TOWARDS BELGRADE-2007 |
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1. NGO REGISTRATION TO THE BELGRADE-2007 MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE "ENVIRONMENT FOR EUROPE" In accordance to the decision of the Working Group of Senior
Officials (October 2006), European ECO-Forum organizes the NGO registration
process to the 6th Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe" forms the
NGO Delegation, which will participate in the official sessions of the
Conference. The NGO delegation will include 75 persons (on a rotational basis), 10 of them will represent Serbian NGOs (and will be selected by Serbian NGO community). Number of NGO participants in the Joint session on Biodiversity organised by ECO-Forum and PEBLDS Secretariat is limited to 200 people, 40 of them are from Serbian NGOs. NGO EVENTS IN BELGRADE ECO-Forum will also organize an NGO Preparatory Conference in Belgrade on 7-8 October 2007 and a thematic conference on Biodiversity and Sustainable Consumption and Production on 9 October 2007. FINANCIAL SUPPORT We are doing our best to ensure financial support for NGO delegates, but this information will be available later. In case if you would like to apply for financial support, please provide all necessary data including tickets and visa costs in the REGISTRAION FORM. HOW TO REGISTER
2.CONSULTATIONS ON THE BELGRADE REPORT CONTINUE The European Environment Agency released for consultation
the first chapter of the Belgrade Report. The Belgrade Report is a fourth
Pan-European State of the Environment report, which aims to provide reliable
information for professionals and the public involved in the "Environment
for Europe" process. The Belgrade Report will be presented at the
Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe", Belgrade, 10-12 October
2007. The consultation will take place until 11 April 2007. See
the first chapter at For more information on the Belgrade Report, other chapters
and the consultation process see Please send your comments to:
Comments.Belgrade@eea.europa.eu
3. FOURTEENTH SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
The Committee will discuss the preparations of a set of draft documents for the Belgrade Conference and submit them through the Working Group of Senior Officials to the Belgrade Conference. The CEP will address the contents of the draft report on the implementation of the EECCA Strategy prepared for the Belgrade Conference by the EAP Task Force. It will be informed on the activities related to the Environment, Water and Security Partnership in Central Asia, Environment and Security Initiative, the Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme, and other issues. The Committee is also expected to elect five members to represent the environment sector on the European Environment and Health Committee (EEHC) for a period of two and half years, i.e. until the next Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in 2009. The countries may submit candidates by 7 May 2007 to enable the secretariat to compile a list of candidates for election as members of the EEHC. Documents of the CEP session are available at
4. NINTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE REGULATORY ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION NETWORK IN EECCA The ninth annual meeting of the Regulatory Environmental Programme Implementation Network (REPIN) in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) took place on 13 March 2007 in Brussels. Representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Austria, Belarus, Germany, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Sweden, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, international organisations and NGOs discussed the tendencies in development of the environmental compliance assurance systems in EECCA. The EAP Task Force Secretariat prepared a report to analyse achievements and challenges in implementation of the Guiding Pronciples for Reform of Environmental Enforcement Authorities in EECCA. The report entitled "Progress in modernizing environmental regulation and compliance assurance in EECCA" also includes recommendations on priority measures for further strengthening of compliance assurance systems and institutions in EECCA. This report is prepared as Category II document for the
Belgrade Ministerial Conference (see pre-meeting version of the report at
During the discussion, the participants, including NGOs, stressed that the document was too optimistic. As the document was developed based on materials submitted by ministries, it mostly reflects the position of governments. The EAP Issue Group of the European ECO-Forum holds a discussion on this document through [eecca_env_strategy] e-list. For more information contact:
5. INTERNATIONAL MULTI-STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOP ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES An international multi-stakeholder workshop "Environmental Policies, Instruments and Institutions in EECCA: The Emerging Agenda" took place in Brussels on 13-14 March 2007. The participants included high level officials and experts from environment ministries, international organisations, representatives of NGOs and the private sector from EECCA and OECD countries. The main purpose of the workshop was to review progress with reform and implementation of environmental policies in EECCA in light of recent economic and social developments and identify priority issues of environmental management in EECCA that should be addressed after the Belgrade "Environment for Europe" Ministerial Conference. Taking into account the conclusions and outcomes of the review of implementation of EECCA Strategy, the discussion at the workshop was structured in three blocks:
