National Round-table Discussion on Legal Implementation of the Protocol on SEA in Azerbaijan

The round-table is organized by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the Regional Environmental Center Caucasus Branch Office in Azerbaijan in the framework of the EU programme “Greening Economies in the Eastern Neighbourhood” (EaP GREEN).

The aims of the event are:

- to discuss the draft Review of national legislative and institutional structures vis-a-vis the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in Azerbaijan, and

- develop recommendations to further support Azerbaijan in its efforts to strengthen national legislative framework and capacities for application of SEA.

Representatives of relevant Ministries, local authorities, members of the Parliament and other stakeholders, such as NGOs, consultants, private sector representatives are invited to take part at the event. They will get familiar with the requirements of the Protocol on SEA and relevant EU Directives as well as with the existing European practice in developing SEA legislation. The UNECE experts will present results of the gap analysis of the national legislation vis-à-vis the Protocol on SEA. The participants will further be invited to provide inputs to the gap analysis and comment on the findings and recommendations of the draft Review. The Ministry and UNECE will present an assessment of the national capacity building needs on SEA and inform about next steps in the implementation of the EaP GREEN programme in the country, including:

(a) Drafting of relevant legislation in 2015 followed by the finalisation of the Review, and

(b) Pilot application of an SEA procedure to a draft Government plan or programme, scheduled to take place from September 2014 to April 2015.

The written comments to the Review can be sent to [email protected] by 8 September 2014.

Document Title	ENG	OTHER
Agenda	ENG
List of participants	ENG
Report	ENG
Background documents
Review of the National Legislation and Institutional Structures for the Implementation of the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in the Azerbaijan Republic Andriy Andrushevich, UNECE Consultant	ENG
Azerbaijan Republic Draft Law on EIA	ENG
Resource Manual to Support Application of the SEA Protocol		ENG, AZ, RUS
General guidance on enhancing consistency between the Convention and environmental impact assessment within State ecological expertise in countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia	ENG	RUS
Presentations
Introduction to the UNECE Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment to the Convention to the Espoo Convention Technical assistance provided by the UNECE Secretariat to strengthen national legislative framework and capacities on application of the SEA in the Eastern Neighbourhood Elena SANTER, UNECE Secretariat to the Espoo Convention	ENG
National legislative and institutional framework for application of the Protocol on SEA the Espoo Convention in Azerbaijan - problems and perspectives Aysel Babayeva	ENG
Draft Law on Environmental Impact Assessment in Azerbaijan Teymur Shakaraliyev, MENR, head of Law Department Aysel Babayeva, MENR, State Ecological Expertise, senior advisor	ENG
Transposition of the requirements of the Protocol on SEA and the SEA EU Directive into the national legislation - European experience and good practice Jerzy Jendroska, UNECE Consultant, Member of the Implementation Committee of the Espoo Convention and its Protocol	ENG
Experience of the World Bank in application of the SEA in Azerbaijan (tbc) State Committee on Architecture and City Planning	ENG
Findings and recommendations of the legislative and institutional frameworks for application of the SEA Protocol in Azerbaijan Andriy Andrushevich, UNECE Consultant	ENG