Estonia

2020 Voluntary National Review

Estonia outlined that new water management plans have been implemented in order to improve the status of rivers, lakes, coastal waters, the sea, prevent floods, and retain the sediment and nutrients transferred from agricultural and forest lands. The country further reported that additional drinking water and wastewater services were provided to approximately 28,000 more people, as well as 1,500 sewerage systems and 1,400 water systems have been built for households in low-density areas. The elimination of residual pollution from the catchment areas of the Purtse River and the Kroodi stream have also started, but these activities will end in 2022 and 2020, respectively. New plans, together with measure programmes and flood risk management plans for 2021–2027, are being prepared.  

Estonia also reported to face a challenge in achieving their goal of good status in 81% of surface water bodies and 84% of groundwater bodies by the end of 2021. They highlight that the challenge lies in the data from monitoring water bodies, as the status is worse than they thought, and many mitigating measures are voluntary and, therefore, not sufficiently implemented. 

The country restated commitments to future progression in achieving the 2030 Agenda and its goals through international cooperation. The Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce is actively involved in raising awareness for water protection in farming and agriculture, participates in the LIFE IP CleanEST project led by the Ministry of the Environment, and aims to improve the condition of water bodies in East- and West-Viru counties. Additionally, Estonia’s long-term strategy, “Estonia 2035”, creates a strong basis for a more systematic and robust reflection of sustainable development goals in sectoral strategies, as it sets strategic goals for the Estonian state and people for the next fifteen years and determines the changes necessary to achieve them. 

Read the full report here: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/26284VNR_2020_Estonia_Report.pdf 

*The information reflected on this page has been taken directly from the official VNR received from this Member State. The information does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations.