Geneva
Parties to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context — adopted and signed 20 years ago in the Finnish city of Espoo — will celebrate the Convention’s twentieth anniversary with two special events at the upcoming fifth session: a seminar focusing on law and practice under the Convention and a panel discussion examining the application of the Convention to nuclear energy-related activities.
The fifth Meeting of the Parties to the Espoo Convention will take place from 20 to 23 June in Geneva and is expected to bring together over 120 Government officials and representatives from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, from some 50 countries, mostly in Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus.
The Convention, which entered in force with 16 parties in 1997, today has 45 parties including the European Union. Over the years, the Convention has become an important mechanism for countries to notify and consult each other on potential environmental impacts of planned activities. The Convention has been applied over 700 times to date and is applied more and more often — the number of cases annually has increased from about 10 a decade ago to nearly 100 last year. This growth reflects the increase in the number of parties, but also implies that States find transboundary environmental assessment a valuable procedure for informing and consulting the authorities and the public of neighbouring countries. 
In 2003, the Convention was supplemented by a Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment which came into force in 2010; it now has 22 Parties. Whereas the Convention is about potential impacts of planned projects, the Protocol requires that States integrate environmental and health considerations into the development of certain governmental plans, programmes and policies. The first session of the governing body of the Convention’s Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment will be held in conjunction with the upcoming Meeting of Parties to the Convention.
The implementation of the Convention has resulted in substantial experience among Parties in the practical application of the Convention and awareness of its legal implications. But there is still a need to improve procedures and to develop good practices, especially with regard to certain activities. The panel on nuclear energy will address these issues with regard to the nuclear sector.
Although the application of the Convention has rarely led to disputes between concerned parties, at the upcoming meeting a decision will address compliance with the Convention, with the Parties expected to consider a number of recommendations by the Convention’s Implementation Committee, including the issue of a caution to the Government of Ukraine with regard to so-called Bystroe Canal Project (the Danube-Black Sea Deep-water Navigation Canal in the Ukrainian sector of the Danube Delta). At the previous session of the Meeting of the Parties, in 2008, Ukraine was declared in non‑compliance with the Convention but avoided a caution by committing to reconsider its decision to fully implement the project and by stating that it would not commence work on the second phase until its obligations under the Espoo Convention were fulfilled. However, the Implementation Committee has again recommended that the Meeting of the Parties issue a declaration of non-compliance to Ukraine with respect to this project, and recommended the issue of a caution.
The meeting will also consider the adoption of a declaration on strategic environmental assessment. The declaration would, among other things: recognize that strategic environmental assessment is a unique and important instrument for planning and policymaking related to greening the economy; and request UNECE to report within the preparatory process for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development 2012 (Rio+20) on the contribution of the Convention and, in particular, the Protocol.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) provided the setting for the negotiation of the Convention and its Protocol and now provides the secretariat for the two treaties.
For more information, please visit: http://www.unece.org/env/eia/meetings/mop_5.htm
Seminar on 20 years of law and practice under the Convention — Tuesday, 21 June, 3–5 p.m.
This seminar will bring together six renowned academics on international environmental law. The seminar will focus on the Espoo Convention’s relationship to public international and European law and to legal developments within the Espoo Convention. The seminar will be moderated by Neil Craik from the University of Waterloo and it will include the following presentations:

• Developments in International Law of EIA and their Relation to the Espoo Convention, Alan Boyle, University of Edinburgh
• Relationship between the Espoo Convention and the Aarhus Convention, Jonas Ebbesson, Stockholm University
• Implementation of and Compliance with the Espoo Convention and Kiev Protocol in the European Union, Simon Marsden, Flinders University
• The Protocol on SEA: a matter of good governance?, Jan De Mulder, University of Ghent
• The Legal Status of Subsidiary Body Rulings and “Guidance” Documents, Neil Craik (presenter) and Timo Koivurova, University of Lapland
• Legal challenges of the application of Espoo Convention in post-Soviet OVOS/ expertiza systems, Jerzy Jendroska, Opole University

Panel on nuclear energy-related projects — Wednesday, 22 June, 3–5 p.m.
Considering the concerns raised by the recent Fukushima Daiichi power plant disaster in Japan, and that, over 155 new power nuclear power reactors are already planned and over 320 more are proposed globally, according to the World Nuclear Association, transboundary environmental impacts of nuclear plants are currently of special interest to both Governments and the public worldwide. As part of UNECE efforts to promote good practices in assessing transboundary environmental impacts and to enhance cooperation between neighbouring countries, a panel discussion on nuclear energy-related projects will be organized within the meeting.
The panel will focus on sharing the experiences and discussing good practice in transboundary environmental impact assessment for nuclear energy-related projects. Panellists will provide their views on controversial topics, such as, should particularly serious but highly unlikely accidents be considered in the assessment, and how widely should countries notify of planned nuclear projects? The conclusions of the panel are expected to provide guidance for countries to improve practices in assessing transboundary environmental impacts and to promote active cooperation on nuclear energy-related projects.
Mr. Georges Kremlis, from the Directorate-General for the Environment of the European Commission, will moderate the panel comprising eight very experienced representatives from Governments, international associations and non-governmental organizations:

• Mr. Andreas Molin, Federal Ministry of Environment (Austria)
• Mr. Jorma Aurela, Ministry of Employment and the Economy (Finland)
• Mr. Jean-Luc Lachaume, Deputy Director-General of the Nuclear Safety Authority (France)
• Ms. Rita Mazzanti, Head of Liaison Office in Geneva, International Atomic Energy Agency
• Mr. Stasys Motiejunas, State Enterprise Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Lithuania)
• Mr. Ingar Amundsen, Radiation Protection Authority (Norway)
• Ms. Monika Nauduzaite, Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission
• Ms. Patricia Lorenz, Friends of the Earth Europe

To date, the Espoo Convention has been applied to approximately 50 nuclear energy-related projects in the UNECE region and, considering the plans for new projects, it will likely be applied more and more frequently. The Espoo Convention is the only international legal instrument to require countries to notify and consult each other on potential environmental impacts when planning new nuclear projects. It provides the public and authorities of a potentially impacted country with the possibility to comment on the planned project and to participate in the environmental impact assessment procedure. The Convention also requires that an environmental impact assessment be carried out for nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel storage and enrichment facilities at an early stage of planning.
Note to editors
The following countries are Parties to the Espoo Convention: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, together with the European Union.
The following countries are Parties to the Convention’s Protocol: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden, together with the European Union.
Ref: ECE/ENV/11/P24