|
EUROPEAN ECO FORUM NEWSLETTER No 38 |
||||||||
12th MEETING OF THE EU WATER INITIATIVE - EECCA WORKING GROUP The EU Water Initiative – EECCA Component Working Group had its 12th meeting in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on 4 December 2008. Over 50 participants took part in the meeting. On 3 December, Ashgabat also hosted the second high-level EU-Central Asia meeting on environment and water. The Working Group discussed progress made with regard to the national policy dialogues (NPDs). Mr. Rainer Enderlein, UNECE, summarized progress made in ongoing NPDs on integrated water resources management (IWRM) in 4 countries and presented plans for future NPDs in EECCA countries. He mentioned that in October 2008 Moldova adopted a legislation package developed through the NPD. Ukraine started activities to develop legislation on adaptation of water resources management to floods and climate change. Agreements with Moldova and Ukraine on cooperation for implementation of the Protocol on Water and Health are being finalized with donor countries – Switzerland, Norway and Israel. In mid-2008, a new NPD started in Kyrgyzstan with focus on developing a river basin management plan for the Chu River. Armenia works on a strategy to apply the principles of the EU Water Framework Directive to its water resources management. In 2008, several documents on IWRM in Marmarik River basin were approved. Following the UNECE consultations in the Caucasus, countries submitted applications for regional dialogues on the management of transboundary river basins with participation of all basin states. Mr. Alexander Martusevich, OECD, summarized the activities on financing water supply and sanitation in Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova. NPDs in the area of water supply and sanitation and the millennium development goals (MDGs) focus on monitoring reforms in water supply and sanitation sector (both urban and rural areas) and development of financing strategies for reforming the sector. Moldova has already developed a financing strategy and comes to implementation phase. In Armenia, such strategy was developed for rural water supply and sanitation. In 2007, Georgia developed financing strategy for urban water supply and sanitation; rural water supply and sanitation strategy is still under development. In 2008, Kyrgyzstan started activities to develop a financing strategy for rural and urban water supply and sanitation and to integrate it into budget development. It is planned to start an NPD in Ukraine with regard to extreme institutional fragmentation in water supply and sanitation sector. Moldova, Georgia and Armenia confirmed their will to continue NPDs. Furthermore, the Working Group discussed: -Impact Monitoring Tables prepared by the technical secretariat with the purpose of assessing the extent to which the EECCA countries move towards the water related MDGs - Joint process between the EU Water Framework Directive and EU Water Initiative’s EECCA Component - Problems in implementing IWRM in the EECCA and Romania -Climate change impact on water supply and sanitation infrastructure and public health -Support to the water sector in EECCA from the European Commission, EU Member States and international financial institutions. Participants also discussed the Berlin Water Process for Central Asia under the leadership of Germany, the experience of water related projects in EECCA with support of Finland, and participation of EU member states in providing assistance for implementation of EU Water Initiative. Major funding comes from the European Commission, Romania, Austria and Germany. The new partners for Water Initiative, on the EU side, include Finland, Estonia and Switzerland. The Chair of the Working Group, Mr Gheorghe Constantin, Directorate for Water Resources Management, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Romania, presented the draft Annual Work Programme 2009 for EU Water Initiative EECCA Component. The following activities are planned for 2009: - Continue NPDs in 5 EECCA countries (Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Ukraine) - Finalize applications for NPDs (Tajikistan and Turkmenistan plus 1 transboundary NPD for 2-3 countries of Central Asia for a transboundary river basin) - Organise a meeting of the Working Group in September-October 2009 in Bucharest, Romania - Monitor progress in moving towards MDGs in EECCA region - Implement WFD’s principles at basin level. For the full text of report in Russian language see http://www.eco-forum.org/documents/Tsvet-EUWI-Rus.doc For more information and full report please contact: Anna Tsvetkova, Mama-86
2. TOWARDS THE FIFTH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE “ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH” (PARMA-2010) On 3-4 December 2008, France hosted a meeting of the European Environment and Health Committee (EEHC) and the second meeting on the draft ministerial declaration for the Fifth Ministerial Conference “Environment and Health”. The European ECO Forum was represented by Sascha Gabizon (WECF, Coordinator of the Environment and Health Issue Group of the European ECO Forum) and Iulia Trombitcaia (Eco-Accord, Head of European ECO Forum Communication Unit). The EEHC agreed on the dates of the Fifth Ministerial Conference. The conference will take place in Parma, Italy, in late February or early March 2010. The main committal document of the Fifth Ministerial Conference will be the Ministerial Declaration. There will be a Strategy on climate change and health developed for the conference as well. It may be a separate committal document, or may stay as a policy brief and be referred or annexed to the declaration. The European ECO Forum supports having the Strategy as a committal document which focuses on mitigation measures that could be implemented by the health sector, in addition to