[] TL: CANALS & ELBE RIVER, GERMANY
SO: Greenpeace Association, Germany (GP)
DT: May 1992
Keywords: terrec rivers elbe germany europe construction gp /

EXPERT ECONOMIC-ECOLOGICAL APPRAISAL OF THE CANALISATION OF 
   THE ELBE (GP)

Report by the Institut fuer Oekologische Wirtschaftsforschung
(ecological institute for economic research), Berlin, on behalf
of the Greenpeace Association Ulrich Petschow, Juergen
Meyerhoff, Dirk Einert Berlin, May 1992

EDITORIAL FOREWORD

It is a continual wonder that the very numerous reports
published in the recent past on the disastrous pollution of the
Elbe may be set against descriptions extolling the natural
beauty, romance and attraction of the river's scenery. Anyone
travelling along the Elbe today finds places with nature
undisturbed right next to places at which industry has been
performing its destructive work for decades. 

What is unique in this landscape is a river that for long
stretches pursues its natural course. This in turn makes it
difficult for those working on barges. They have to follow all
the bends with their relatively small boats, and there is often
too little water in the river. Economic power in what was
formerly East Germany was not sufficient to develop the river
into "a modern waterway". Plans which were on the engineers'
drawing boards in the fifties and sixties envisaged for the Elbe
almost thirty barrage weirs with locks on GDR territory. With
the straightenings and channel constrictions planned the river
would then have met the demands of modern inland waterway
navigation. The plans stayed in the drawer on grounds of cost. 

But they have not been forgotten. In the wake of political
changes in Eastern Europe, developing the Elbe into an openly
navigable waterway is, for the most diverse interest groups in
Germany and Czechoslovakia, and at European level, the decisive
opportunity for managing the constantly growing traffic.

Numerous statements on the ecological consequences of canalising
the Elbe have since appeared. Greenpeace and other environmental
protection associations have pointed to the destruction of the
unique natural landscape to be expected. There are absolutely no
compensatory measures that can restore the countryside lost
after development.

But there is an argument that, in the face of the severe
problems in the united Germany, can drown out warnings of
ecological consequences - the urgently needed economic upswing
in the new German states and Czechoslovakia. These regions
urgently need effective arterial routes to be able to manage the
rise in traffic predicted. Inland shipping, being an
"environmentally-friendly kind of transport", could be just the
way to take on a large part of the transport, if only the
appropriate preconditions are met.

This report is concerned mainly with the economic aspects of
developing the Elbe. It queries the conclusiveness of the
current prognoses on goods transport. The representative cost-
benefit analyses drawn from other water development projects
show that economic expectations related to waterways that are
developed are set much too high. Over and above this it must be
asked what main direction of economic development is linked to
the promotion of inland navigation. Is it not the centralised
structure, dependent on mass-produced goods, that creates
immense environmental problems and is already not justifiable on
these grounds alone? The reasoning that argues the Elbe should
be developed through the necessity to replace brown coal by hard
coal transported by ship, for example, completely ignores the
urgently needed phase-out of the use of fossil fuels. It shows
that the great opportunities and challenges in building up the
economy in the East have still yet to be recognised. 

--Joerg Naumann, Greenpeace   

SUMMARY 

The decision to develop or not to develop the Elbe for inland
navigation is a kind of indicator of social sensitivity towards
the environment. Nature on the Elbe having been left relatively
unaffected, the river can be characterised today as being unique
in Germany; an exception among German rivers, There are various
reasons for it not having been developed, in comparison to the
Rhine, in the last hundred years. The political fragmentation of
the countries along it prevented co-ordinated action, the
financial resources could not be raised and, finally, economic
interests in such a development were manifestly not as great as
in regions bearing the imprint of heavy industry. The division
of Europe in the last forty years prevented extensive
disruptions to the river.

The Elbe, a river whose natural aspects have until now remained
relatively untouched, and which has considerable ecological
potential, is intended to be developed into a waterway which,
through barrage weirs and canalisation, would ensure year-round
navigability for European-class ships. It should thereby also be
adapted to fit business calculations of the profitability of
inland navigation and the shipping industry.

Pursuing development in this direction means that traditional
ideas of mass production will prevail. This in turn will
initiate the attempt to catch up, a direction in development
which is already marking countries and industry in Eastern
Europe and which has led to the familiar environmental effects.

Opportunities would also be missed for putting into practice
other notions of development which preserve still existing
ecological potentials and exploit approaches and opportunities
which emphasise ecologically-oriented economic development,
these aiming at the avoidance of transport and not giving rise
to transports dependent on infrastructure. The direction in
which the energy system develops, to cite an example, in the
final analysis also induces very heavy volumes of transport, as
was shown in the case of the former GDR. The wasteful energy
system had tied up a large part of transport capacities. A
system oriented to saving energy would at the same time also
save transport.

"Electricity with a future" from an ecological point of view, on
the other hand, would mean that ecological conditions and the
countryside's special features are preserved, and that ways are
developed which would meet the ecological challenges of
development.