Interpellation concerning the impact of the green transition was discussed in the Riigikogu

NordenBladet —

The Minister of Regional Affairs Madis Kallas replied to the interpellation concerning the impact of the green transition in the area of administration of the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture (No. 341), submitted by Members of the Riigikogu Rain Epler, Kert Kingo and Kalle Grünthal.

Kallas explained that, without doubt, the green transition was having major impact precisely on the food production sector and particularly on primary production in agriculture.

“As a generalisation, it can be said that all impacts arising from the green transition, above all on agriculture, are mainly due to the fact that climate change needs to be taken into account,” Kallas emphasised.

He explained that the green transition may not have as good and positive an image as does the sustainable use of the environment and the use of environmental resources. We will definitely need to make a joint effort in this regard. “Therefore I am saying that Estonia has been moving slowly and steadily in terms of sustainable resource use. We have made several right decisions in view of how such decisions have been made in our neighbouring countries,” the minister said. He admitted that there were several decisions with which Estonia had indeed in a sense fallen behind the trends and good developments that could have been in use in Estonia already earlier.

Kallas noted that the main principle had always been that, in the case of state intervention, the economic, environmental as well as social dimensions must always be taken into account. “I think that if we keep these three indicators in mind all the time, we will actually end up making right decisions without suppressing any of these three important aspects or raising any of these three aspects too high,” Kallas said. According to him they need to be viewed in conjunction so that these decisions would be balanced and that they would support the sectors in the area of administration of the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture and would not be detrimental in any way.

When speaking of measures, the minister said that they actually contained the grants of the whole common agricultural policy. This will be over 1.5 billion euro for Estonia in the next period.

“One way or another we have also kept in mind how we could use our natural resources more sustainably, at the same time not forgetting the economic aspects and social aspects,” Kallas said.

These processes in the area of administration of the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture have been launched already much earlier. “All the activities that have been carried out in agriculture, land use, and food production are to my mind already going in the right direction, considering the outcomes of previous common agricultural policy periods. At the same time, we must not forget the economic side of rural life and the social side of rural life,” Kallas said.

The Minister of Regional Affairs Madis Kallas also replied to the interpellation concerning the rise in expenses (No. 354).

The Minister of Social Protection Signe Riisalo replied to the interpellation concerning the amendment of the Family Law Act (No. 256), submitted by members of the Riigikogu.

The Minister of Culture Heidy Purga replied to the interpellation concerning the endangering of the independence of press publications (No. 345), submitted by members of the Riigikogu.

The Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas replied to the interpellations concerning the closing down of schools in rural areas (No. 406), the integral impact of the tax package (No. 443), and support specialists (No. 487), submitted by members of the Riigikogu.

Due to the absence of interpellators, it was not possible to discuss the interpellation concerning the integral impact of the tax package (No. 301), submitted to the Minister of Regional Affairs Madis Kallas.

Due to the absence of interpellators, it was not possible to discuss the interpellation concerning g the rise in VAT (No. 417), submitted to the Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas.

The initiators withdrew the interpellations concerning the integral impact of the tax package (No. 235) and the impact of the green transition in the area of administration of the Ministry of Social Affairs (No. 237), submitted to the Minister of Social Protection Signe Riisalo. The interpellation concerning the impact of inflation on the area of administration of the Ministry of Culture (No. 265), submitted to the Minister of Culture Heidy Purga, and the interpellation concerning the rise in VAT (No. 323), submitted to the Minister of Regional Affairs Madis Kallas, were also withdrawn.

The sitting ended at 6.36 p.m.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Video recording will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.

Riigikogu Press Service
Gunnar Paal
+372 631 6351, +372 5190 2837
gunnar.paal@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: Interpellation concerning the impact of the green transition was discussed in the Riigikogu

Source: Parliament of Estonia