compromise while developing environmental programs seem to be the biggest obstacle to non-governmental engagement in policy making and implementation. Also communication skills and cooperation between key subjects of environmental policy in the Czech Republic need to be improved as they are now a barrier to improvements of the environmental situation in the country.
The list of individual programs proposed is subject to cost-benefit analysis in order to maximize the environmental impact of the whole action program (NEAP) with respect to financial resources available. Several programs are being implemented, the rest is in a preparatory stage.
Recently, the Czech Environmental Policy has been reviewed. In May 1995 the Environmental Policy Committee (EPOC) of the OECD examined the position of the Czech Republic concerning OECD instruments in the field of environment, especially the waste management and the chemical management. As a result of the survey the EPOC considered the Czech Republic to be able to comply the obligations of the OECD membership in the field of environment. Also the cooperation of the Czech Republic with the European Union seems to have a very positive effect on the refining and completion of the Czech environmental legislation, which is subject to harmonize with the European Union requirements.
The Ministry of the Environment is one of the most important actors in environmental protection. It is defined as the central state administrative body for air protection, water management, forestry management (except for matters in the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture, especially economic forest management) and waste management. The following areas are also responsibilities of the Ministry of Environment:
The Ministry serves as the supreme inspection authority in environmental matters. It is responsible for the Czech Environmental Inspection and provides of uniform information system on environmental matters. The Ministry is a central administrative body for state environmental policy and for international cooperation in environmental matters. It supervises the State Environmental Protection Fund and for administration of the national parks.
Even though the list of obligations is long, the Ministry has lost its responsibility for some areas (e. g. territorial planning and construction regulations) since 1992. Other state administrative bodies such as the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Culture, the Chief Hygiene Officer of the Czech Republic, State Veterinary Administration of the Czech Republic, the Czech Mining Office, and the State Office for Nuclear Safety also have powers in environmental protection-related activities.
At district level, the environmental departments of District Offices are part of the state administration. The Czech Republic is divided into 72 districts while the capital city of Prague has a special status. At local level, the city offices or authorized municipal offices implement national policy.
The state administration is supported by seven specialized institutes (the Czech Hydro-meteorological Institute, the Water Management Institute, the Czech Environmental Institute, the Geofund, the Czech Geological Institute, the Czech Institute for Nature Protection, the Institute for Decorative Horticulture) with more than 2,600 employees.
New businesses often belong to the group of "gold-miners". Leading Czech industrial enterprises, including the most of old state-owned enterprises belong mainly to the second group. The same is true of old enterprises, especially those which lost their previous markets ("Královopolská" Brno). They often find their new business opportunities in the environmental protection field or are required to introduce environmental protection measures due to the new market demand.
The environmental behavior of big Czech enterprises is often affected by deadlines set by the environmental legislation of January 1988 or standards for landfills of July 1996. If stricter conditions in environmental protection are established and maintained, many businesses may have a serious difficulties in meeting them. If environmentally friendly provisions or plans are abandoned, "green" businesses will lose their comparable advantages and will not be able to compete with "gold-miners" or "rational" businesses. This uncertainty is the biggest threat to "green" business in the present Czech Republic, as lobbying in the Parliament and at various ministries seems to be strong and some lobby groups are very powerful.
The supply of environmental services and technologies is very broad in the new Czech Republic. It ranges from water treatment plants, incinerators, waste separation services or safe landfills to a broad spectrum of consultancy services. The demand is big, too, but the main problem is a general lack of money for buying environmentally friendly, but more expensive technologies. The main customers are municipalities, which are commonly poor and their opportunities to obtain outside funds are restricted. The State Environmental Protection Fund does not have enough means to meet all demands. Banks in the Czech Republic have extremely high interest rates (up to 18%) and maturity is often short (commonly 4 years).
Some entrepreneurs use unconventional measures to proceed with environmental investments. They offer energy performance contracts to generate money to pay back the debts from energy savings, which are achieved through the new technology. This method was used for the first time in the Jilemnice town hospital. It is being used in our first big indistrial enterprise (chemical plant SETUZA) recently.
The Czech Environment Management Center, Center for Cleaner Production, Business Leaders Forum and Association of Producers of Environmental Systems were established to unify enterprises willing to behave sustainably. Larger enterprises like Chemopetrol or Vitkovice Ironworks are members of these organizations. It does not mean of course that their production or behavior is environmentally friendly now (a result of backward technology inherited from the old economic system, lack of money and time necessary for changes), but it means that the top management of these companies knows that economical sustainability is not possible without environmental improvements.
Great potential could be realized through the introduction of environmental labelling in the Czech Republic. It was initiated in 1993, announced in 1994. Starting from 1992, environmental impact assessments have to be done for all important new construction with greater public involvement.
