European ECO-Forum News Digest

1.DRAFT ELEMENTS FOR A LONG-TERM STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE AARHUS CONVENTION ARE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

The Secretariat of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) has circulated draft elements for a long-term strategic plan for the Aarhus Convention, prepared by the Convention's Ad Hoc Expert Group on Long-Term Strategic Planning. This is part of a process which is expected to lead to the adoption of a long-term strategic plan for the Convention by the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention at its third meeting (June 2008).

The document identifies three strategic goals for activities under the Aarhus Convention:

The document names a number of concrete objectives which are to be reached in three respective focal areas (implementation; expansion; and development).

The document is available in English on the website for public comment (http://www.unece.org/env/pp/ltsp.htm). Comments on the draft elements should be provided by 30 April 2007. Details of the modalities for submitting comments are contained in the document itself.

Please send your comments to the Secretariat (as indicated in the document itself) and copy the message to:
Mara Silina,
European Environmental Bureau,
Coordinator of Public Participation Campaign at European ECO-Forum
E-mail: mara.silina@eeb.org

2.SEVENTH MEETING OF THE WORKING GROUP OF THE PARTIES TO THE AARHUS CONVENTION

The seventh meeting of the Working Group of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention will take place on 2-4 May 2007 in Geneva.

At the WG, the delegations will be invited to report on developments with respect to the ratification of the Convention, the amendment on genetically modified organisms and the PRTR Protocol in their countries.

The Task Force on Public Participation in International Forums will present a synthesis paper summarizing the responses to the questionnaire that was circulated as part of the consultation process. The secretariat will report on capacity-building activities being implemented under the auspices of the Task Force on Access to Justice, and in particular on the plans for a workshop on access to justice aimed at representatives of the higher levels of the judiciary from six EECCA countries.

The Working Group will discuss the further development of the Clearing-house mechanism and the programme of capacity-building workshops on electronic information tools for nodes of the Clearinghouse. The Chair of the Compliance Committee will present guidance prepared by the Committee, with respect to the second reporting cycle, and will report on the work of the Committee during the past year. The progress made by the Expert Group on Long-Term Strategic Planning will also be discussed.

The representative of Latvia, the host country of the third ordinary meeting of the Parties, will report on preparations for the MOP-3 in 1998.

All official documents for the meeting are available at www.unece.org/env/pp/wgp.htm. The registration deadline for the meeting is 18 April 2007. The deadline to submit financial support requests is 28 March 2007. NGO representatives wishing to apply for participation and financial support are requested to copy their forms to:

Mara Silina
European Environmental Bureau,
Coordinator of the Public Participation Campaign at European ECO-Forum
E-mail: mara.silina@eeb.org

3.NGO PREPARATORY MEETING FOR THE VIENNA INTERGOVERNMENTAL MID-TERM REVIEW

The NGO preparatory meeting for the Vienna Intergovernmental Mid-Term Review (IMR) took place on 28th February 2007 in Brussels. Over 50 organizations from countries across the Pan-European Region participated. The meeting was chaired by Genon Jensen from Health and Environment Alliance, Sascha Gabizon from European ECO- Forum and WECF, and Hanns Moshammer from ISDE Austria. The meeting was hosted by the Belgian government who kindly offered the venue.

The aim of the NGO preparatory meeting was to coordinate NGO input to Vienna Intergovernmental Mid-Term Review (IMR) for the Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE). The IMR will take place inVienna on 13-15 June 2007.

The main aim of the IMR is that countries report back on the status of implementation of the Budapest Conference decisions and contribute to the development of the agenda of the Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health that shall take place in 2009.

The NGO preparatory meeting in Brussels agreed upon the following activities on the way to IMR.

