Environment

In recent years, improvement of environmental management has been a major objective. Achieving this goal, however, has proved to be more complex than expected. It has entailed new principles, legislation, policies, economic instruments and standards, and enforcement and management tools. This has taken time and created a perhaps inevitable gap between legal requirements and policy objectives on the one hand, and the results on the ground on the other. In response, recent UNECE work in environment has focused on bridging this gap, in particular by offering country-specific assistance with implementation, capacity-building and monitoring programmes.

The Committee on Environmental Policy (CEP) has played a key role in responding to these challenges through the Environmental Performance Review (EPR) programme. The programme, now pursuing its second cycle of reviews, is currently focusing on the UNECE member countries of Central Asia. An EPR of Kazakhstan was peer-reviewed in spring 2008; the final report, available in three languages (English, Kazakh and Russian), was officially launched in October 2008 in the presence of all relevant stakeholders in the country. Kyrgyzstan was also reviewed in 2008 and its report will be peer-reviewed in early 2009. Uzbekistan comes next; work has already been initiated with a pre-mission by the secretariat to that country in June 2008. The launch of the EPR of Ukraine took place in February 2008 and benefited from a broad audience comprising all spheres of environmental professionals. In response to a request by delegations to the Committee, the Expert Group on Environmental Performance will enlarge participation in its working sessions to include other delegations interested in reviews of specific countries. Revision of the peer-review procedure also included the organization of problem-oriented discussions during the CEP sessions.

At the Sixth Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe” (Belgrade, 10-12 October 2007) ministers of environment decided to reform the “Environment for Europe” (EfE) process. Since the process began in 1991, major political and economic changes have occurred in the UNECE region, to name one, the EU enlargement. These have been accompanied by changes in environmental priorities. To ensure that the EfE process remains appropriate for the region’s needs, the ministers decided that the impact, costs and priorities of the process should be reviewed. They invited the Committee to develop a reform plan by the end of 2008, in consultation with EfE partners, for endorsement by the Commission at its spring 2009 session. It held several meetings and developed a draft reform plan focusing on possible objectives, priorities, general principles and modalities for the EfE process. This plan examines ways to elicit broader interest and more active engagement by all stakeholders, in particular the private sector, as well as ways to expand partnerships. It also addresses issues related to the future EfE conferences, such as their preparatory process, format and outcomes.

In the light of the decisions taken at the Belgrade EfE Conference, CEP revised the mandate of the Working Group on Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. In the next two years, the Working Group will focus on providing assistance to EECCA countries and interested SEE countries. This assistance will help countries to: (a) implement guidelines on indicators, indicator-based assessments and enterprise monitoring; (b) modernize and upgrade monitoring networks and information systems; and (c) implement the recommendations on environmental monitoring and assessments made in environmental performance reviews. It will also take part in pan-European assessment reports and data collection. At its ninth meeting in September 2008, the Working Group adopted a work programme in line with its revised mandate. It will begin working with the Conference of European Statisticians through a joint task force on environmental indicators.

The Belgrade Ministerial Declaration, which underlined the importance of multi-stakeholder partnerships including with the private sector, requested the Committee to seek that sector’s “experience and expertise in effecting change to improve environmental conditions in the region”. In response, the Committee hosted a round table discussion with representatives from umbrella associations and individual companies. The round table consisted of a general session on the nature and modalities of participation and a more focused session examining a specific area: water and water services, including water supply. Further engagement in Committee activities and the EfE process could offer the private sector significant benefits and create numerous opportunities, for example by increasing the sector’s visibility and allowing more networking opportunities with policymakers and other businesses. Private sector representatives could also promote their activities at high-level political forums such as the regional implementation meetings on sustainable development, the EfE conferences and the meetings of the Parties to various conventions. Such involvement could also ensure delivery of timely information concerning new projects and further promote legal and policy developments at the national and international levels.

The UNECE Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), having successfully completed its first phase of implementation (2005-2007), is now entering its second phase (2008-2010). At its third meeting in March 2008, the Steering Committee on ESD considered progress achieved and lessons learned from the first phase and decided on activities for this second phase. Work will focus on furthering the Strategy through needs-driven activities that emphasize developing national ESD action plans and developing ESD competencies in the education sector. Other activities will include workshops and training sessions, sharing good practices and case studies, strengthening the use of electronic tools, awareness-raising and review of implementation. These undertakings will aim at coordination, capacity-building and sharing of experience to support and promote ESD in the region. ESD is a cross-cutting activity that addresses all sectors and has an impact on all thematic areas of UNECE work. Recognizing this, and following up on the request of education and environment ministers made at the Belgrade EfE Conference, the Steering Committee advocated using United Nations regular budget resources to ensure stable and effective implementation of the Strategy, and requested the secretariat to provide guidance on how to realize this goal.

