Polish ecologists: Nord Stream 2 is a hazardous and unnecessary project
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is harmful for the ecological initiative, and also contravenes the norms of European law.
Robert Cyglicki, director of Greenpeace Poland, and Marcin Stoczkiewicz, lawyer from the ClientEarth initiative, made a statement to this effect regarding the results of the public hearing and the preparation of comments on the project by ecologists from various countries, which took place on June 5 in Finland.
The Polish ecologists called “Nord Stream 2” a hazardous and unnecessary project.
“Nord Stream 2 is an unnecessary and hazardous investment by energy concerns, which, at any cost, are trying to make Europe dependent on extractive resources,” Cyglicki said.
He pointed out that under the dictates of the energy concerns, legislation has changed, and eyes have been closed to a careful assessment of the effect of such investments on the environment.
“This is why we are demanding a complete assessment of the socio-ecological expenditure of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline,” the director of Greenpeace Poland stressed.
According to him, the channel capacity of Nord Stream 2 is estimated at 55 billion cubic meters per year, which implies CO2 emissions into the atmosphere of 106 million tons per year. “And these are annual emissions on the level of the entire economy of the Czech Republic”, Cyglicki compared.
ClientEarth representative Stoczkiewicz mentioned that the gas pipeline in eight EU countries would lie close to the network of “Natura 2000” sites, including two Polish sites. Consequently, each investment near to such sites must be carefully considered.
“The report on the effects of the Nord Stream 2 project on the ecology does not contain an adequate assessment of the effects of the investment on the flora and fauna of the Baltic Sea,” Stoczkiewicz observed.
He urged the Finnish authorities not to give ecological authorization to this project.
“All other EU states should act in a similar fashion,” Stoczkiewicz emphasized.
He also announced that on June 13 in Szczecin (north-west Poland) public hearings would be held, the results of which would be included in a report on the transboundary assessment of the effect of Nord Stream 2 on ecology. This document will be submitted to the Polish Minister of Ecology. The Polish state organs should assess these comments, and if they recognize them as significant, they should forward them to other states, which will also assess this project’s influence on ecology.
Nord Stream 2 is a project for the construction of a gas pipeline capable of carrying 55 billion cubic meters per year from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. Its route is expected to lie along the bottom of the sea, and the entry points to the gas transport system of Germany in Greifswald will be the same as those of the first Nord Stream, initiated in 2011.