An international workshop on increasing capacities to prevent, prepare for and respond to accidental water pollution from tailing management facilities (TMFs) will take place on 23 April 2024 in Bratislava. The workshop is hosted and organized by Slovakia ––Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Vodohospodárska výstavba, š.p., the Slovak water management construction company–– in cooperation with UNECE ––Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) and the Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents (Industrial Accidents Convention)–– and the Conventions’ Joint Expert Group on Water and Industrial Accidents (JEG). It will be held face-to-face with the possibility of remote connection and simultaneous English-Russian interpretation.
The workshop aims to improve the prevention of industrial accidents and water pollution from tailings facilities, emphasize the importance of preventive and contingency measures, and study lessons learned from TMF life cycle management and the actual remediation of selected hotspots. It will bring together relevant government officials dealing with the prevention of, preparedness for and response to industrial accidents and accidental water pollution, including transboundary cooperation, representatives of river basin organizations and operators.
National and international experts will present information, experience and good practices on international and national regulatory frameworks on tailings safety and the prevention of accidental water pollution and their practical application, speak about the role of transboundary basin organizations, and reflect on TMFs life cycle and monitoring/controls of TMFs, including early warning systems. The workshop will also feature an interactive open discussion on financing of TMFs: operation, maintenance, supervision and reclamation. As such, it will provide a forum to exchange information on good practices and enhance cooperation among Parties to the Water and Industrial Accidents Conventions and other UN countries, thereby increasing capacities of experts dealing with industrial safety and water pollution prevention to implement the 2030 Road Map for Action on Tailings Safety, the CoP decision 2020/1 on mine tailings safety and the CoP decision 2022/1 on Natech risk management.
Back-to-back with the workshop, an on-site visit to a nearby TMF may be organized in the morning of 24 April 2024, depending on available funding (tbc). In addition, a half-a-day meeting of the JEG will be held after the on-site visit (for JEG members only).
Please consult the concept note which provides additional information on the international workshop. Further information, including a more detailed draft agenda and how to register for in-person and remote attendance, will be made available on this website in early 2024.