The following targets should be supported in sectors to ensure the fullfilment of the policy goals:
Special attention is given to energy conversation. The energy agency of the Ministry of Industry and Trade supports projects helping to decrease energy consumption (installing better and more efficient heating systems, insulation, etc). The main task is to improve the insulation in the huge amount of concrete houses built in the last four decades.
With regard to future trends, we can expect some changes in priorities. The State Environmental Protection Fund is willing to change its emphasis in allocating of money from water treatment plants to air pollution reduction. The orientation to water treatment plants in recent years is inherited from the past - it was necessary to finish a number of old investments. The same trend can be expected among environmental investments of big industrial enterprises. These enterprises are forced to meet air quality standards by the end of 1997 according to the Air Protection Act (law 309/91 S.B.). Enterprises, which prove unable to meet these standards, will have to be closed or will have to pay high fees. The biggest investments come out of the sources of the electric company CEZ, the main electricity producer, which has to retrofit all power plants still in operation after 1998.
New owners can apply for financial support only for the following purposes: pollution of underground waters, pollution of the soil and cleaning up old landfills (under certain circumstances). By summer of 1994, 30 "contracts" were signed and the government agreed with to finance the cleaning-up of past environmental damages in 40 other cases. One of the biggest contracts of this kind is probably the Environmental Treaty between the Czech government and the Volkswagen group, concerning past environmental damages in the area of the Skoda factory in Mlada Boleslav. Unfortunately, no details are known, because the treaty is kept secret.
Among the most important items on the list of past environmental damages in the Czech Republic are those caused by the Soviet army in the period 1968-1991. An official estimate from July 1991 displays the figure of 2.4 billion Czech crowns. These huge past damages are now seen as a constraint of privatization in large areas of the Czech Republic, where the Soviet army used to be located. According to a treaty with the Soviet Union, these damages will be paid by the Czech Republic. On the other hand, past damages create long-term business opportunities for Czech companies. In particular, many former geological companies (Aquatest, Soletanche, Geotest) turned their activities to environmental issues, and even for new ones (like KAP in Prague) cleaning up polluted waters and soils is the main specialization.
Among problems often mentioned in the Czech Republic is an access to environmental information. The basic information rights are given by the Constitution and Bill of Rights and Freedoms. The right to get environmental information is defined by the Bill of Rights and Freedoms and the Environmental Protection Act. One problem is that practically no provisions to these rights and duties, given by various laws, are in effect. The consequence of this situation is that it is hard to get information in concrete situations in practice and it is practically impossible to apply if no information concerning the environment is given. "Trade secret" is a common excuse. Thus, personal contacts with the "right people" are still important to obtain required information.
The function of the State Environmental Fund is modified to enhance its impact. The Fund operates more and more as a banking fund providing soft loans also for small and medium enterprises and less used as a source for direct subsidies e.g. for municipalities. Pilot environmental projects are also financed from other sources, e.g. Energy Agency finances energy savings projects or renewable energy projects.
"Common" citizens do not believe in promises made by business people. Also credit given to the state administration by communities and citizen's groups needs to be expanded. They should be more encouraged to state their views and opinions on environmental protection issues. Some citizens have values and behavior patterns which are not very compatible with environmentally friendly policies. Environmental awareness should be improved through public involvement in environmental protection activities.
Citizens and NGO representatives have only limited access to environmental information. Public participation in decision-making processes is often formal and business and governmental authorities often do not support any large increase in public influence on environmental protection.
The relationship between economical development (including the issue of employment) and demands for environmental protection is perceived as an important issue by part of Czech NGOs and left wing political opposition of the present government. There is however strong evidence that the transition to market economy has positive impacts on many environmental problems as it can be observed in the improving state of environment (see State of Environment Report, 1994).
Nevertheless, the ongoing discussion on environmental policy and NEAP between the Minister of Environment and other ministers in the government interpreted in the media as a process never reaching consensus. The steps for implementation of environmental policy viewed as not reaching compatibility between environmental and economic aspects.
The situation is however slowly improving as demonstrated by the cooperation between MoE and Ministry of Industry and Trade on the development of Energy Policy. An other example is the establishment of an inter-ministerial committee by the MoE inviting of the following ministries: Industry and Trade, Agriculture, Transport, Economy, Foreign Affairs and Finance. The committee developed policies and measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Despite all the positive results achieved the MoE is criticized especially by those NGOs, which have high expectations and proposed unrealistic measures and policies. It is evident, that the integration of environmental aspects into sector policies is a slow process requiring cooperation between relevant ministries and can not be achieved only by political pressure without at least limited consensus between the sectors.