1) Setting up working groups

There have been four working groups established along the lines of the CEHAPE Regional Priority Goals. Each group has two coordinators who are responsible to facilitate the group work and to prepare a parallel session for the NGO Conference, 11-12 June; prepare NGO interventions for the IMR Conference; prepare key NGO messages for NGO Session during the IMR. The list serves have already been set up by HEAL Secretariat (contact e-mail: marta@env-health.org) .

RPG 1: Access to Clean Water and Sanitation (RPG1@env-health.org)
- Coordination by: Sascha Gabizon, Women in Europe for a Common Future, and Diana Iskreva, Earth Forever (Bulgaria)

RPG 2: Accidents, Injuries and Obesity Built Environment (RPG2@env-health.org)
- Coordination by: Joanne Vincenten, European Child Safety Alliance, and Hanns Moschammer, ISDE Austria, International Obesity Task Force

RPG 3: Air Quality and Reducing Respiratory and Allergies (RPG3@env-health.org)
- Coordination by: Margarida Silva, European Respiratory Society, and Emma Anakyasyan, Armenian Women for Health and a Healthy Environment

RPG 4: Chemicals, Radiation and Reducing Neurodevelopmental Diseases (RPG4@env-health.org)
- Coordination by: Genon Jensen, Health & Environment Alliance, and Olga Speranskaya, Eco-Accord Center

To subscribe to any of the list serves, interested NGOs can send an e-mail indicating name, organisation and e-mail address to
marta@env-health.org

2) NGO Working Group on NGO declaration
A working group was set up to exclusively focuse on drafting an NGO Declaration (not more than 3 pages) led by Sascha Gabizon, WECF

3) NGO Conference programme
A draft NGO Conference programme was discussed, which will provide space for each RPG to present practical examples and challenges on making progress and key recommendations. See draft NGO Conference programme at http://cehape.env-health.org/IMG/doc/NGO_conf__march_07.doc

4) CEHAPE Best Practice Award: deadline 27 April
The announcement, process and dissemination for the CEHAPE Best Practice competition and award was discussed and finalized on the basis of the comments received by participants (please see the next information in this newsletter).

5) NGO slot during the Vienna IMR
The IMR programme provides NGOs a 45 minute-slot to report back to ministers on the NGO conference the previous days. This will take place on June 14. During this NGO preparatory meeting, there was lively debate and brainstorming and many ideas came forward on how to make sure NGO slot was unique and as vibrant as the NGO community. In general, it has been agreed upon that it has to be visual in order to get the message across the most efficient way. More detailed proposals on how to organise this session to get the maximum benefit will be circulated over the list serves in the coming months.

6) NGO delegation at the Vienna IMR
Due to limited space at the IMR conference venue, each delegation, whether NGO or country, will be limited to six participants. This means that countries will be allowed 6 representatives, which could include youth or NGO delegates. The two major NGO groups, European ECO-Forum (for environment) and Health and Environment Alliance (for health) will also be allotted a 6 person delegation, for a total of 12 NGOs. NGOs will have the right to provide interventions from the floor during the meeting. NGOs have requested the possibility for a rotating NGO delegation in order to secure maximum expertise and regional balance. The selection process for the NGO delegations will be launched by end March. However, at this time there is no funding to bring NGO delegates to Vienna.

Next Steps

The main aim of the NGO preparatory meeting was to get more feedback on how NGOs can prepare for the Vienna IMR activities. It is expected to involve more NGOs virtually. NGOs are encouraged to contribute to this process by joining the working groups.

For more information on the NGO preparatory meeting please visit
http://cehape.env-health.org/article.php3?id_article=567

For more information contact:
Marta Koltay
Health & Environment Alliance
E-mail:marta@env-health.org

4.CEHAPE BEST PRACTICE AWARD

The CEHAPE Best Practice Award of the Vienna Interministerial Conference is open for European, national and local non- governmental and governmental organizations. The contest aims to share inspiring, innovative and concrete activities that have made a difference in improving children's environmental health across the 53 countries of the WHO Pan-European Region. The contest is being organised in the context of the Intergovernmental Mid-Term Review Meeting (Vienna, June 2007) of the "Environment and Health" process.

