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Project on strengthening tailings safety and the prevention of accidental water pollution in Uzbekistan and beyond in Central Asia

Introduction

flyer

During the two-year period (2021-2023), UNECE will implement the Project on strengthening tailings safety and the prevention of accidental water pollution in Uzbekistan and beyond in Central Asia. The Project is carried out under the auspices of the UNECE Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents (Industrial Accidents Convention), thanks to financial support from the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment.

A flyer on the Project on strengthening tailings safety and the prevention of accidental water pollution in Uzbekistan and beyond in Central Asia is available here: 1. English 2. Russian

The Project builds on both the UNECE Industrial Accidents Convention in implementing similar tailings projects in Central Asia and the experience of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) in the establishment of National Policy Dialogues (NPDs) on integrated water resource management and water supply and sanitation in Central Asia, in order to make use of synergies between the two processes, such as the following:

Project Objectives

The project aims to strengthen mine tailings safety and the prevention of accidental water pollution in Uzbekistan and beyond in Central Asia. In particular, the project aims to:

  • Strengthen national capacity on mine tailings and prevention of accidental water pollution in Uzbekistan;
  • Support Uzbek competent authorities and operators in improving the safety of TMFs through identifying short-, medium- and long-term measures to address safety deficiencies in TMFs;
  • Engage Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries in global environmental processes, especially related to a safe management of the mine tailings and water resources;
  • Encourage uptake by Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries of available resources and the international good practices, such as the Safety Guidelines and Good Practices for Tailings Management Facilities, the decision 2020/1 on strengthening mine tailings safety in the UNECE region and beyond, the Check­list methodology and the Global Industry Standard for Tailings Management;
  • Improve inter-institutional coordination and cooperation mech­anisms between industrial safety and water resource management authorities, and other relevant stakeholders and operators of Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries;
  • Enhance subregional / transboundary cooper­ation on mine tailings safety and the preven­tion of accidental water pollution, including at the river basin level in Central Asia;
  • Support Uzbekistan in implementation of the UNECE Industrial Accidents and Water Conventions in order to enhance water management and to reduce TMF related risks, as well as other relevant policy recom­mendations, such as the UNECE EPRs for Central Asia.

UNECE is working in close cooperation with the relevant national competent authorities of Uzbekistan and in partnership with other relevant international and regional organizations, e.g. UNDP, UNDRR, UNEP, IWAC, WIC, OECD, OSCE, and NGOs in the project’s implementation.

Project Beneficiaries

FLAG

The main beneficiary of the project is Uzbekistan, namely the country’s competent authorities and operators, which lead the project’s implementation, in close cooperation and interaction with the secretariat. The other Central Asian countries, i.e. Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan, will also benefit from the project through their participating in several activities.  

The competent authorities of Uzbekistan are: 

  • Ministry for Emergency Situations  
  • Ministry of Water Resources  
  • State Committee on Industrial Safety  
  • State Committee on Ecology and Environmental Protection  

Project Activities

The two-year project will be implemented in 2021-2023 and its key activities, which are also in line with Uzbekistan’s EPR Action Plan, are the following:

  1. Establishment of an inter-institutional working group on tailings safety and the prevention of accidental water pollution, including the development of terms of reference and the conduct of an initial meeting
  2. Organization of an on-site training in Uzbekistan (with participation of other Central Asian countries) to support the application of the UNECE Safety Guidelines and Good Practices for Tailings Management Facilities, a related checklist methodology and Online Toolkit and Training for Strengthening Mine Tailings Safety
  3. Sharing experience with other Central Asian countries at the river basin level on strengthening mine tailings safety, notably in the Syr Darya river basin
EPR

The project activities are designed to support the competent authorities of Uzbekistan in strengthening safe management of the TMFs and prevention of water pollution related to the industrial accidents. UNECE is building on the experience of preceding and currently being implemented Project on supporting countries of Central Asia in strengthening the safety of mine tailings (2020-2021), where interinstitutional working groups on tailings safety and the prevention of accidental water pollution are being established in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. Moreover, it builds on the experience gained by the Water Convention in the establishment of National Policy Dialogues (NPDs) on integrated water resource management and water supply and sanitation in Central Asia.

Expected project results

The expected project results are:

  • Improved knowledge and use of existing good practices and tools to safely manage mine tailings, developed by UNECE or partners, such as the Safety Guidelines and Good Practices for Tailings Management Facilities, the decision 2020/1 on strengthening mine tailings safety in the UNECE region and beyond, the Checklist methodology and the Global Industry Standard for Tailings Management
  • Improved institutional coordination and established/enhanced cooperation mechanisms between authorities at the national and local levels, and between authorities and industry in Uzbekistan
  • Improved subregional/transboundary cooperation on TMF safety and preventing accidental water pollution, including at the river basin level in Central Asia
  • Strengthened implementation of the UNECE Industrial Accidents and Water Conventions, incl. enhanced capacity to accede to the Industrial Accidents Convention, in order to enhance water management and to reduce related risks, and other relevant policy recommendations, in particular the UNECE EPRs for Central Asia
  • Enhanced engagement of Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries in global processes related to mine tailings safety, notably at UNEP in the framework of the fifth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) (Nairobi, 28 February-2 March 2022) and UNEA-6 (Nairobi, 26 February-1 March 2024)

Why is the project needed?

In many countries responsibilities for the industrial safety broadly, and prevention of accidental water pollution from tailings specifically, are spread across several competent authorities. This in turn requires a well-functioning inter-institutional coordination and cooperation in order to address industrial and water safety issues in a more efficient and smooth manner, which currently presents a particular challenge for the Central Asian countries  as recently expressed at the UNECE Technical meeting on tailings safety in Central Asia (online, 23 April 2021) and at the UNECE Evaluation workshop on the safety and governance of mine tailings in Central Asia (online and Penjikent, Tajikistan, 2-4 June 2021).  

The main challenges related to tailings safety and the prevention of accidental water pollution in Uzbekistan are the following:

  • Uranium tailings in the country continuously pose environmental risks and damages to the health of people living in the vicinity
  • Toxic waste from the existing tailings can pollute the rivers flowing along the Fergana valley and lower reaches of the Syr Darya river, thus posing a threat of transboundary water pollution
  • Many of the mine tailings are located in the vicinity of residential areas and are susceptible to risks posed by natural disasters, because of their proximity to earthquake lines, landslide areas and water streams, thus presenting a risk of accidental water pollution
  • Abandoned, improperly handled or orphaned TMFs store large amounts of mining waste and/or other hazardous substances, thus posing a threat that could lead to industrial accidents, including those with transboundary effects, and potentially result in water and soil contamination
  • Lack of or weak inter-institutional coordination, both within and across country borders, undermines a holistic approach towards the safe management of mine tailings and the prevention of accidental water pollution at national, local and subregional levels
  • Relevant industrial safety regulations and procedures at a local and national levels need to be aligned with the international good practices and safety standards

To this end, the current project aims to support Uzbekistan and neighbouring Central Asian countries in strengthening the safe management of mine tailings and prevention of water pollution related to industrial accidents, including in a transboundary context.

Linkages with Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction for 2015-2030 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 

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6
9

The project supports Uzbekistan in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieving its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG 6 /target 6.3: to improve water quality by 2030, by minimizing the release of hazardous chemicals and materials and SDG 9: to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

 

DRR

The project also supports Uzbekistan in implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction for 2015-2030, notably in achieving its objectives and four priorities:

1. Enhance the understanding of disaster risk
2. Strengthen disaster risk governance in order to decrease disaster risk
3. Invest in disaster risk reduction for resilience
4. Enhance disaster preparedness.