The third regional implementation meeting on sustainable development (Geneva, 28-29 January 2008) discussed progress made in the UNECE region with respect to implementing sustainable development goals in the areas of agriculture, land management, desertification and drought. The meeting focused in particular on sustainable agriculture and rural development, the importance of equal access to land and the impact of desertification and drought in vulnerable regions and on indigenous peoples. Participants recognized that thematic issues must be considered in the context of the overarching objectives of sustainable development: eradicating poverty, changing unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, and protecting the natural resource base for economic and social development. The meeting provided a valuable regional input to and highlighted the regional perspective in the global review of progress in the above areas at the fifteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (New York, 5-16 May 2008).

For the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention), the major event of 2008 was the third meeting of the Parties, held in June in Riga. The meeting marked the tenth anniversary of the Convention’s adoption and offered an opportunity not only to review the achievements and challenges of the first decade, but also to chart the path for future work, notably through the adoption of a work programme for 2009-2011 and a strategic plan up to 2014. Through the strategic plan, the Parties reaffirmed their commitment to the Convention’s implementation in the existing Parties as their first priority, while expressing their ambition to expand the geographical scope of the Convention by encouraging other countries, including countries from outside the UNECE region, to accede to it. They also committed themselves to the goal of further developing the provisions and principles of the Convention, where necessary, to ensure that it continues to achieve its objectives. The strategic plan also encourages Parties to share their experiences with the Convention with other forums interested in using these experiences as a basis or source of inspiration for further strengthening participatory democracy in their respective fields.

The review of implementation reports revealed the extensive legislative and administrative work under the Convention and highlighted areas where further work is needed. The findings of the Compliance Committee showed that six Parties faced problems of compliance. These findings were endorsed by the Meeting of the Parties, which made various recommendations aimed to support efforts by the Parties in question to achieve full compliance. The Meeting agreed to extend the mandate of the Convention’s task forces dealing with access to information, access to justice and public participation in international forums. It also agreed to step up work on public participation issues, initially by first establishing an ad hoc expert group on the topic and eventually, a task force.

The Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention) held its fourth meeting of the Parties from 19 to 21 May 2008 in Bucharest. The Parties adopted the results of the second implementation review of the Convention and operating rules for meetings of the Convention’s Implementation Committee. The Parties also approved a workplan and budget for the period up to the fifth meeting, scheduled for 2011. The Meeting endorsed the Implementation Committee’s findings and took decisions relating to (a) a submission by Romania regarding its concerns about Ukraine’s compliance with its obligations under the Convention with respect to the Bystroe Canal Project, and (b) strengthening Armenia’s implementation of the Convention.

The Meeting of the Parties also saw the signing of a multilateral agreement involving SEE countries. The Bucharest Agreement will help SEE countries to implement the Convention by offering a practical framework for enhanced international cooperation and thus prevent, minimize and monitor environmental impacts. The Agreement includes detailed provisions for consultations between neighbouring countries, which detail the appropriate means for providing information to authorities and to the public affected by the transboundary impact as well as the opportunity of both to comment. The decisions taken in Bucharest illustrated the growing maturity of the Convention. For example, the implementation review revealed the increasingly routine application of the Convention, and the Convention’s procedures for the compliance review demonstrated these procedures’ strengthened effectiveness with regard to Armenia and Ukraine.

The work of the Steering Committee for The Pan European Programme on Transport, Health and Environment (THE PEP) focused on organization of the Third High-Level Meeting, to be held 22-23 January 2009 in Amsterdam. High-level officials and representatives of Governments, local authorities, NGOs and other stakeholders will gather to discuss the issues of the day in the areas of transport, health and environment. Fostering collaboration between these three sectors, and thus achieving an integrated approach, is one of the main aims of THE PEP. The meeting will seek to focus Governments’ attention on specific challenges, including how to (a) manage sustainable mobility, promote clean and efficient public transport systems, and encourage walking and cycling; (b) reduce emissions of transport-related GHGs and other air pollutants as well as noise; and (c) promote a healthier and safer environment, particularly in urban centres. The meeting is expected to adopt action points for policymakers to improve livelihoods. Government representatives are also expected to endorse a final outcome document on future activities and areas of cooperation, which is intended to reinvigorate THE PEP and its objectives and tools, and to contribute to sustainable and healthy living, in particular in cities across the region.