The discussion on the first block of questions concentrated on necessary actions to ensure environmentally sustainable development and on the role of different state partners in this process. One of the major questions addressed was: how to achieve balance between urgent need in liberalization of economy and economic growth, from one side, and realisation of sustainable environmental policy, from the other side. Another debated issue was how to best integrate environmental protection into national planning of socio-economic development. During the discussion on the second block, the delegates made an atempt to identify emerging problems and actions in order to strengthen links between reform of some instruments of environmental policy and introduction of new instruments so that to build effective complex regulation programmes. The introduction of polluter-pays-principle in EECCA became the subject of a lively debate. The closing session was devoted to achievements and challenges in institutional development in EECCA. Representatives of environment ministries from Georgia and Germany made presentations about ongoing institutional reforms in environmental area and implementation of donor support mechanisms for such reforms. European ECO-Forum representatives addressed the role of NGOs in strengthening the efficiency of environmental policy. For more information contact:
6. OUTCOMES OF THE FIFTH JOINT MEETING OF THE EAP TASK FORCE AND THE PROJECT PREPARATION COMMITTEE The Fifth Joint Meeting of the EAP Task Force and the Project Preparation Committee (PPC) took place on 15-16 March 2007 in Brussels. This was the last meeting of this kind before the Ministerial Conference in Belgrade. The main purpose of the meeting was to finalise the documents prepared by the EAP Task Force and the PPC to Belgrade Ministerial Conference. The participants made their comments and suggesstions to drafts of the documents (see www.oecd.org/env/eap). The delegates were suggested to submit their comments and sugesstions in writing by 30 March 2007. In addition, the meeting discussed very important issues concerning the future of the PPC and EAP Task Force. Two alternative scenarios were proposed in relation to activities of the PPC after Belgrade. According to the first scenario, the PPC will cooperate with a wider range of IFIs (after Kyiv it mostly cooperates with EBRD), based on a new multilateral donor fund. However, in this case, procedures for operation and management of such fund may be complecated and costly. Moreover, there is no guarantee that donors will be enthusiastic about the creation of a new specialized multilateral fund. The second scenario provides that the PPC will use financing mechanisms already established by EBRD. However, in this case, the PPC will provide support to EBRD-funded projects only. Almost all speakers, including the World Bank, supported the second scenario. The United Kingdom made a statement that they would no longer provide funding through the PPC. Therefore, the UK will not preside anymore in the PPC. The discussion addressed the future of EAP Task Force and transfer of its functions to the New Regional Environmental Centers (New RECs). At first, the European Commission suggested to create a three-lateral working group composed of the representatives of EAP Task Force, the EU and the NewRECs. However, EECCA governmental delegates and the European ECO-Forum raised their concern regarding this option. They stressed the problems in internal organisation of the NewRECs and possible risks connected with transfer of EAP TF functions to the New RECs without preliminary consultation with countries. After long debate it was decided to create a small group out of representatives of EAP TF, the Netherlands, Moldova, the European ECO-Forum and New RECs. In two months this small group shall develop possible options for transfer of some EAP TF functions to New RECs. These options will be discussed during the preparatory process to the Ministerial Conference in Belgrade and will then be submitted to ministers. For more information contact:
7. CAPACITY-BUILDING WORKSHOP ON THE AARHUS CLEARINGHOUSE MECHANISM For the first time,UNECE has conducted a distance training using Internet telephony and remote access computer technology to link a North American-based trainer to experts gathered at a capacity- building workshop in Europe.The subregional workshop "Capacity- building for the Aarhus Clearinghouse mechanism and electronic information tools" was conducted in Szentendre, Hungary, on 8-9 March 2007. The workshop had been organized by the Aarhus Convention Secretariat in partnership with the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe. Twenty-seven experts drawn mainly from Central and South Eastern Europe participated in this unique exercise. The application of telephony reduced the ecological footprint of the workshop and saved about US$2,000 in travel and other expenses", reported the Aarhus Convention secretariat. The Szentendre workshop also recognized the Belgium web portal www.aarhus.be as being the "Best National Node (2007) of the Aarhus Clearinghouse Mechanism." The Belgium national portal provides citizens with clear information on the development and impact of the Aarhus Convention at Belgian level. BlueLink Information Network (Bulgaria) was also recognized as "a Leading Contributor to the Aarhus Clearinghouse ". The capacity-building workshop on the Aarhus Clearinghouse mechanism and electronic information tools is the first in a series being organized to promote participation in the Convention's Aarhus Clearinghouse for Environmental Democracy. For more information contact
public.participation@unece.org
Source: UNECE Weekly No. 215
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