Distr.
GENERAL
FCCC/NC/17
2 April 1996
Original: ENGLISH
In accordance with decision 9/2 of the Intergovernmental
Negotiating Committee of the Framework Convention on Climate Change
(INC/FCCC) and endorsed by the Conference of the Parties in its
decision 3/CP.1 (FCCC/CP/1995/7/Add.1), the secretariat is to make
available, in the official languages of the United Nations, the
executive summaries of the national communications submitted by Annex
I Parties.
Note: Executive summaries of national communications issued
prior to the first session of the Conference of the Parties bear the
symbol A/AC.237/NC/___.
GE.96-
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Environmental Information Centre 33 Mustamae tee E0006 Republic of Estonia Fax No. (372) 639 4071 |
This document has been reproduced without formal editing.
INTRODUCTION
1. Estonia is situated in the north-western part of the flat East
European plain, remaining entirely within the drainage area of the
Baltic Sea (see figure 1 on page 4 of the communication). The
coastline length is 3,794 km. The country is located between 57.30
and 59.49 degrees latitude and 21.46 and 28.13 degrees longitude. The
total area of Estonia is 45,215 km2, of which 4,132
km2 (9.2 per cent) is made up of more than 1,500 islands
and islets. 19,200 km2 (42-43 per cent of total land area)
of the Estonian territory is made up of productive forest land. The
Estonian forests belong to the zone of mixed and coniferous forests
with relatively favourable growth conditions. Forests with conifers
as dominant tree species make up 63 per cent of the total area of the
Estonian forests and 66 per cent of the total forest yield; forests
with deciduous trees as dominant species constitute 37 per cent of
the forested area and 34 per cent of the forest yield. The peatland
area is approximately 10,000 km2, corresponding to 22 per
cent of the territory (partly coinciding with forest
areas).
2. Estonia is characterised by a flat topography. The average
elevation is 50 m, with the highest point being 318 m above sea
level. The country can be divided into two regions: Lower Estonia and
Upper Estonia. Upper Estonia comprises the more elevated areas in the
central and southern parts of country, which were not covered by the
sea during the Holocene. The soils of Upper Estonia are more fertile
and the rural population is denser than in Lower Estonia. Of the
total population of 1,574,955 (1990 census), 71.4 per cent live in
urban areas. The population density is 35/km2. 51 per cent
of the population live in five largest cities (Tallinn 484,400, Tartu
115,400, Narva 82,300, Kohtla-Järve 76,800 and Pärnu
54,200).
3. Estonia belongs to the Atlantic continental region of the
temperate zone, which is characterized by rather warm summers and
comparatively mild winters. Since the annual amount of precipitation
is approximately double that of evaporation, the climate is
excessively damp. The amount of solar radiation varies widely during
the year. The length of a summer day is three times longer that of a
winter day in northern Estonia. The height of the sun reaches 55C at
the summer solstice and only 8C at the winter solstice.
4. Although not very large in area, Estonia is relatively rich in
natural resources, both mineral and biological, which have been and
will be the basis of the Estonian economy. The production and
processing of mineral resources provide a considerable share of the
gross national product (see table 1 below).
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Resource |
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Oil shale 3,800 million tons Phosphorite 260 million tons Limestone, dolomite 300 million m3 Sand, gravel 180 million tons Peat 560 million tons Lake mud 120 million tons Curative mud 4 million tons | |
5. Serious environmental problems are caused by the industrial use
of these resources. One of the most important is connected with the
excavation of oil shale, which is accompanied by a decline of ground
water table, degradation of the quality of the fields and forests, as
well as direct reduction of useful land due to the subsidence of soil
and the deposition of waste. The area rendered useless by excavation
and industrial activity is at least 450 km2, which
comprises about 1 per cent of Estonian territory. The restoration of
land for recreation or for the development of industry helps to
reduce the negative side effects of the excavated areas. Waste
materials of oil shale mining and processing cover thousands of
hectares; there are waste heaps with relative heights exceeding 100
m. Those terricones contain a number of compounds emitting or easily
washed out with atmospheric precipitations.
