The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has requested UNECE to review its environmental performance for a third time. To provide the groundwork for the review, a team of UNECE and international experts will participate in a mission to the country from 18 to 26 September 2018.
UNECE’s Environmental Performance Reviews (EPRs) offer a comprehensive tool to help countries identify key environmental challenges and establish concrete recommendations to improve environmental sustainability across all sectors.
The third review of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will assess progress since 2011 on air quality, water management, biodiversity, forestry and protected areas, waste and chemical management, climate change and greening the economy. It will also examine the country’s environmental data, information and observation systems and the extent of implementation of international agreements and commitments. Environmental democracy – public access to environmental information, participation in environmental decision-making and access to justice on environmental matters – will be reviewed, as will the integration of sustainable development into the education system’s curriculum, institutions and society. The review will also look at the country’s environmental legal, policy and institutional framework and regulatory and compliance assurance mechanisms.
In addition, this third review will assess the country’s progress towards relevant targets and indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The review team will examine how the SDGs are being adapted to the national context and put into practice, whether the necessary resources have been allocated and responsibilities are clear, what obstacles have been encountered when targeting the Goals and what concrete results have already been achieved.
Building on the analysis of progress made in implementing the 47 recommendations from the Second Environmental Performance Review of the country, the third review will result in a set of recommendations on how to further improve its environmental performance. The review process will culminate with the UNECE Committee on Environmental Policy considering the recommendations, with a view to their adoption, and the country making a commitment to implement them within the next few years. Before the Committee meets, a group of experts from UNECE countries together with a delegation of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will scrutinize and finalize the review and its recommendations.
The country mission currently underway is hosted by the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning in cooperation with other ministries and governmental institutions. Germany has delegated to the team an expert on water management; Hungary, on waste and chemical management; and Sweden, on biodiversity, forestry and protected areas. UNEP is participating in the review with its expertise on climate change and environmental data, information and observation systems. The German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and the German Federal Environment Agency, with funds from the Advisory Assistance Programme, is supporting the review financially.
The First (2002) and Second (2011) EPRs of the country are available at: http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=14899 and http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=28234.
For more information about the UNECE’s Environmental Performance Reviews, please visit http://www.unece.org/env/epr