Environmental Policies
#11Key Findings
With generally good environmental-performance outcomes, Latvia scores well overall (rank 11) with regard to environmental policies. Its score on this measure has improved by 0.1 point relative to 2014.
The country’s climate policy is driven primarily by its EU obligations. It performs well in the area of renewable energy, but energy use figures overall are concerning. Per capita emissions are increasing.
Environmental ambitions are rising after a series of recent reforms. Municipal waste management is improving, a new law reduces the use of plastic products, and a new packaging system aimed at reducing waste and fostering a circular economy is being introduced.
Protection of forests is well organized, with strong management plans for the country’s forests. The country complies with major international agreements, and has bilateral environmental cooperation agreements with many EU and regional states.
The country’s climate policy is driven primarily by its EU obligations. It performs well in the area of renewable energy, but energy use figures overall are concerning. Per capita emissions are increasing.
Environmental ambitions are rising after a series of recent reforms. Municipal waste management is improving, a new law reduces the use of plastic products, and a new packaging system aimed at reducing waste and fostering a circular economy is being introduced.
Protection of forests is well organized, with strong management plans for the country’s forests. The country complies with major international agreements, and has bilateral environmental cooperation agreements with many EU and regional states.
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How effectively does environmental policy in your country protect and preserve the sustainability of natural resources and environmental quality?
10
9
9
Environmental policy goals are ambitious and effectively implemented as well as monitored within and across most relevant policy sectors that account for the largest share of resource use and emissions.
8
7
6
7
6
Environmental policy goals are mainly ambitious and effectively implemented and are monitored within and across some of the relevant policy sectors that account for the largest share of resource use and emissions.
5
4
3
4
3
Environmental policy goals are neither particularly ambitious nor are they effectively implemented and coordinated across relevant policy sectors.
2
1
1
Environmental concerns have been largely abandoned.
Latvia is a heavily wooded country, with 2.9 million hectares (44.5% of the total area) of its territory forested, 50% of which is state-owned. The government acts as both regulator and largest landowner with respect to Latvia’s forests. Protection of forests is well organized and secured through legislation which regulates all related economic activities, including harvesting, management plans, regeneration, and the monitoring and control of tree species.
The EU Environmental Implementation Review (2019) and the OECD Environmental Performance Review (2019) emphasized that, despite the overall positive performance, Latvia would benefit from setting more ambitious goals when it comes to environmental performance. In particular, waste management, eco-innovation and material recycling remain a challenge. In addition, the OECD has emphasized the need for Latvia to invest in green public procurement, eco-labeling and market incentives, and to additionally promote public awareness, ensure better enforcement and set more ambitious goals in this area.
Meaningful steps have been taken to address many of these challenges, however. For example, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development developed a reform project, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, aimed at improving municipal waste management by reviewing the boundaries of municipal waste regions and the functions of landfills, moving from 10 municipal waste management regions to five in order to make more efficient use of resources and meet the new waste management targets. The key target here is to ensure that the share of municipal waste disposed of in landfills (63.8% in 2019) ultimately declines substantially (with a target of 10% in 2035). Similarly, Latvia introduced a Law on Reduction of Consumption of Plastic products in 2021, and will launch a packaging system in February 2022 to reduce waste and foster a circular economy. Furthermore, in 2020, the regulatory framework for green procurement was improved to promote the production and use of environmentally friendly goods and enhance the support provided to local producers.
Latvia is on course to achieve many of the Sustainable Development Goals, with significant opportunities to accelerate the move to a low-carbon, greener and more inclusive economy.
Citations:
1. European Commission (2019), The Environmental Implementation Review: Latvia, Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/environment/eir/pdf/report_lv_en.pdf, Last assessed: 10.01.2022.
2. OECD (2019) OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Latvia 2019, Available at: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/2cb03cdd-en/1/2/3/2/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/2cb03cdd-en&mimeType=text/html&_csp_=d3aab935ae1f1f17fda33fa49884a4c8&itemIGO=oecd&itemContentType=book, Last accessed: 10.01.2022.
3. Central Statisitcal Bureau (2019) Latvia: Statistics in brief, Available at: https://www.csb.gov.lv/sites/default/files/publication/2019-05/Nr_03_Latvia_Statistics_in%20Brief%202019_%2819_00%29_EN.pdf, Last accessed: 10.01.2022.
4. Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (2020) Public Annual Report, Available (in Latvian) at: https://www.varam.gov.lv/lv/media/26229/download, Last accessed: 10.01.2022.
5. Law on the Reduction of Consumption of Products Containing Plastic (2021), Available at: https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/323733, Last accessed: 10.01.2022.
The EU Environmental Implementation Review (2019) and the OECD Environmental Performance Review (2019) emphasized that, despite the overall positive performance, Latvia would benefit from setting more ambitious goals when it comes to environmental performance. In particular, waste management, eco-innovation and material recycling remain a challenge. In addition, the OECD has emphasized the need for Latvia to invest in green public procurement, eco-labeling and market incentives, and to additionally promote public awareness, ensure better enforcement and set more ambitious goals in this area.
