The State of Jersey one year on

TThhee SSttaattee ooff JJeerrsseeyy ~~

OOnnee YYeeaarr OOnn

LLoouuiissee MMaaggrriiss EEnnvviirroonnmmeenntt DDiivviissiioonn

Good morning everybody

You will remember that it was at this event one year ago, that we launched this document The State of Jersey',

which for the first time bought together information from many different sources on the condition of Jersey's environment.

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A Monitoring framework generated 40

indicators

5 key environmental priorities were identified

1. Climate change

2.Waste management

3.Water resource management 4.Transport

5.Our countryside and natural history

There are many ways to look at and categorize the environment and the report considered a range of perspectives from global down to local

We then went on to use a framework that helped us to generate 40 headline indicators that we can assess over time. These benchmarks are crucial so that we have an informed basis for prioritizing our actions, are able to chart our progress and can plan effectively and efficiently for the future.

You'll be relieved to hear that today I won't be looking at the 40 indicators in detail.

Instead I will be re-visiting each of the 5 key environmental priorities that the report highlighted as needing attention. I shall briefly outline what has been achieved over the last year. These Annual Miles tones are the result of the hard work of many people often working across departments with the assistance of key stakeholders and invaluable feedback from the public.

Environmental  CClliimmaattee CChhaannggee Priority 1

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Firstly I would like to consider Climate change

Jersey has a high reliance on private cars,

and a dependence on fossil fuels for industrial and domestic uses all of which contributes to local emissions of greenhouse gases.

Jersey Met's observations confirm that locally we are seeing a temperature increase that is in line with that recorded globally and is considered to be an indication of global climate change.

Recent studies have made predictions that a changed climate will bring major challenges for Jersey, particularly less summer rainfall; greater storminess; and rising sea levels

So with these unnerving predictions – what are we doing about it ?

CClliimmaattee CChhaannggee ~~ AAnnnnuuaall MMiilleessttoonneess

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EEnneerrggyy PPoolliiccyy

In 2005 we have made progress in moving towards ratification of the Kyoto Treaty. This means that we will be formally measuring and reporting on our greenhouse gas emissions.

I will expand on the Sustainable Travel and Transport Plan a little later but looking at breaking our dependence on the private car is key to lowering emissions

Finally the development of an energy policy has just begun and will consider the environmental consequences of our energy use in a local and global context.

However, as importantly, it will consider social and economic issues including the security of our energy supply, our reliance on imported energy as well as the necessity for all Islanders to have access to energy at affordable prices

EEnnvviirroonnmmeennttaall  WWaassttee PPrriioorriittyy 22

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LimitedLimited recyclingrecycling facilitiesfacilities

Moving to our 2nd environmental priority, Waste

Excessive waste generation represents a misuse of resources. Our municipal waste has risen by, on average, almost 3% for the last five years.

In addition, emissions from our present incinerator fall well short of accepted standards.

And our levels of recycling, whilst better than some, are not as good as have been shown possible in other places.

Therefore, a major challenge for us was to rethink how we look at waste. A draft waste strategy had been written but bearing in mind comments from the Shadow scrutiny panel and other consultees including the Jersey Environment Forum..

WWaassttee ~~ AAnnnnuuaall MMiilleessttoonneess

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• WWaassttee SSttrraatteeggyy

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in the early part of 2005 a cross departmental group worked together with consultants to finalise a Solid Waste Strategy for Jersey.

A key target arising from the strategy was a recycling rate of 32% to be achieved by 2010 and the new energy from waste plant was sized with this reduction in mind.

Our waste management facilities must be upgraded to help us meet these challenges. Although the principles have been approved by the States and this is a priority, there is still work to do to identify the final technological solutions and find the most appropriate sites for the facilities.

Both the Planning process and Environmental Impact Assessments will assist us in achieving this.

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Paper & Cardboard 3000 2500

Textiles 2000 1500

350 300 250

2003 2004 2005

200 150 100 50 0

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Already work has begun and we all are showing that as a community we are prepared to take responsibility for our waste. As the recycling facilities are expanded we can see that our use of them has increased.

