PDF file: Annual Report 2002/2003 - Scottish Crop Research Institute

Director’s Report
a competitive auction in March 2002, 34 companies
took on legally binding emission reductions. Within
the EU, a mandatory carbon-dioxide emissions trading
scheme for companies was proposed to begin in
2006, in which national governments impose total
carbon dioxide caps on companies which they would
then be able to trade for carbon-dioxide allowances
within the EU – the so-called ‘cap and trade’ scheme.
Changes in the sourcing of energy in the UK will
inevitably occur as the oil and gas reserves in the
North Sea decline. The ‘carrot and stick’ approach to
meeting the Kyoto obligations – caps on greenhousegas
emissions and encouragement to invest in ‘greenenergy’
(renewable-energy) schemes raised questions
about future energy costs and the competitive position
of UK industry. Heavy costs were predicted for the
construction of dispersed renewable-energy-generating
systems and connecting them to the national grid.
Air pollution controls that extend beyond the
Framework Convention on Climate Change include
(a) the Convention on Long Range Transboundary
Air Pollution which came into force in 1993 and
comprising protocols covering several specific pollutants,
and (b) the European Integrated Pollution
Prevention and Control Directive (based on the UK
Environmental Protection Act 1990) which came into
force in August – September 2000 and implemented
in the UK through the Pollution Prevention and
Control regulations 2000. These latter regulations
also implement in part the EC Solvent Emissions
Directive aimed at ameliorating the effects of volatile
organic compounds. A revision took place in January
2000 of the UK National Air Quality Strategy published
originally in 1997, and setting targets to be met
during 2003-2008 for the eight major types of air pollutant:
benzene, 1-3 butadiene, carbon monoxide,
lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulates, and sulphur
dioxide. Local authorities bear the brunt of
meeting the objectives of the Strategy. In future, targets
for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons will be
incorporated in the Strategy, following new EU guidelines.
Water Of special relevance to agriculture and horticulture
was the coming into force in December 2000
of the EU Water Framework Directive which set a
target of achieving ‘good water status’ throughout the
EU by 2015. Related to this are (a) the soon-to-berevised
EC Bathing Water Directive covering nearly
400 coastal and nine inland bathing waters in the UK;
(b) the European Urban Waste Water Treatment
Directive that relates to coastal discharges and with
standards reinforced by the UK Government; and (c)
the Operation of the Environment Agency, the
Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and the
Environment and Heritage Service for Northern
Ireland, in which river-quality objectives, abstraction
licences, and discharge controls are set and monitored.
Water on and from agricultural lands are regarded as
public goods.
Protected Areas and Species In last year’s Director’s
Report, I gave a brief overview on the National Parks,
Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB),
National Scenic Areas (NSAs), the National Forest,
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), the
National, Local, Forest, and Marine Nature
Resources. Some of these relate to the Convention
Concerning the Protection for the World Cultural
and Natural Heritage, as adopted by UNESCO in
1972, ratified by the UK in 1984, and by mid-2002
ratified by 172 nations. Other relevant international
conventions include (a) the 1971 Ramsar Convention
on Wetlands of International Importance especially as
Wildfowl Habitat; which came into force in the UK
in May 1976, covering 169 designated sites covering
854,389 hectares, and overseen by the UK Ramsar
Committee. (b) The 1992 Convention on Biological
Diversity ratified by the UK in June 1994, and with
the prime objectives of the conservation of biological
diversity, the sustainable use of biological diversity,
and the equitable sharing of benefits derived from the
use of genetic resources. Out of this Convention
arose the 1994 UK Biodiversity Action Plan, the 1995
Report of the UK Biodiversity Steering Group, and
the subsequent Sustaining the Variety of Life: 5 years of
the UK Biodiversity Action Plan published in March
2001. By 2002, there were over 160 local biodiversity
action plans being developed throughout the UK. (c)
The 1973 Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES), which came into force in the UK in July
1975. The 158 signatory countries ban trade in
around 30,000 endangered and likely-to-be endangered
species. (d) The 1979 Convention on
Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals –
the Bonn Convention – that came into force in the
UK in October 1979, and has the objectives of protecting
listed endangered migratory species such as
bats, birds, cetaceans, seals, and marine turtles. (e)
The 1979 Bern Convention on the Conservation of
European Wildlife and Natural Habitats came into
force in the UK in June 1982, with the objectives of
conserving wild flora and fauna in their natural habi-
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