Meaningful steps have been taken to address many of these challenges, however. For example, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development developed a reform project, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, aimed at improving municipal waste management by reviewing the boundaries of municipal waste regions and the functions of landfills, moving from 10 municipal waste management regions to five in order to make more efficient use of resources and meet the new waste management targets. The key target here is to ensure that the share of municipal waste disposed of in landfills (63.8% in 2019) ultimately declines substantially (with a target of 10% in 2035). Similarly, Latvia introduced a Law on Reduction of Consumption of Plastic products in 2021, and will launch a packaging system in February 2022 to reduce waste and foster a circular economy. Furthermore, in 2020, the regulatory framework for green procurement was improved to promote the production and use of environmentally friendly goods and enhance the support provided to local producers.
Latvia is on course to achieve many of the Sustainable Development Goals, with significant opportunities to accelerate the move to a low-carbon, greener and more inclusive economy.
Citations:
1. European Commission (2019), The Environmental Implementation Review: Latvia, Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/environment/eir/pdf/report_lv_en.pdf, Last assessed: 10.01.2022.
2. OECD (2019) OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Latvia 2019, Available at: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/2cb03cdd-en/1/2/3/2/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/2cb03cdd-en&mimeType=text/html&_csp_=d3aab935ae1f1f17fda33fa49884a4c8&itemIGO=oecd&itemContentType=book, Last accessed: 10.01.2022.
3. Central Statisitcal Bureau (2019) Latvia: Statistics in brief, Available at: https://www.csb.gov.lv/sites/default/files/publication/2019-05/Nr_03_Latvia_Statistics_in%20Brief%202019_%2819_00%29_EN.pdf, Last accessed: 10.01.2022.
4. Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (2020) Public Annual Report, Available (in Latvian) at: https://www.varam.gov.lv/lv/media/26229/download, Last accessed: 10.01.2022.
5. Law on the Reduction of Consumption of Products Containing Plastic (2021), Available at: https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/323733, Last accessed: 10.01.2022.
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To what extent does the government actively contribute to the design and advancement of global environmental protection regimes?
10
9
9
The government actively contributes to international efforts to design and advance global environmental protection regimes. In most cases, it demonstrates commitment to existing regimes, contributes to their being advanced and has introduced appropriate reforms.
8
7
6
7
6
The government contributes to international efforts to strengthen global environmental protection regimes. It demonstrates commitment to existing regimes and occasionally contributes to their being advanced and/or has introduced some appropriate reforms.
5
4
3
4
3
The government demonstrates commitment to existing regimes, but does not contribute to their being advanced and has not introduced appropriate reforms.
2
1
1
The government does not contribute to international efforts to strengthen global environmental protection regimes.
Latvia is not an international environmental policy agenda-setter. As an EU member state, Latvia is bound by EU legislation, with EU climate policy being particularly influential. Latvia indirectly contributes to EU initiatives and has agreed to comply with international agreements and conventions, such as the Kyoto Protocol, the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, the Bern Convention, the Helsinki Convention and others. Latvia has also signed bilateral cooperation agreements on the issue of environmental policy with Austria, Belarus, Denmark, Georgia, Estonia, Russia, Lithuania, Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Finland and Ukraine. In addition, Latvia is party to the Helsinki Commission Baltic Sea Action Plan, which aims to improve the Baltic Sea’s ecological status. Nevertheless, Latvia does not have the political or economic capacity to lead on or directly advance global environmental protection regimes.
Latvia has been a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since 1995 and to the Kyoto Protocol since 2002. The 2019 Climate Change Performance Index, which evaluated emissions trends, emissions levels, and climate policy, rated Latvia as a high performer overall, especially regarding the management of greenhouse gas emissions. However, that ranking had fallen 13 spots to 26th place by 2022, and Latvia is now rated as a medium performer overall, remaining strong in the renewable energy and climate policy categories, but lagging behind in national climate policy and scoring particularly low with regard to energy use. The report notes that Latvia seems to be moving in the wrong direction because of increasing per capita emissions, and it is therefore not on track for the 2°C target.
Citations:
1. Germanwatch (2019). Climate Change Performance Index. Available at: https://germanwatch.org/sites/germanwatch.org/files/CCPI-2019-Results-190614-WEB-A4.pdf, Last accessed 04.01.2022.
2. Germanwatch (2022). Climate Change Performance Index: Latvia. Available at: https://ccpi.org/country/lva/, Last accessed 04.01.2022.
2. Yale University (2020), Environmental Performance Index Rankings, Available at: https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/epi-country-report/LVA. Last assessed: 04.01.2022.
Latvia has been a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since 1995 and to the Kyoto Protocol since 2002. The 2019 Climate Change Performance Index, which evaluated emissions trends, emissions levels, and climate policy, rated Latvia as a high performer overall, especially regarding the management of greenhouse gas emissions. However, that ranking had fallen 13 spots to 26th place by 2022, and Latvia is now rated as a medium performer overall, remaining strong in the renewable energy and climate policy categories, but lagging behind in national climate policy and scoring particularly low with regard to energy use. The report notes that Latvia seems to be moving in the wrong direction because of increasing per capita emissions, and it is therefore not on track for the 2°C target.
Citations:
1. Germanwatch (2019). Climate Change Performance Index. Available at: https://germanwatch.org/sites/germanwatch.org/files/CCPI-2019-Results-190614-WEB-A4.pdf, Last accessed 04.01.2022.
2. Germanwatch (2022). Climate Change Performance Index: Latvia. Available at: https://ccpi.org/country/lva/, Last accessed 04.01.2022.
2. Yale University (2020), Environmental Performance Index Rankings, Available at: https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/epi-country-report/LVA. Last assessed: 04.01.2022.