Not only are households acting more responsibly, but so is the retail sector - improving the recycling of cardboard and contributing to this continuing upward trend. The introduction of the newspaper recycling scheme has been well supported and 860 tonnes was recycled in the first year alone.

The use of the Salvation Army's clothing banks and distribution networks have shown a significant continuing uptake with Islanders donating over 300 tonnes of textiles for reuse last year.

This is surely the beginning of an encouraging trend that is essential if we are all to achieve and improve upon our initial target of 32%. By this autumn an extended network of bring banks is hoped to be in place to help us still further.

In addition nearly thirteen thousand tonnes of green waste has been turned into compost products. Much of this valuable commodity has been beneficially returned to land by the agricultural industry but many of us have also used the soil improver or mulch in our own gardens – a much more sustainable option than importing peat which is often harvested from very sensitive habitats.

One encouraging step still further on and "cutting out the transport and technical services middle man" so to speak, is that nearly fifteen hundred subsidised home composters have been purchased in last 18 months.

EEnnvviirroonnmmeennttaall  WWaatteerr PPrriioorriittyy 33

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Moving to our 3rd environmental priority, water.

Around 90% of the Island's population receive their water from the public water supply. The replenishment this resource is from surface water -

– in other words the rain that falls on our small Island. Currently there are no controls to ensure that these supplies are protected from over abstraction.

The quality of these waters can be affected by diffuse pollution (like nitrates from fertilizers and soakaways)

or point source pollution (like oil spillages from heating tanks).

WWaatteerr ~~ AAnnnnuuaall MMiilleessttoonneess

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To address some of the inconsistencies associated with our management of water, the Water Resources Law was lodged after its examination last year by the Shadow Scrutiny Panel.

However there is still work to do and the Minister will be telling us how there is continuing progress with the Special Advisory Group on deep Groundwater.

Ongoing monitoring by the Environment Division shows a continuing decline in the concentrations of nitrates in our ground waters and recent improvements to the Sewage Treatment Works have reduced the amount of nitrates entering St. Aubin's Bay from that source.

There is more good news with our bathing waters still achieving a very high standard.

Here we can see how prompt responses are made to reported pollution incidents

WWaatteerr ~~ AAnnnnuuaall MMiilleessttoonneess

180

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Number of pollution  

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incidents investigated

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Type of incidents

120

100

100

80

80

60

un- 60

Agricultural Chemical substantiated 40

40 / Industrial

Sewage / 20 Construction

20

domestic

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0 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

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Other

Natural

Oil

Although there is a slight increase in the past year in the number of incidents investigated,

overall numbers are still well below those in the first years of the Law's introduction.

Looking at the types of incidents reported last year, we can see that those relating to oil are still the commonest.

So we continue to target our education in that direction and if you visit the Environmental Protection's excellent stand you will find helpful information on best practice.

Environmental

Priority 4 TTrraannssppoorrtt

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Moving now onto the fourth environmental Priority - Transport Jersey has the world's highest car ownership ratio.

This can result in localised congestion with an associated reduction in economic efficiency

• As we have said, These high carbon dioxide emissions contribute to the Island's emissions of greenhouse gases

And also can cause localised air pollution that occasionally breaches internationally agreed standards and has risks to health

Finally a dense transport infrastructure contributes to the fragmentation of natural habitats

TTrraannssppoorrtt ~~ AAnnnnuuaall MMiilleessttoonneess

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Last year, an Inter-departmental working group from Transport and Technical Services and the Planning and Environment Departments developed the Sustainable Travel and Transport Plan that was lodged with the States at the end of 2005.

Unfortunately there was not enough time to debate it before the end of the year but The Council of Ministers considered the Plan at their first meeting in January.

They were pleased to agree it as a high level framework document that attempts to provide appropriate solutions for Jersey's transport problems and the Council of Ministers charged the Minister for Transport and Technical Services, Deputy De Faye, with returning to them with more detailed proposals by April.

The Plan aims to encourage and give opportunity for individuals and businesses to commute and travel in a more environmentally sustainable manner

The Key themes are :

• Access for everyone

• Health & Safety for all

• Protecting the environment

• and Supporting the economy

EEnnvviirroonnmmeennttaall PPrriioorriittyy 55

CountrysideCountryside && NaturalNatural HistoryHistory

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