development report 2012 - UMAR

80 Development Report 2012
Development by the priorities of SDS – Integration of measures to achieve sustainable development
Figure 24: Domestic material consumption and resource productivity
50
45
Fossil energy carriers
Non-metallic minerals
Metal ores
Biomass
Resource productivity (right axis)
1.0
0.9
1.8
1.6
1.4
Resource productivity (GDP in PPS)
40
0.8
1.2
In millions of tonnes
35
30
25
20
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
In EUR/kg
In EUR in PPS/kg
1.0
0.8
0.6
15
0.3
0.4
10
5
0
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
SI-STAT data portal – Environment, 2012; SI-STAT data portal – National Accounts, 2012; Eurostat Portal Page – Environment, 2012. Calculations by IMAD.
Note: Waste and other products are not shown due to the small size of the categories in the figure (left). PPS – purchasing power standard.
0.2
0.1
0.0
0.2
0.0
2009
EU-27
2009
Slovenia
2010
Slovenia
motorway network 278 . According to SORS data, material
productivity in 2010 improved for the third year in a
row by 7.2% and was thus 23.2% higher than in 2005.
In contrast to before the advent of the crisis, the lower
use of materials was mostly contributed to by a lower
use of construction materials. Data on annual changes
in the scope and structure of the cost of the materials
used during the economic crisis also point to the
rationalisation of the use of raw materials in the majority
of industries.
By devoting more attention to environmental issues in
agricultural policy, the negative impact of agriculture
on the environment is being reduced in the long run,
and was also reduced in 2010, but not according to all
indicators. Slovenian agriculture, which is not ranked
among the more intensive according to international
comparisons 279 , has gradually reduced the environmental
burden in recent years. This is mainly due to the direction
of agricultural policy, according to which the producers’
eligibility for subsidies is conditional upon the compliance
with the prescribed environmental standards. In 2010,
fertilisation with mineral fertilisers increased, but was still
almost a third lower than at the beginning of this decade,
while the overall use of pesticides continued to decrease.
Together with nitrates, residual pesticides constitute the
major source of pollution in agriculture which affects
groundwater and consequently also drinking water. The
monitoring of drinking water quality in Slovenia shows
that at some monitoring stations located near the most
intensive agricultural regions the permissible values of
278
According to the tables of use, the use of non-metallic
materials in civil engineering (e.g. the construction of roads)
is above average in comparison with other construction
activities.
279
Source: Agriculture and fishery statistics, 2011.
individual active substances 280 are still being occasionally
exceeded, however, in general, the situation is relatively
positive and is gradually improving. Agricultural
production intensity, measured by the average yield of
the two most important crops, significantly lags behind
the EU average; it however, increased in 2010. This reveals
a slightly improved exploitation of natural resources,
whereby the scope of agricultural production also
strongly depends on the changing weather conditions
and in the long run also on the climate change. The low
level of national self-sufficiency in basic food products
requires an even more intensive production orientation
which would comply with the adopted adjustment
programme 281 , although its time limit is relatively short.
However, the average milk yield per animal – which is
one of the main indicators in animal exploitation – has
dropped the third year in a row. In Slovenia, the value
of this indicator is also below the EU average, while
from the aspect of environmental pollution per unit of
production, at least a slightly higher level of intensity
would be desirable 282 . In sustainable farming, progress
was made in 2010; however, this progress will not be
sufficient to achieve the set objective. The proportion
of land devoted to organic farming, which is one of the
most effective methods of sustainable use of natural
resources in agriculture and exceeds the EU average due
280
The regions of the Dravsko and Mursko polje and the Savinjska
kotlina are particularly overburdened. Adapted from: Simončič
A. and Sušin J.: Spremljanje in preprečevanje negativnih vplivov
kmetijstva na onesnaževanje voda s fitofarmacevtskimi sredstvi
in nitrati. Celje, 2011.
281
Akcijski načrt strategije prilagajanja slovenskega kmetijstva
in gozdarstva podnebnim spremembam za leti 2010 in 2011
(Action Plan for the Strategy for Adaptation of Slovenian
Agriculture and Forestry to Climate Change in 2010 and 2011).
Government of the Republic of Slovenia, 2008.
282
Source: Verbič J., 2008.