AARHUS CONVENTION

Introduction
Capacity-building activities and donor invitation
Content of the Protocol
Documents and meetings
International PRTR Coordinating Group
Side events and workshops
Text of the Protocol
Working Group on PRTRs

Side events and workshops

2007

Protocol on PRTRs: Ready for take-off
Sixth Ministerial Conference "Environment for
Europe"
Belgrade, 10 October 2007

The pace of efforts to ratify the Protocol on PRTRs
have stepped up, suggesting entry into force in
2008. With new initiatives to prepare countries to
implement pollutant registers, the Protocol is "ready
for takeoff."

See the provisional programme for the event
and presentations by the secretariat and UNITAR.



2006

PRTRs in Action
SAICM CEE Regional Meeting
Riga, Latvia, 5 December 2006

The side event introducted Strategic Approach to
International Chemicals Management (SAICM)
national focal points to PRTRs. It illustrated how
they are developed and outlined the next steps in
implementation of SAICM and Multilateral
Environmental Agreements through their
application.

For more information, see the programme and
presentations by Belarus and UNECE.

Workshop on Environmental Monitoring and
Reporting by Enterprises
UNECE Working Group on Environmental
Monitoring and Assessment (WGEMA)
Warsaw, 4-6 September 2006

For more information, see the programme and
presentation of the secretariat on the
implementation of the Protocol on PRTR, with
special emphasis on the reporting requirements of
facility operators.

To view the presentation, click here.

From EPER to PRTR
German National PRTR Workshop
Karlsruhe, 10 May 2006

To view the secretariat's presentation, click here.


2005

How electronic tools help implement the
Aarhus Convention and PRTR Protocol: Side
event
Second Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus
Convention, Almaty, Kazakhstan, 25 May 2005

The UNECE, United Kingdom Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA),
Environment Agency of England and Wales and
UNEP/GRID-Arendal jointly organized the side
event, "How electronic tools help implement the
Aarhus Convention and PRTR Protocol." The event
featured cutting-edge applications of electronic
tools to improve public access to environmental
information. It was chaired by Ms. Svetlana
Zhekova (Bulgaria), Chair of the UNECE Task Force
on Electronic Information Tools.

Among the featured projects were "'In Your
Backyard' local environmental web portal pilot
projects in the EECCA region"(UNEP/GRID and Pskov
Region, Russian Federation), "Electronic Public
Registers" (Environment Agency), "PRTR Virtual
Classroom" (United Nations Institute for Training
and Research and Greenwomen-Kazakhstan) and
"Capacity-building for establishing pollutant release
and transfer registers in new EU countries"
(Regional Environmental Center for Central and
Eastern Europe).


2004

PRTR Conference for the Americas
UNEP Chemicals and UNEP/ROLAC, in
cooperation with UNITAR and the Mexican
Secretariat for the Environment and Natural
Resources (SEMARNAT)
Mexico City, 21-23 April 2004

Fifty country delegations participated at this first
hemisphere-wide conference on pollutant release
and transfer registers. To view the presentation on
the International Context of PRTRs by Jim Willis,
former Director of UNEP Chemicals, click here.

The Aarhus secretariat's introductory
presentation on the Protocol on PRTRs may also
be downloaded here.

PRTRs Now
4th Ministerial Conference on Environment &
Health
Budapest, 23 June 2004

“PRTRs Now! How pollutant release and transfer
registers can promote pan-European environmental
and public health” was the seminar organized by
the UNECE on the opening day of the Fourth
Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in
Budapest: “The future for our children”.

For more information, see the programme and the
press release. You may also download the
presentations by:

Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (Hungary)
European Environment Agency (EEA)
Regional Environmental Center (REC)
Environmental Management and Law Association (Hungary)
European ECO-Forum (Ukraine)
UNECE Aarhus Convention Secretariat

and interventions by

Mr. Ondrej Velek (Czech Republic)
World Health Organization (WHO)