Major achievements in 2005
Since more than 10 years UNECE has been engaged in assessing the environmental
situation in Eastern Europe and the CIS in the form of Environmental
Performance Reviews. In 2005, the second EPRs of Belarus and of the Republic
of Moldova were completed and adopted. These EPRs assess the progress
made in the environmental situation and management in these countries
since the first review. They focused on implementation, financing of environment
protection, and integration of environmental concerns into economic sectors
and promotion of sustainable development. They discussed in particular
the mechanisms for compliance and enforcement and the management of eco-funds
in the two countries.
The UNECE Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), a
practical instrument for promoting sustainable development in the region
through education, was adopted at a High-level Meeting of Environment
and Education Ministries, held in Vilnius, Lithuania, in March. The Meeting
launched the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
in the UNECE region.
The UNECE also assessed the situation in the region with respect to
air pollution, climate change, energy and industrial development,
at the second Regional Implementation Forum for Sustainable Development
within the UNECE region, held in December. This assessment will be forwarded
to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development.
News of the environment conventions
The Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in
Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters
(Aarhus Convention) was amended by its Parties to extend the rights
of the public to participate in decision-making on genetically modified organisms
(GMOs). The Parties adopted Guidelines on how they should apply
the principles of the Aarhus Convention in other international environment-related
forums and endorsed recommendations on electronic information
tools to increase public access to environmental information.
The first ratifications of the Protocol on Strategic Environmental
Assessment to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) in a Transboundary Context, were received.
An assistance programme for EECCA (Eastern European, Caucasian
and Central Asian countries) as well as South-East European
countries was launched under the Industrial Accidents Convention
earlier in the year. A process to draw up safety guidelines/good
practices for pipelines was launched within the framework
of the Industrial Accidents and the Water Conventions.
The Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution
celebrated the entry into force, on 17 May 2005, of its most
recent protocol, the 1999 Gothenburg Protocol on Abatement
of Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone. All eight
protocols to the Convention are now in force and review procedures
for the three most recent are under way or will start soon.
The year has also seen the first meetings of the Convention’s Expert Group on Particulate
Matter and its Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution.
On 4 August 2005, the Protocol on Water and Health to the
Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses
and International Lakes (Water Convention) entered into force.
Measures to protect water-related ecosystems, and recommendations
on environmental services and financing for the protection
and sustainable use of ecosystems were made available.
Major challenges for 2006
The second Environmental Performance Reviews of Ukraine and Armenia
are expected to be finalized for adoption in 2006. A national
launch of the EPRs of Belarus and of the Republic of Moldova will
take place during the year.
In the course of 2006 most of the preparatory work for the sixth
Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe”, to be held in Belgrade, Serbia
and Montenegro, in September or October 2007 will be done.
Under the Aarhus Convention, ratification of the Kiev Protocol
on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs), ratification
of the GMOs amendment, and practical application of the Guidelines
on Public Participation in International Forums present major
challenges in the year ahead.
The second review of implementation of the EIA Convention will
take place in 2006.
The Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution
will explore mechanisms for capacity building for improved emissions
controls.
The Parties to the Industrial Accidents Convention will widen
the scope of the convention and further strengthen its implementation,
in particular through an assistance programme.
A number of guidance documents, including flood prevention, response
measures to counteract the outbreak of water-related diseases,
assessment of transboundary waters, and pipeline safety, will
be adopted by the governing bodies to the Protocol on Water
and Health and the Water Convention. On the occasion of the tenth
anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention, a comprehensive
assessment of the status of transboundary waters in the UNECE
region will be available. Future activities include the support
of the governing body of the Convention/Protocol to implement
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to reach the objectives
of the “Water for Life” Decade.
The Steering Committee for the Transport, Health and Environment
Pan-European Programme (THE PEP Steering Committee) will
focus on preparations for the third High-level Meeting on Transport,
Environment and Health to be convened in 2007. Guidance on
institutional mechanisms for policy integration, sustainable
urban transport in the EECCA, assessment of health and environment
impacts of transport, promotion of safe cycling and walking
will be discussed. Information on relevant international and national
activities will continue to be disseminated via THE PEP Clearing
House (which has been operational since October 2005).