soil fertility. Deposits of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds, pesticides and organic
substances have heavily polluted the surface and under water supplies. It is estimated that
about 10 per cent of the whole surface of the CEEC has bad water quality. About 50% of the
population in the CEECs used to live in these areas, which belonged to the most polluted
areas in the world. Birth problems, learning difficulties, respiratory diseases and short life
expectations (e.g. 5 to 7 years shorter in the former Czechoslovakia than in Western Europe)
were the noticeable results.
The transition countries and the former Soviet Union used to belong to the 15 biggest
global CO2 polluters in the world. Their emissions increased continuously from 800 Mt CO2
in 1950 to 4.800 Mt in 1988. Thereafter the carbon emissions intensity gradual decreased
from 537 t CO2 per million USD of GDP in 1990 to 453 in 1996. These numbers still remain
high as compared to the EU. The transition countries show high per-capita CO2 emissions: 11
tons per capita in comparison to 8 tons per capital in the EU and a global average of 4 tons per
capita in 1992 (Baumert, Petkova and Barbu 1999). Due to the decreased demand of primary
energy, mainly following the economic downturn and substitution for fuels with lower carbon
content (Table 1), a sharp decrease of CO2 emissions has occurred. The fast reforming
countries Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Estonia have managed to reduce their energy
intensity up to 38 % during the 6 years after the start of the reforms. Combined policies such
as controlled increase of fossil fuel, electricity and heat prices with certain degree of
restructuring (breaking the state monopolies in the energy generation and mining companies)
have been applied. However very complex systems of cross-subsidies are still existing
(Lubinski 1996, Sejak 1996). Nonetheless, some energy projections suggest that the CEEC
might not be able to sustain their CO2 commitments of the Kyoto Protocol as they expect to
surpass the base year levels due to the higher economic growth caused by the integration
process (Table 2).