Press Release

[Index]

UNECE assesses the environmental performance of Montenegro

Geneva, 11 October 2007 -- The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has just issued the second Environmental Performance Review (EPR) of Montenegro, which has been prepared by a team of international experts with the coordination of the UNECE secretariat. The environmental performance of the Republic of Montenegro was reviewed for the first time in 2002. This second review reflects the progress made by the country since then and the challenges that remain to be tackled.

Mr. Predrag Nenezic, Minister of Tourism and Environment of Montenegro, launched the EPR on 11 October 2007 at the Sixth Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe” in Belgrade. As a result of the efficient work carried out by the UNECE international team of experts and good collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Environment of the Republic of Montenegro, the second report of EPR contains a set of 31 specific recommendations. They relate to priority actions that need to be implemented to improve the state of environment and to create the necessary preconditions for a more effective integration of the goals of sustainable development into sectoral policies. Mr. Nenezic especially emphasized the importance of implementing the second EPR’s new recommendations relating to :

• The decision-making framework and capacity-building;
• Information, public participation and education;
• Implementation of international agreements and commitments;
• Economic instruments and environmental funds for environmental protection;
• Environmental expenditures and their financing;
• Integration of environmental concerns into tourism and promotion of sustainable development;
• Integration of environmental concerns into energy and promotion of sustainable development.

The recommendations have been officially approved by the Montenegrin Government and will be integrated into national environmental protection policy, thus contributing significantly to the improvement of environmental management and the further integration of environmental and economic concerns. “We hope that the clearly defined recommendations in this second EPR will contribute to a more efficient coordination of activities of the entities in charge of environmental protection at various levels, as well as to the successful promotion of the environmental protection priorities within the process of stabilization and EU accession and to the improvement of international cooperation”, declared Mr. Nenezic.

Mr. Nenezic concluded the presentation by expressing gratitude to UNECE for having given Montenegro the opportunity to participate in the second cycle of EPRs. He also emphasized the expectations of Montenegro regarding technical assistance and financial support from developed countries to help them fulfil and successfully implement the recommendations in this second EPR.

Regarding international cooperation, and the role of UNECE and the EPR programme in creating opportunities for member countries to benefit from each other’s experience, Mr. Kaj Bärlund, Director of the Environment, Housing and Land Management Division at UNECE, underlined the valuable expertise provided to Montenegro by other countries of the UNECE through the EPR Programme, in particular the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, together with that of the European Environmental Agency (EEA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The EPR Programme was initiated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for its members in 1991. In 1993, at the Second “Environment for Europe” Ministerial Conference, ministers requested UNECE to undertake EPRs in countries with economies in transition that were not OECD members. By 2004, the first cycle of Reviews had been completed¹, and UNECE is now performing second Reviews. This second round, while taking stock of the progress made since the first Review, puts particular emphasis on implementation, integration, financing and the socio-economic interface with the environment.

All information regarding the EPR Programme is freely available on the web at: http://www.unece.org/env/epr/welcome.htm. The EPR of Montenegro can be found in English and local language at: http://www.unece.org/env/epr/countriesreviewed.htm.

For more information, please contact:

Catherine Masson, Programme Leader UNECE Environment, Housing and Land Management Division Palais des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland E-mail: [email protected]

Division for Strategic and Integration Processes Ministry of Tourism and Environment of the Republic of Montenegro Rimski trg 46 81 000 Podgorica, Montenegro Phone: +382 81 482 313 Fax: +382 81 234 168 E-mail: [email protected]

¹ The first EPR of Montenegro - at that time, part of Yugoslavia - was conducted in 2002.