1 / 9

Limits of acceptable change from local activities in Ny-Ålesund

Gunnar Sander, senior advisor, Norwegian Polar Institute. Limits of acceptable change from local activities in Ny-Ålesund. Ministry of Trade and Industry in white paper 2011.

ryu
Télécharger la présentation

Limits of acceptable change from local activities in Ny-Ålesund

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Gunnar Sander, senior advisor, Norwegian Polar Institute Limits of acceptable change from local activities in Ny-Ålesund

  2. Ministryof Trade and Industry in whitepaper 2011 ” Ny-Ålesund shall be a green research station, which requires that Kings Bay ensures that the measures necessary for reducing the environmental impact from the activities in the Ny-Ålesund area are being reduced to a minimum. Further growth in research must take place within responsible environmental limits.” Used also in Kings Bay strategy

  3. EIA 1998 initiated by NySMAC • 10 technical studies • Analysedimpactsontheenvironment and onthe research activities • Significantimpactsoccured • Environmental Action Programme 12 points, i.a: * Upperprecautionary limit on # activities/people* Environmentalmonitoringprogramme to measureeffectivenessof EAP

  4. EIA 2006: an update Desk-top study without budget No data on the environ-ment due to lack of monitoring Indirect signs of change: * measures implemented, * activities at the station Updated Environmental Action Programme

  5. Main conclusion: Systematic environmental work is needed Still not in place – 16 years after EIA 1998 Where are we? Where are we going? A broad effort is needed to get this framework in place. «Limits of...» can give contributions • Set objectivesthatarespecific • Monitor performance • Assessmonitoringresultstowardsobjectives • Update theEnvironmental Action Programme A rotating system

  6. Why has not more happened? Twosuggestions: • Unclearresponsibilities(Governor)NySMAC – Kings Bay – NPI • Lackofresourcesdedicated to environmentalwork

  7. Procedural improvements Analysis of alternatives and impacts also for smaller initiatives * For infrastructure in Kings Bay * For science projects: How does the current system for review in NySMAC work? «Mini EIAs» – ref Antarctica Cost-benefit analysis when costs go beyond Kings Bay budgets: benefits to science/environment compared to monetary and other costs

  8. From precuationary measures to knowledge based management • «Set a precuationaryupper limit on total activity/numberofpeople» (EIA 98) • No simple linkagebetweenanynumber and impacts • Need to analyse specificstationactivities and specificsensitivities • Results from EIAscompared to anticipated later developments led to selecting: * Air qualityvs air measurements* Vegetation* Birdsfor further studies in «Limits ofacceptablechange»

  9. Limits of acceptable change: 3 sub-projects under joint coordination • How the local human activities in Ny-Ålesund affect environmental and scientific interests or qualities • How can impacts from local activities be measured –indicators/parameters for a monitoring programme • Alternative objectives for what are acceptable conditions, preferably with related target values for the state of the indicators. Recommendations • Measures in order to reach the desired objectives/target values. • Research needs for better understanding of local impacts

More Related