6. The most important branch of industry in Estonia is energy. The
total power yield of the Estonia and Baltic Thermal Power Plant is
about 3,000 MW. About half of the energy produced in 1990 was
exported to Russia and Latvia. Approximately 75 per cent of
pollutants (CO2, SO2, NOx, fly-ash)
is emitted by the Baltic and Estonian TPP, which ranks among the ten
biggest sources of air pollution in Europe.
7. The centre of the chemical industry is in the north-eastern
part of Estonia, the biggest enterprises being the Kiviõli Oil
Shale Chemical Plants and the Kohtla-Järve Oil Shale Processing
Association. The chemical industry has been mainly developed on the
basis of oil shale and other imported raw materials (natural gas,
apatite) for the production of fuel oil, aromatic hydrocarbons,
phenols, solvents, cosmetics and pesticides. Estonian agriculture has
specialized in livestock breeding of which cattle-breeding is the
most important. Loop production yields about one third of the gross
agricultural product -- as at 1 January 1990, the overwhelming
majority of arable land belonged to collective and state farms. Since
then the large farms began to break into private farms and there is
now a transitional period of full restructuring of
agriculture.
Energy and Industry
8. Estonia does not have any major source of fossil fuels such as
oil, coal or natural gas, apart from deposits of oil shale and a
substantial part of the fuel used must therefore be imported. The
Estonian's energy policy is now focused on reducing fuel imports and
increasing the efficiency of energy use.
9. Energy-related activities are the most significant contributors
to Estonian greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions from fossil fuel
combustion comprise the vast majority of these energy-related
emissions with releases of CO2 from fossil fuel
combustion. Activities associated with the production, transmission,
storage and distribution of fossil fuels also emit greenhouse gases.
These are primary fugitive emissions from natural gas systems, oil
shale oil production and oil shale mining. The main gas emitted
through these activities is methane, while smaller quantities of
NMVOCs, CO2 and CO can also be emitted. These gases
represent a much smaller portion of total energy emissions than
CO2.
10. In 1990 Estonian energy system consumed in total 452000 TJ of
fuel. Estonia satisfies most of its energy demand by using fossil
fuels. In 1990 oil shale constituted 52.8 per cent of the energy
balance (see figure 2 on page 7 of the communication). The share of
oil shale in the Estonian energy balance is high, because it is used
as a fuel in four oil shale fired power plants. During oil shale
combustion CO2 is formed not only as a burning product of
organic carbon, but also as a decomposition product of carbonate
part. From 1990 to 1993, electricity production has decreased
considerably due to economic depression. It amounted to a decrease in
oil shale consumption for electricity generation from 22.4 million
tons in 1990 to 15 million tons in 1993. At the same time emissions
from transport increased according to the increasing number of
transport vehicles. A lot of used old cars and lorries are imported
from abroad. Therefore the total emissions from transport vehicles
shows continual increasing tendency.
Basic trends in energy policy of the Republic of
Estonia
11. Energy policy is proceeding from the general economic policy
of the state, interests of consumers and energy companies and
environment requirements. An objective is set forth to guarantee the
needs of the state in fuel, heat and electric energy at minimum cost
and expense, thereby taking into consideration technical, economic
and social conditions and environmental requirements.
Forestry
12. Usually the data of 1990, 1991 and 1992 years are used for the
estimation of carbon fluxes from Estonian forestry. Current emissions
of CO2 from biomass left to decay are estimated over the
previous decade (1980-1990). The tracking of soil carbon, as well as
carbon in product pools, has also been included. Current releases of
carbon from soils due to conversions are estimated over the previous
25 years (1965-1990). Immediate release from the burning, delayed
release from decay and long-term loss of soil carbon have been used
as average data over the period shown before and calculated per
year.
13. The availability of data needed, their statistics and
confidence in enterprises of the Estonian forestry have been
satisfied. There is a consistent and arranged accounting in forestry.
