Federated States of Micronesia unhappy Czech Power station survives
Updated
The Minister for the Environment in the Czech Republic resigned last week. Jan Dusik quit over plans to extend the life of a coal fired power station, which had been objected to by the Federated States of Micronesia.
The FSM said continuing to use the plant would contribute to global warming and rising sea levels. The Czech Power company CEZ ignored the move and the country's environment minister quit in protest. That decision has disappointed many environmentalists around the world, but the role the FSM played in the debate is now being identified as precedent-setting.
Presenter: Sam Seke and Campbell Cooney
Speaker: Jan Srytr, Lawyer, Environmental Law Service, Czech Republic; Andrew Yaltiman, Director, Office of Environment and Emergency Management, Federated States of Micronesia; Lagi Toribau, Spokesman, Greenpeace
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COONEY: In December the Federated States of Micronesia asked to be considered in the Trans Boundary Environmental Impact Assessment of expanding the plant's life, saying while being a Pacific Island nation, it didn't have a boundary with the European public, it would be impacted by the carbon emissions the power plant would product. But last week the Czech Republic's Environment Minister Jan Dusik resigned. Greenpeace's Pacific spokesman Lagi Toribau says Mr Dusik was left with little choice.
TORIBAU: As far as we understand that the ex-minister of environment, he was due to make a statement which was basically not to proceed with the extension of the power station, but given that it became a huge political issue with the Prime Minister and certainly the coal-fired power station industry intervening.
COONEY: Yan Srytr is a lawyer with the Environmental Law Service in the Czech Republic. He spoke to Sam Seke about Mr Dusik's resignation.
SRYTR: So the Czech Prime Minister put very strong pressure on the former minister of the environment to let the project be realised, and only two days after the resignation of Czech minister Dusik, he appointed a new minister who is in fact related to the political party who is very strongly related to the CEZ project.
SEKE: So the new minister is pro-, well fire plant project, he wants the project to go ahead?
SRYTR: I cannot say it like this, I can only say that he was nominated by a political party who openly supported the CEZ project.
COONEY: Andrew Yaltiman is the Director of the Federated States of Micronesia's Office of Environment and Emergency Management. He says last week's resignation surprised his government, and they're disappointed that it appears the power station will get the nod.
YALTIMAN: It's a disappointment, we had hoped that our concerns would be taken under consideration.
COONEY: But Mr Srytr says the minister's resignation did take people in the Czech Republic by surprise.
SRYTR: Because according to our opinion the former minister of the environment had all the information that he needed to decide that the project proposed by the CEZ company should not be allowed. So it was a little bit surprising because we rather expected that the CEZ project would be denied by the minister.
COONEY: Meanwhile Greenpeace activists have occupied the power station in protest.
TORIBAU: You have activists hanging from the chimney of one of the plants, and we're willing to basically stay in it as long as we possibly can.
COONEY: And while it appears that the Prunerov II power station will survive, the efforts of the government of the FSM to try and influence decisions made by developed countries, which it believes will adversely impact its people is seen as an example for all Pacific countries. Czech environmental lawyer, Jan Srytr.
SRYTR: I would recommend all countries, like for instance Micronesia and other countries who are affected by the climate change, to closely follow the project in the Czech Republic because this may become a very important precedent in the eyes of the international environmental law in the future.
TALENT: It does provide us with a new I guess approach in how we can take countries that are responsible for climate change, that are responsible for carbon emission to be challenged.
COONEY: Mr Yaltiman is pleased his country was listened to.
YALTIMAN: Hopefully there is a message out there that yes it's small island countries that in fact play a role in deciding or at least influencing decisions by these major polluters.