adaptation to climate change. The EEHC meeting discussed the preliminary programme of the Fifth Ministerial Conference. The preliminary programme includes a session about working with stakeholders which would highlight NGO work. The European ECO Forum and the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) requested the possibility to organise an NGO-Ministers roundtable on implementation of the Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE), and to organise a second edition of the CEHAPE Best Practice Awards. The EEHC meeting was followed by the Second drafting group for the Ministerial Declaration. The drafting group included the representatives of Norway (health), Denmark (both health and environment), UK (health), Austria (environment), Croatia (health), Moldova (health), Armenia (health), Serbia (health), Italy (both environment and health), Hungary (health), Belgium (health and environment), the Netherlands (environment), Finland (both health and environment), Turkey (health), Andorra (health), France (both health and environment), Germany (both health and environment), DG Sanco, WBCSD, REC, European ECO Forum, HEAL, youth, and trade-unions. The meeting was chaired by Ms. Leen Meulenbergs (Belgium) with support from Ms. Nune Bakunts (Armenia). The group agreed on a revised structure for the Declaration and confirmed the need to keep it short, focused and action-oriented. Most of the discussion focused on specific actions, particularly with regard to the CEHAPE. The meeting discussed in detail the text of all paragraphs with relation to CEHAPE Regional Priority Goals (RPGs). Denmark was very strong in pressing to include nanotechnology, endocrine disruptors, chemicals cocktail as new or emerging issues. The inclusion of endocrine disruptors was opposed by Finland. The European ECO Forum raised the issue of asbestos as requiring action under RPG IV. With support of Belgium and a wording proposed by Serbia this issue got into the text. Human biomonitoring was included by Belgium as a tool for environment and health policies. ECO Forum’s proposal to have quantitative targets for each RPG as part of the Ministerial Declaration drew much discussion. Several countries (Austria, Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, and Andorra) as well as the WHO/Europe secretariat supported the idea to have at least one quantitative target per RPG within the declaration. However, a number of countries, in particular Finland and Armenia, oppose the attempt to discuss and agree upon targets. The next steps in the preparatory process towards the Fifth Ministerial Conference include: - EEHC meeting (27 January 2009, Luxemburg) - Thematic meeting on healthy environments (28-29 January, Luxemburg) to focus on obesity, indoor air, injuries and to review the new text of the draft declaration - Second NIS meeting (end of March 2009, Tajikistan) - SEE countries meeting (February 2009, Belgrade) - Third High-Level Meeting (27-29 April, Bonn). For more information please contact: Sascha Gabizon Iulia Trombitcaia
3. EAP TASK FORCE ANNUAL MEEETING The EAP Task Force Annual Meeting took place in Astana, Kazakhstan, on 23-24 October 2008. The meeting brought together representatives of environmental agencies from EECCA countries (with exception of Belarus, Russia and Tajikistan), Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Czech Republic, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as EBRD, UNECE, Regional Environmental Centres from Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA RECs) and NGOs. Day one opened with a special session on capacity for better environmental management in EECCA countries. Mr. Brendan Gillespie, Head of Environment and Globalisation Division, OECD Environment Directorate, described several important aspects in relation to environmental policy. In particular, he stressed that addressing environmental problems is most cost-effective when all countries are engaged and emphasized the increasing need to link environment to objectives of economic and social development. Finance and technology are important but so is institutional capacity to respond to environmental challenges. By accepting the Accra Agenda for Action, approved during the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra, Ghana, in September 2008, recipient countries aknowledge full responsibility for the process and results of capacity development. In this vein, the identification of capacity development targets should be guided, first of all, by the need to facilitate the agreement of national development objectives. At the same time, sound analysis in comparison with good international practices and other countries’ achievements could support the process of capacity development. The EAP Task Force has traditionally played a role in devising such frameworks and ensuring progress monitoring. Thus, within the previous cycle of work, a rating scheme was developed by the EAP Task Force Secretariat in consultation with EECCA countries that aimed to monitor progress in the reform of environmental policies, legislation, and organisational capacity. The post-Belgrade work programme offers the opportunity to improve the design of the regional benchmarking approach and the process associated with its use along the following lines: - assessment dimensions need to be re-considered and enhanced with quantitative indicators; - the results of assessment could be better linked to planning and follow up capacity development activities, as well as performance assessment; - the frequency of monitoring could be increased so as incentives exist to progress faster, etc. During the discussion of current practices in strengthening capacity in EECCA, participants addressed opportunities and innovative approaches to strengthen capacity, outlined in the Environmental Performance Review of Kazakhstan. Moldova made a