The contest and award has been developed jointly by ISDE Austria, Health & Environment Alliance, European ECO-Forum and Women in Europe for a Common Future. The financial support for the competition is provided by Austrian Government. The entry form must be returned by 27 April 2007.

Travel to and accommodation in Austria for 15 pre-winners will be paid for by the Austrian Government. Five winners will receive 1000 Euro price each. If your organisation is among the five winners, you will be able to present your project during the plenary on the 13th of June to ministers of environment and health and the EU Commissioners of Health and Environment.

See the award announcement at http://cehape.env-health.org/IMG/pdf/award_call.pdf
and the entry form at
http://cehape.env-health.org/IMG/doc/Entry_Form_final_3_.doc

For more information contact:
Marta Koltay,
Health &Environment Alliance
E-mail: marta@env-health.org

5.TENTH MEETING OF THE EECCA ENVIRONMENTAL FINANCE NETWORK

On 22-23 February 2007, in Paris, the Task Force for the Implementation of the Environmental Action Programme for Central and Eastern Europe (EAP Task Force) organised the tenth annual meeting of the Environmental Finance Network of experts from Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA).

The participants included representatives of EECCA Environment Ministries, representatives of the Ministries of Economy and Finance, experts from IFIs and OECD donors, Regional Environmental Centers, independent experts and NGOs.

The meeting discussed major outcomes of the work on environmental finance and conclusions to be submitted to the 6th Conference of Ministers "Environment for Europe" in October 2007 in Belgrade.

Active debates related to draft of the Category I document "Mobilising Finance for Environmental Priorities: Recommendations for the Future". The participants discussed options for effective use of available resources, including governmental allocations, contributions from private sector and official development aid and addressed opportunities for use of economic incentives.

The participants discussed recommendations to EECCA governments on developing favorable conditions for participation of the private sector in environmental financing. A number of speakers said that international community should endeavour to increase the availability of IFI's credits for environmental investments, in particular for low income countries, including by allocating proper funds as grants for co-funding. The participants discussed with great interest the presentation on strengthening EECCA capacity in preparation of environmental investment projects with effective support of IFIs and donors.

The meeting also discussed the future of the EAP Task Force after the Belgrade Conference. EAP Task Force has always been regarded as a special mechanism intended to integrate environmental considerations in the transition process. At the same time, it was acknowledged that this task should ultimately be taken by organisations from the region. The functions of EAP TF Secretariat include support of thematic activities and administrative support to EAP meetings and Bureau meetings. The participants discussed possible thematic future activities in the main policy areas of existing programme, such as water supply and sanitation, strengthening environmental policy and institutions, and support to implementation of the EECCA Environmental Strategy.

The documents of the meeting are available in English and Russian at:
http://www.oecd.org/document/5/0,2340,en_2649_34335_37808901_1_1_1_1,00.html

For more information on the 10th Meeting contact:
Inesa Kuzanova
NGO "Aquamedia", Georgia
E-mail: inesa@myoffice.ge

6.STEERING COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT PAN-EUROPEAN PROGRAMME

Steering Committee on the Transport, Health and Environment Pan- European Programme (THE PEP) will meet for its fifth session in Geneva on 16-17 April 2007. The Committee will discuss the preparatory process for the third High-level Meeting on Transport, Environment and Health, which is scheduled to take place in 2008.
In particular, the Committee will decide upon the main theme and host country for the high-level meeting.

The Committee will also address the implementation of the Committee's work programme. It will discuss the operation of the Clearing House (see www.thepep.org/CHWebSite). The task force for developing a "Toolbox for action on transport, environment and health" will inform the Steering Committee of progress made. The progress on Draft Guidance on institutional arrangements for integrated policy- and decision-making will also assessed.

For more information see
http://www.thepep.org/en/commitee/committee_fifth.htm