BBC News Online
Thursday, 23 January, 2003, 15:12 GMT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2684891.stm
UN war clean-up lacks UK cash
Pancevo's petrochemical plant, one of the hotspots
By Alex Kirby
BBC News Online environment correspondent
The UK is failing to fund a United Nations scheme to put right
environmental damage in Yugoslavia caused by the Nato bombardment of
1999.
It says it is channelling support for the clean-up through a separate
European Union (EU) scheme.
But all EU member states are obliged to support that project, the EU
Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and
Stabilisation.
Funding for the UN's work, which many Nato members are supporting, is
voluntary.
The disclosure that the UK is not backing the UN's work was obtained
by the BBC Radio 4 programme Costing the Earth.
It reported on the way in which countries try to restore their damaged
environments after a conflict, and focussed on Yugoslavia, which was
attacked by Nato four years ago.
Modest means
After years of conflict in the Balkans the UN Environment Programme
set up a dedicated division, the Post-Conflict Assessment Unit (PCAU),
to help countries emerging from war.
In Yugoslavia it identified four hotspots that had been bombed and
needed urgent action.
They were an oil refinery at Novi Sad; a mining centre at Bor; a car
plant in Kragujevac; and a petrochemical plant at Pancevo, near
Belgrade.
The unit's budget for its entire work programme is $11.2m. Pasi Rinne,
from Finland, is the PCAU's senior policy advisor.
He told Costing the Earth: "With the $11.2m we have been able to
reduce environmental risks at all of these locations.
"We've been able to show that the environment is an important thing,
and there are people and governments who care for environmental
issues.
"In all of these locations the co-operation has been very
constructive. The national and local authorities are very involved."
Asked which countries were supporting the unit, Mr Rinne said: "Many
of the Nato countries have given funds, including the Netherlands,
Denmark, Norway and Germany.
"The UK and the US have not yet supported the programme."
No choice
The UK's Department for International Development (DfID) told Costing
the Earth it was "supporting the remediation of hotspot areas" through
its contribution to the EU programme.
What the Department did not say was that all EU member states are
required automatically to support this programme.
Nor did it explain why the UK, unlike many of its Nato allies, had
chosen not to fund the PCAU's work.
Apart from the four hotspots, Mr Rinne is also concerned at the
possible risk to local people from the remains of depleted uranium
(DU) ammunition used by the Nato forces.
DU is 1.7 times denser than lead, and is used in bombs and artillery
rounds to punch a hole through armoured vehicles.
Although it is appreciably less radioactive than ordinary uranium, it
can still be a problem. A DU round turns into a spray of molten dust
on impact, and the dust can cause cancer if it enters the body.
Lingering fears
Jelena Beronja, an environmental campaigner, told Costing the Earth
the prospect frightened her.
She said: "I've talked to people from the Institute of Nuclear
Sciences from Belgrade who've been to these places.
"Maybe it's my own decision that I want to believe what people in the
Institute said, that there are only four affected spots in Serbia and
one in Montenegro.
"At least it's easier to live that way than to be afraid all your
life."
Pasi Rinne said the DU contamination the PCAU had found was not very
high-level, but he feared it posed unnecessary additional risks to
local people, and could harm them in the long term.
Thursday, 23 January, 2003, 15:12 GMT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2684891.stm
UN war clean-up lacks UK cash
Pancevo's petrochemical plant, one of the hotspots
By Alex Kirby
BBC News Online environment correspondent
The UK is failing to fund a United Nations scheme to put right
environmental damage in Yugoslavia caused by the Nato bombardment of
1999.
It says it is channelling support for the clean-up through a separate
European Union (EU) scheme.
But all EU member states are obliged to support that project, the EU
Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and
Stabilisation.
Funding for the UN's work, which many Nato members are supporting, is
voluntary.
The disclosure that the UK is not backing the UN's work was obtained
by the BBC Radio 4 programme Costing the Earth.
It reported on the way in which countries try to restore their damaged
environments after a conflict, and focussed on Yugoslavia, which was
attacked by Nato four years ago.
Modest means
After years of conflict in the Balkans the UN Environment Programme
set up a dedicated division, the Post-Conflict Assessment Unit (PCAU),
to help countries emerging from war.
In Yugoslavia it identified four hotspots that had been bombed and
needed urgent action.
They were an oil refinery at Novi Sad; a mining centre at Bor; a car
plant in Kragujevac; and a petrochemical plant at Pancevo, near
Belgrade.
The unit's budget for its entire work programme is $11.2m. Pasi Rinne,
from Finland, is the PCAU's senior policy advisor.
He told Costing the Earth: "With the $11.2m we have been able to
reduce environmental risks at all of these locations.
"We've been able to show that the environment is an important thing,
and there are people and governments who care for environmental
issues.
"In all of these locations the co-operation has been very
constructive. The national and local authorities are very involved."
Asked which countries were supporting the unit, Mr Rinne said: "Many
of the Nato countries have given funds, including the Netherlands,
Denmark, Norway and Germany.
"The UK and the US have not yet supported the programme."
No choice
The UK's Department for International Development (DfID) told Costing
the Earth it was "supporting the remediation of hotspot areas" through
its contribution to the EU programme.
What the Department did not say was that all EU member states are
required automatically to support this programme.
Nor did it explain why the UK, unlike many of its Nato allies, had
chosen not to fund the PCAU's work.
Apart from the four hotspots, Mr Rinne is also concerned at the
possible risk to local people from the remains of depleted uranium
(DU) ammunition used by the Nato forces.
DU is 1.7 times denser than lead, and is used in bombs and artillery
rounds to punch a hole through armoured vehicles.
Although it is appreciably less radioactive than ordinary uranium, it
can still be a problem. A DU round turns into a spray of molten dust
on impact, and the dust can cause cancer if it enters the body.
Lingering fears
Jelena Beronja, an environmental campaigner, told Costing the Earth
the prospect frightened her.
She said: "I've talked to people from the Institute of Nuclear
Sciences from Belgrade who've been to these places.
"Maybe it's my own decision that I want to believe what people in the
Institute said, that there are only four affected spots in Serbia and
one in Montenegro.
"At least it's easier to live that way than to be afraid all your
life."
Pasi Rinne said the DU contamination the PCAU had found was not very
high-level, but he feared it posed unnecessary additional risks to
local people, and could harm them in the long term.