presentation of a capacity assessment for environmental management in the country. When discussing changing strategies and instruments of donor assistance, in particular, the new mechanism of direct budget support, participants stressed that the environmental sector is likely to receive less support. Representatives of Kazakhstan and Armenia stressed that if direct budget support is introduced, environmental protection agencies may be lost in the common budget. In the end of the special session, participants addressed a common framework to assess and promote institutional capacity. In the framework of the EECCA Environmental Strategy, the EAP Task Force secretariat developed a rating system for complex assessment of progress achieved by individual countries in improving environmental management and achievement of targets. Participants were presented the outcomes of self-rating done by the countries in 2003 and 2006 with use of suggested indicators. All countries used a common assessment framework with twenty criteria (e.g. legal frameworks, national planning, integration, permitting, sanctions, compensation of damage, budget and financing) and five levels of capacity. Further development of the common assessment framework could include the following activities by the Secretariat and, possibly, EECCA RECs: methodology development, compilation of data, preparing summaries to highlight trends, publication and dissemination of results. Countries were offered to contribute to the development of methodology and data collection, and to provide feedback to the drafts and participate in the discussion at EAP Task Force meetings. In the second day, participants discussed the implementation of EAP Task Force work programme and the role of EECCA RECs. The work programme of the EAP Task Force builds on two areas: environmental policy reform, and water supply and sanitation. Representatives of the OECD and of EECCA RECs reported about progress in each area and activities proposed for 2009. Discussion focused on the problem with lack of funding for activities of EECCA RECs. Mr. Brendan Gillespie called upon donors to hold consultations on this issue. However this was a difficult task since the European Commission was not present. He also suggested that donors organize a special meeting on the issue of funding for EECCA RECs. A representative of Norway recommended that EECCA RECs adapt to the new situation and consider various opportunities for activities through existing programmes, in particular through the European Neighborhood Policy. The European ECO Forum presented the outcomes of discussion by EECCA NGOs on the issue of results and plans for activities of EAP Task Force and EECCA RECs. The European ECO Forum stressed the need to improve some project proposals and to reconsider the attitude towards cooperation with NGOs. The proposal of Switzerland to finance the activities of EECCA RECs via OECD did not find support from the OECD. Mr. Brendan Gillespie explained that, on the one hand, it would be complicated for the OECD to transfer funds to the EECCA RECs, and on the other hand, it was important to clearly mark the line between OECD projects and EECCA RECs’ projects. For more information please contact: Alyona Vasilyeva EAP Issue Group of the European ECO Forum E-mail: valyon@online.ru
4. SIXTH MEETING OF THE WORKING GROUP ON POLLUTANT RELEASE AND TRANSFER REGISTERS The sixth meeting of the Working Group on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs) took place on 24-26 November 2008 in Geneva, to further preparations for the entry into force of the Kiev Protocol on PRTRs. The Secretariat informed the Working Group about the status of ratification of the Protocol on PRTRs. Since its fifth meeting, seven further instruments had been deposited by: Croatia, Denmark, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia and Sweden. These brought the total number of ratifications to twelve, eleven of which by Member States and therefore counting towards the sixteen to bring about the entry into force of the Protocol. At the meeting six delegations announced their Governments’ intentions to ratify the instrument by the end of 2008 or during the first half of 2009 (Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary and Spain). Six others indicated that they expect to ratify the Protocol sometime before the end of 2009 (Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Serbia, Slovenia and Tajikistan). The conclusion of this round of information was that it is unlikely to have the first ordinary session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (MOP) in 2009 and therefore it has been considered to postpone it to early 2010. Preparations for the first meeting of the Parties to the Protocol as well as procedure for preparing a draft statement or declaration for consideration and eventual adoption at the first MOP were also discussed. Country delegations and international organizations informed the meeting about their activities related to the implementation of the PRTR Protocol. UNITAR informed that it is working with 37 countries funded through the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) Quick Start Programme Trust Fund. This includes several countries in EECCA region, which were conducting national pilot projects and self-assessments as a contribution to priority-setting. One priority action also covers PRTR development. The representative from Tajikistan reported that two seminars were carried out in the country with support of OSCE and the text of the Protocol was translated into the national language. Several countries have informed the meeting that national websites have been prepared and will become operational early 2009. The Working Group finalised texts of draft decisions for consideration by the Meeting of the Parties at its first session. However, some of them contain square brackets and will be put before the MOP as such. The meeting of the WG on PRTRs was attended by following representatives from civil society organizations within the framework of the European ECO Forum: Zulfira Zikrina - Center for Sustainable Production and Consumption (Kazakhstan), Saidrasul Sanginov – Ecoforum of Uzbekistan, Svetlana Bortsova – NGO Ecopartners (Kyrgyzstan), Lydia Astanina – Greenwomen Analytical Agency (Kazakhstan), Elena Vasilyeva – IC Volgograd –Ecopress (Russia), Pranvera Kasami – NGO Eco Action (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Gayane Ghukasyan – NGO Scientific and Educational Centre for National Development (Armenia), Tamara Steger – HEAL (Hungary) and Mara Silina – European ECO Forum/European Environmental Bureau (Belgium). For more information contact: Mara Silina