The data on fuelwood includes the figures of official fellings, but
not of private fellings in the countryside (percentage is
insignificant). The data on the wood used in heating are therefore a
little doubtful.
14. In 1988 Estonian forests consisted of premature and mature
stands (17 per cent), middle-aged stands (53 per cent), and young
stands (30 per cent). In exploitable profitable spruce, pine and
birch forests young stands are respectively 1-40, 1-40 and 1-20 years
old, middle age 41-60, 41-80 and 21-50, premature and mature stands
61, 81 and 51 years old (Karoles et al., 1994).
15. Despite the small area of the territory of Estonia, the
growing forests are rather diverse. The great variability brought
about by natural conditions (parent material of soil, relief,
climatic differences) is in its turn increased by the circumstance
that the majority of the forests of Estonia have been affected by
man's activities in various degrees and ways (cutting, drainage,
fires, etc.).
Agriculture
16. Territory of arable land in Estonia in 1991 was 1,130,000 hectares; the total sown area is
1,110,000 hectares.
17. Estonian agriculture has specialized in livestock breeding.
Until the late 1980s, livestock breeding depended largely on fodder
imported from the other parts of the former USSR. In consequence, a
large amount of milk and meat produced in Estonia was exported to
other parts of the Soviet Union. Agriculture chiefly depended on the
functioning of collective farms and state farms at that time. Towards
the end of the 1980s, the farms began to break into smaller units,
and private farms and family farms were established or
re-established.
18. In Estonia by 1 January 1991 there were 1,132,000 hectares of
arable land, that is, 25 per cent of the territory. At the same time,
there are 312,000 hectares of natural grassland and 1,920,000
hectares of forest and woodland (see table 2 below).
19. The total area of sown land in 1991 was 1.11 million hectares.
55.9 per cent of that were under annual and perennial hay; 37.5 per
cent -- under cereals and 6.3 per cent -- under potatoes, fodder
crops and vegetables. Industrial crops were grown on 3,011 hectares
(see figure 3 on page 9 of the communication).
20. The total amount of mineral fertilizers used in collective
farms and state farms was 195,200 tons, including 69,800 tons of
nitrogen fertilizers. Organic fertilizers were used on an average 7.0
tons per 1 hectare of sown land. To add the amount of fertilizers
used in private farms approximately 125,200 tons of nitrogen was put
into the soil with fertilizers, from which 70 per cent was nitrogen
in the form of mineral fertilizers.
21. The total yield of cereals and legumes amounted to 939.4
thousand tons, of which the yield of barley comprised 66.3 per cent.
By 1 January 1991, there were 757.7 thousand cattle, including 280.7
thousand cows. There were also 959.9 thousand pigs, 139.0 thousand
sheep and 8.6 thousand horses in the country.
22. In 1991, 177.1 thousand tons of meat, 1092.8 thousand tons of
milk and 559.7 million eggs were produced.
23. In the following years landstock of private farms increased by
3.4 times due to farm reconstructions.
24. At the same time the level of agricultural production
throughout the country decreased. This can be explained by economic
factors. The cost of fertilizers, machinery, and fuel has become
higher, but the prices of agricultural products are relatively low.
Hence, the profitability of agricultural production is low. Moreover,
land legislation is not working out well and remains the most
important obstacle to the development of agriculture.
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Total landstock Arable land gardens natural grassland forest and woodland inland water Agricultural producers arable land gardens natural grassland forest and woodland inland water Inc. in private farms arable land gardens natural grassland forest and woodland inland water |
4522.6 1131.9 14.9 311.6 1920.1 283.3 2538.3 1110.7 12.7 244.3 712.4 55.1 62.1 25.6 0.3 8.4 18.5 1.1 |
4522.6 1131.9 14.8 311.5 2015.6 283.3 2545.3 1111.0 12.7 244.9 814.7 55.3 176.7 75.9 0.9 19.7 56.9 3.2 |
4522.6 1127.6 14.9 312.5 2021.8 283.3 2549.1 1111.4 12.7 244.7 817.9 55.4 213.9 91.8 1.1 23.0 70.5 3.8 |