Resolution on the Protocol on SEA |
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We, the Signatories to the Protocol
on Strategic Environmental Assessment to the Convention
on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary
Context,
1. Acknowledge that the Protocol
will further integrate environmental, including
health, considerations into the preparation and
adoption of plans, programmes, and, to the extent
appropriate, policies and legislation, as part of
the process towards achieving sustainable development;
2. Resolve to strive for the
entry into force of the Protocol as soon as possible
and to seek to apply the principles of the Protocol
to the maximum extent possible pending its entry
into force, and to continue to cooperate in progressively
developing policies and strategies related to matters
within the scope of this Protocol;
3. Request the Meeting of the
Parties to the Convention to actively promote and
keep under review the process of ratification of
the Protocol pending its entry into force by inter
alia:
(a) Establishing
the Meeting of the Signatories to the Protocol,
open to all members of ECE and to observers:
(i) To identify
activities that need to be undertaken pending the
entry into force of the Protocol ;
(ii) To report
on progress made in respect of the ratification
of the Protocol to the Meeting of the Parties to
the Convention; and
(iii) To prepare
for the first meeting of the Parties to the Convention
serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol;
(b) Establishing
an open-ended task force to prepare for the first
meeting of the Signatories;
(c) Reflecting
the activities identified by the Meeting of the
Signatories within the work programme of the Meeting
of the Parties to the Convention; and
(d) Encouraging
Governments to make contributions within the framework
of the financial arrangements of the Convention,
or otherwise, to support these activities;
4. Invite the Executive Secretary
to provide secretariat support for the tasks related
to the implementation of the Protocol;
5. Emphasize that parliaments,
Governments and environmental, health and other
authorities at all levels, as well as the public
and non-governmental organizations, have a key role
to play in the legal implementation and practical
application of the Protocol;
6. Call upon the Meeting of
the Signatories to promote public awareness of the
Protocol, with particular reference to the opportunities
that it provides to the public;
7. Emphasize the importance
of capacity building for the effective implementation
and application of the provisions of this Protocol;
8. Call for close cooperation
between the Meeting of the Signatories and relevant
international governmental and non-governmental
organizations on the issues of this Protocol.