The Russian Federation, Belarus and Kazakhstan launch joint project to combat air pollution
Geneva, 14 April 2010 --
The Russian Federation in cooperation with Belarus and Kazakhstan announced yesterday the launch of their joint project to implement and ratify the Heavy Metals, POPs and Gothenburg Protocols under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)’s Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP).
The project was launched during the 46th Session of the Convention’s Working Group on Strategies and Review. Representatives from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus and the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan all reiterated their support for the project and emphasized the importance of improving air quality in the region.
The project, conducted in coordination with the LRTAP secretariat in Geneva, will assist the countries in developing national strategies to combat some of the most harmful air pollutants. The project aims at the implementation of best available technologies, emissions inventories and a policy framework to guide the reduction of harmful emissions of pollutants such as lead, cadmium, mercury, persistent organic pollutants, sulphur dioxide, and ammonia amongst others.
This initiative is part of the Convention’s efforts to foster the implementation and ratification of the Convention and its protocols in countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. The Convention is conducting similar projects in South-Eastern Europe: in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Note to Editors
Since 1979, the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution has been the pre-eminent international agreement addressing air pollution and its impacts on the environment and health. CLRTAP is intended to protect the human environment against air pollution and to gradually reduce and prevent air pollution. The Convention has been extended by eight protocols: http://www.unece.org/env/lrtap/status/lrtap_s.htm
51 of the 56 UNECE member States are parties to the Convention (see status of ratification at: http://www.unece.org/env/lrtap/status/Status%20of%20the%20Convention.pdf).
Ref: ECE/ENV/10/P13