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:
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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]
|
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1 The first EPR of Montenegro
- at that time, part of Yugoslavia - was conducted in 2002.
Ref: ECE/ENV/07/P07