A Call to Environment Ministers [of the Newly
Independent States]
concerning the UNECE Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers
issued 16 May 2003
The Fifth "Environment for Europe" Meeting in
Kyiv, Ukraine is the occasion for the adoption of the new UN Economic Commission for
Europe Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs). This new
international agreement is a critically needed step forward that will help to ensure that
that the public is provided with basic information on key pollutants and their sources.
PRTRs are already in place in some countries and by all
accounts have hugely contributed to pollution reduction measures.. Everyone can win: the
public can find out about local polluters, authorities can gain useful information about
regulatory measures, governments can assess trends and locate "hot spots," and
industry is prompted to become cleaner and more efficient. Much of the focus is on major
industrial sources of emissions and wastes, but information on diffuse sources of
pollutants (such as traffic) can also be included in PRTR systems.
A delegation of environmental NGOs from across the UNECE
countries took part in the negotiations during the last two years, and so we are well
aware of both the ambition and the limitations of the Protocol. It is important to
make a start, and the Protocol provides international momentum for further efforts.
Any country can go further than the requirements of the Protocol. As with the Aarhus
Convention from which the PRTR Protocol emerged, the Protocol sets a floor, but not a
ceiling.
It our hope that countries with existing knowledge and
expertise will share their experiences and help to support our efforts. We must
understand that countries with economies in transition, especially smaller ones, need
assistance for the implementation of the Protocol.
The "Virtual Class Room," an initiative of the
Netherlands, will provide a web forum for technical discussion and promises to be a very
useful resource.
Many of our countries have already signed and ratified the
parent Aarhus Convention. We urge you to take the next critical step by signing and
ratifying the PRTR Protocol and by beginning work on implementation as soon as possible. |