5. TRAINING ON AARHUS CONVENTION COMPLIANCE MECHANISM The European ECO Forum Training on the Aarhus Convention Compliance Procedures took place on 16-19 December 2008 in Geneva with the aim to raise capacity of environmental NGOs to strategically use the Aarhus Convention compliance mechanism. 28 NGO representatives from 22 countries took part in the training. The training addressed major issues related to the Aarhus Convention compliance mechanism, among others Compliance Committee procedures, Committee’s case-law, and experience of applicants. The training was organised in parallel with the 22nd meeting of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee. This allowed training participants to attend the public sessions of the Compliance Committee. The content of the meeting was prepared by the European ECO Forum compliance team (Andriy Andrusevich, Thomas Alge and Yves Lador) under the auspices of the Public Participation Campaign http://www.participate.org. The team also assists organisations to clarify issues related to the use of Compliance mechanism and prepare communications to the Compliance Committee, if necessary. For more information contact: Mara Silina
6. FIRST MEETING OF NIS COUNTRIES TOWARDS THE FIFTH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE “ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH” The conference “Political dialogue of the New Independent States (NIS) on the reform of public health and the role of sanitation services (Sanepid)” took place on 10-11 November 2008 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. It was attended by more than 50 participants representing government agencies of sanitation services, public health, and academia from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, as well as the WHO Regional Office for Europe, the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, and observers. The conference discussed, inter alia, the following issues: At the final session of the conference “Giving the possibility to sanepid to integrate services for environmental health in the broader framework of public health”, Dr. Lucianne Licari, WHO Regional Adviser, described the history of the ministerial conferences on Environment and Health and of the Children’s Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe. She also named the obligations that participating countries could take upon, in particular: update their information systems of public health in the NIS region, strengthen inter-sectoral cooperation (in such issues as tobacco, climate change, early warning systems), strengthen risk assessment, with assistance of the WHO, if needed. The second NIS meeting to prepare to the Fifth Ministerial Conference “Environment and Health” will take place in Tajikistan in April 2009. Full text of report about the meeting is available at For more information contact: Kalia Moldogazieva
7. 19th ENERGY CHARTER CONFERENCE The Energy Charter Conference held its 19th meeting in Athens on 28 November 2008, with a particular focus on the challenges facing international energy markets as with the global economic slowdown and on the growing importance of energy transit countries. The Energy Charter Conference is the intergovernmental decision-making body for the Energy Charter process. Among the main highlights of this meeting were the approval of a request by the Arab Republic of Egypt and by the Palestinian National Authority to become observers to the Energy Charter Conference, and a high-level discussion on the growing importance of energy transit countries. The Conference welcomed the report of the Chairman of the Trade and Transit Group on the status of the draft Protocol on Transit and has decided to continue multilateral consultations in order to reach consensus on the outstanding issues, with a view to enter into negotiations once the conditions for a successful finalisation are achieved. Two years ago, the Conference set up an Ad Hoc Group on Strategy in order to ensure that the Charter process evolves taking into account the new challenges and risks posed by international energy markets. The results of the work carried out by the Group throughout 2008 were presented to delegations. The findings of the Ad Hoc Group on Strategy will contribute to the Energy Charter Review. In 2009 the Charter will undergo a regular Review in accordance with the Energy Charter Treaty's Article 34(7). The Conference has discussed the procedure and subject of the Review and has adopted the Terms of Reference for the Review. Prof. Sergio Garribba of Italy was appointed Special Representative to coordinate and lead the Review. In the area of energy efficiency, the Conference approved conclusions following an in-depth energy efficiency review of the Slovak Republic and endorsed the recommendations of the Conference on 'International Cooperation on Energy Efficiency: Working together for a Low-carbon Economy' organised in Geneva jointly with the UNECE and the IEA in May 2008. More information is available at http://www.encharter.org For more information contact:
|