The Republic of Kazakhstan as a Party to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context targets to introduce internationally sound institutional and legislative frameworks with a focus on environmental impact assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA) to support the on-going "green" economic reforms for economic development with socio-environmental concerns.

The working group meeting is designed to support the SEA and EIA reforms through a revision and harmonization of the national legislation in line with the Espoo Convention and its Protocol on SEA and strengthen national capacity for establishing modern SEA and EIA national schemes.

The meeting discussions will be based on the findings and recommendations of the SEA and EIA legal reviews undertaken vis-a-vis the provisions of the Expoo Convention and its Protocol on SEA. Both reviews provide concrete proposals for appropriate legislative reforms, aiming at amending the Environmental Code of Kazakhstan and relevant sectoral legislation.

It is expected that some 40 participants will be represented by the members of the Ministry's of Energy of Kazakhstan working group on environmental legislation development, responsible for strategic planning and EIA implementation, international legal consultants and national legal experts and other stakeholders, such as NGOs, consultants and private sector organizations.

It is the second in the sequence of working group meetings, organized by the UNECE in close parnership with the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan and financial support from the OSCE Programme Office in Astana under the joint UNDP/UNECE/EU project on "Supporting Kazakhstan's transition to a Green Economy model".