Water and adaptation to climate change has emerged as a priority area for the Convention of the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes. One of the current objectives of the Convention is to produce a guidance on water and adaptation to climate for adoption by the Parties in 2009. The guidance will offer advice on additional climate change-related challenges to integrated water resources management and implementation of the Convention. It will provide a step-by-step framework for assessing climate change impacts on water resources, identifying adaptation measures, and developing and implementing adaptation strategies that take into account the transboundary context. It will emphasize the specificities and requirements of transboundary basins, and seek to prevent, control and reduce transboundary impacts of national adaptation measures, thus averting potential conflicts. A workshop on water and adaptation to climate change (Amsterdam, 1-2 July 2008) was an important step in the guidance’s preparation. The workshop confirmed that adaptation is a necessity and that the focus thus far has been too much on short-term measures. Without effective transboundary cooperation, UNECE countries will not be able to cope with climate change impacts on water resources.

The Amsterdam workshop also saw the start of work on a practical guide to support implementation of the Convention. The guide will provide clear, easy-to-follow explanations of the Convention’s provisions. It will be based on Parties’ views of what the Convention means in practice, as well as the good practices they have developed in the 16 years since the Convention’s adoption. It will provide explanations of legal issues such as the polluter-pays principle and international liability, and will be an important tool for promoting the Convention outside the UNECE region. One of the major challenges will be to find the right balance between a practical tool responding to county-specific needs, and one that at the same time is general enough to be applied in many different situations.

The first meeting of the Ad Hoc Project Facilitation Mechanism, a body under the Protocol on Water and Health laid the basis for the mechanism’s functioning. Its twin aims are to promote the coordination of international aid to implement the Protocol and to enhance the capacity of recipient countries in EECCA and SEE to access sources of finance. At the first meeting, eligibility criteria for funding projects were adopted. Participants agreed to focus in the first stage on support for implementation of the Protocol’s two core obligations: (a) setting targets and target dates, and (b) developing surveillance and response systems to water-related disease.

The Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution has continued its work on revision of protocols. After completing the first review of the 1999 Gothenburg Protocol in December 2007, the Convention’s Executive Body agreed to embark upon a revision process. Parties have identified what needs to be incorporated into the revision as well as what measures should address concentrations of particulate matter, which have major effects on human health throughout Europe. They likewise noted the importance of considering climate change mitigation strategies when developing revised air pollution controls. The Convention held a conference/workshop with UNEP and the UNFCCC secretariat, organized by the Global Atmospheric Pollution Forum, to explore the co-benefits of air pollution and climate change mitigation strategies. The workshop noted that different regions and different countries were at different starting points with regard to implementing such strategies and that this would require case-by-case considerations. However, it strongly recommended that such strategies be considered together, and noted the considerable cost savings and co-benefits that might result from coordinated strategies. Immediate action to abate certain air pollutants (e.g. black carbon) could rapidly cut part of the global warming effect, allowing more time for implementing carbon dioxide control measures. In addition to the Gothenburg Protocol, Parties considered amendments to the Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Protocol on Heavy Metals. They have also strengthened their resolve to pursue capacity-building in EECCA and SEE, and encouraged the Convention’s bodies to share information with countries outside the UNECE region. For the longer term, the Executive Body and its main scientific bodies are developing strategies to address the needs and focus for the Convention over the next decade.

The Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents held the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties 25-27 November 2008 in Geneva. The meeting reviewed progress achieved in implementing the Convention and developed a work plan for the next biennium. In particular, it reviewed the Convention’s fourth implementation report and a progress report on its Assistance Programme. As in previous years, the most important achievement of the Convention, which aims to protect human beings and the environment against industrial accidents, was that no industrial accident with transboundary effects was reported in 2008. In response to the needs expressed by countries, a number of assistance activities were successfully organized in the framework of the Assistance Programme. Three new countries – Croatia, Kazakhstan and Serbia – were invited to join the implementation phase and benefit from its capacity-building activities. Another achievement was the development of a strategic approach for the Assistance Programme, which the Conference of the Parties is expected to discuss and adopt. This should help EECCA and SEE countries to further strengthen implementation of the Convention. The Conference of the Parties is also expected to endorse a set of safety guidelines for tailing management facilities. The development and implementation of a web-based notification application to improve communications between points of contact within the UNECE Industrial Accidents Notification System was also completed in 2008. It was released for official use in July 2008.