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EUROPEAN ECO FORUM NEWSLETTER No 42 MAY 2009 |
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Special Issue: FUTURE OF THE
“ENVIRONMENT FOR EUROPE” PROCESS:
At its 63rd session on 30 March - 1 April 2009 in Geneva, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) endorsed the “Environment for Europe” Reform Plan as adopted by the Committee on Environmental Policy in January 2009. This opens the way to start preparations for the next “Environment for Europe” (EfE) Ministerial Conference to take place in Kazakhstan in 2011. BACKGROUND At the 6th Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe” (Belgrade, 10-12 October 2007), the Ministers decided to reform the EfE process started in 1991. In Belgrade, the Ministers invited the Committee on Environmental Policy (CEP) to develop, in consultation with EfE partners, a plan for EfE reform. Several meetings in the framework of the CEP took place between January and October 2008 to discuss the draft of the reform plan. Finally, in January 2009, the CEP at its special session approved the draft. At all these meetings, the European ECO Forum defended the position of environmental citizens’ organizations agreed in Belgrade and further elaborated through the questionnaire and intensive electronic discussions. KEY CONTENT OF THE REFORM Role and principles The EfE process should continue to serve as a mechanism, among others, to:
As agreed in Belgrade, the EfE process should keep its UNECE region-wide dimension and be open for all interested countries of the region, and should engage all stakeholders, including the private sector, to strengthen the work in partnership. Priorities The endorsed text of the reform plan provides that the political priorities of the EfE process should be based on commitments already taken under the EfE process. According to the endorsed text, these priorities may include:
The plan provides that thematic priorities of the EfE process would be identified “in line with current needs, national circumstances and in respect to future emerging issues”. Future conferences The “Environment for Europe” Conferences should be held every four to five years. Not later than 18 months before the Conference the CEP at its regular session will decide on not more than two themes of the Conference. Representatives of major groups will be invited to participate in meetings of the CEP in preparation of the Conference, “as appropriate, in accordance with the existing UN rules and procedures”. The discussions at the Conference should be arranged in an interactive manner and combine various types of sessions, e.g. plenary sessions, roundtables and moderated panel discussions, with a limited number of main speakers from different stakeholders (e.g. UNECE member States, EfE partners and major groups). Interactive sessions, such as roundtables, could be run in parallel. A session of environmental NGOs and ministers in the roundtable format is an integral part of the conference. A session of private sector representatives and ministers in the roundtable format is an integral part of the conference as well. The endorsed text provides that Conference outcomes might include:
Mid-term review A mid-term review will be convened by the CEP to assess progress of the implementation of the outcomes of the EfE Conferences and provide renewed impetus to the process. The review should be based on existing information. The findings of the review should be taken into account in the preparatory process of the next conference. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES The major idea of the reform was to make the EfE process more effective and better responding to rapid changes in the Pan-European region while preserving major achievements of the process. In general, it is expected that the reformed process maintains the open character and values of the EfE process and puts an emphasis on implementation at both the national and Pan-European levels. It also promotes the involvement of and increased cooperation between different stakeholders which is an important condition for successful implementation of the decisions of the Ministerial Conferences. It is important that the endorsed reform plan emphasizes the implementation of the EfE outcomes. Countries should regularly consider how to promote objectives and priorities of the EfE process and strengthen implementation of the outcomes of the EfE Conferences, including through national policies and partnerships. The environmental citizens’ organizations under the umbrella of the European ECO Forum insisted that the EfE process could be improved by ensuring that the work continues between Ministerial Conferences, in particular through indicator-based mid-term reporting on the implementation as part of the permanent work of the EfE. The endorsed text includes the ‘mid-term review’ to be convened by the CEP to assess progress of the implementation of the outcomes of the EfE Conferences. However, the mid-term review will not be based on indicators but on existing information, meaning that it will involve the analysis of available data only and may not necessarily allow for comparison between countries. Another major point emphasized by the European ECO Forum was that the EfE should remain open for new issues, including new legally binding instruments, where these could help to improve regulatory framework and implementation. Unfortunately, the text does not say it directly that new legally binding instruments could be among the Conference outcomes. However, the section on Conference outcomes may encompass the initiatives on the preparation of new legally binding instruments through a subparagraph “Statements, initiatives, agreements, pledges by interested ministers and stakeholders on specific subjects and/or for specific subregions”. Instead of the long Ministerial Declarations which were the products of previous Ministerial Conferences, the new Conferences may have “[a]n agreed outcome of two pages on follow-up and strictly limited in terms of scope, to the themes of the Conference”. A Chair’s summary is introduced as a new Conference outcome. It is of a crucial importance that a session of environmental NGOs and Ministers in the roundtable format is recognized as an integral part of the Conference and that such a unique feature of the process as wide participation of the environmental citizens’ organizations is generally preserved. The EfE reform can also be characterized by a strong emphasis on involving the private sector in the EfE process and Conferences.
The final text of the EfE Reform Plan is available at http://www.unece.org/env/documents/2009/ECE/CEP/ECE.CEP.S.152.e.pdf (English) http://www.unece.org/env/documents/2009/ECE/CEP/ECE.CEP.S.152.r.pdf (Russian) For preparatory documents and the European ECO Forum
position please visit our Future of EfE Issue Group page:
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