Informal Ministerial Dialogue EaP Environment Report

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Carmel McDowell
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1 Informal Ministerial Dialogue EaP Environment Report Summary The Fifth meeting of the Informal Eastern Partnership Dialogue took place on 29 th June in Minsk with the sector session focused on Environment. This meeting represented the first comprehensive discussion on environmental issues at ministerial level since the creation of the EaP in The meeting offered the opportunity to discuss openly the implementation of SDGs within the EaP as well as to identify areas of common interests and common challenges and ways to improve our cooperation on environment. The meeting was chaired by newly appointed Minister of Environment of Belarus while most of the moderation and steer was done by his Deputy Minister Ms Malkina. In addition to Commissioners Vella and Hahn, all EaP partners were present and represented at Minister (BY, MD, GE) or Deputy Minister level (AR, AZ, UA). The State Secretary of Latvia Environment Ministry also attended the Informal Dialogue as well as representatives from the EIB, EBRD and European Environment Agency. The meeting was very well organised by the Belarusian side, was fruitful and brought concrete conclusions. All participants stressed the importance of cooperating on environmental issues within the Eastern Partnership given the shared nature of our environmental challenges. They highlighted biodiversity, water and waste management, air quality, circular economy, climate change and stakeholder involvement as priority areas. The BY chair steered a specific exchange of experiences on EIA/SEA and stakeholder involvement and pointed to the environment and health nexus. All participants also highlighted the opportunities environment protection offers to foster innovation, create jobs, and to improve the quality of life for citizens. The countries which have signed Association Agreements with the EU referred to challenges deriving from the implementation of the environment chapter. Participants stressed the usefulness of meetings at ministerial level to provide a strategic framework to cooperation within the EaP and share experiences, best practices and solutions, and agreed to continue with such meetings in a regular manner. Georgia Environment Minister offered all participants to organise the next ministerial in Batumi back-to-back with the Environment for Europe Conference. During the press conference all parties sent similar messages regarding the usefulness of the meeting and the need to continue Ministerial meetings. Questions were linked to Russian interests (whether Commissioner Hahn had been invited to CIS meetings; or the impacts of the Russian embargo on sea products). Moldova invited all participants to a conference on environmental integration in Chisinau in the autumn.

2 The Ministerial lunch focused on environment mainstreaming (Green Economy) with countries exchanging views on common challenges and best ways to ensure environmental integration in sector policies. Follow-up Clarify with CAB and DG NEAR potential organisation of a follow-up EaP Ministerial back-to-back to EfE ministerial in Batumi that will take place in June 2016; Continue discussions about the concretisation and operationalization of conclusions during the EaP Panel on Environment and Climate Change in October in Brussels; Continue discussions on the ways and areas of delivering assistance on environment to the EaP countries with DG NEAR and the Panel on Environment and Climate Change; In view of points 2 and 3 organise VC with representatives of the countries early September to prepare the Panel discussion Detailed discussion The intervention by the newly appointed Minister of Environment of Belarus focused on the right timing of this meeting emphasising it was time to understand how to manage our natural capital and reduce the carbon intensity of our economies indicating the message delivered at the Riga Summit which recognised environment as one of the priorities for the EaP and called for this Informal Dialogue to take place also noting that environment does not know of borders and therefore the need to work closer to each other to protect our shared home. Commissioner Vella highlighted the fact this was the first time since the establishment of the EaP of a discussion on environment at ministerial level emphasising the right timing for such a discussion with the new Commission, ENP review and Riga Summit declaring the continued relevance of the EaP [see full speech at Opening remarks]. Commissioner Hahn highlighted environment is pivotal sector in which multilateral cooperation is essential and one of the few areas suited to strengthen cooperation since environment does not involve political issues. After reviewing the history of the Informal Dialogues he noted this one of the first time environmental issues have been discussed within this framework quoting the paragraph of the Riga Declaration which recalled environment remains an important area of cooperation within the Eastern Partnerships and Heads of State and Government looked forward to further cooperation in this field. Commissioner Hahn then outlined the reasons for environment being a key area of cooperation within the EaP: many environmental challenges are transboundary and even those that are not with direct cross border implications we all face many similar obstacles to achieve our goals which make sharing experiences and best practices needed; the EaP was a perfect platform for this.

3 Commissioner Hahn highlighted that the EU has provided and will continue to provide support: between million in regional programmes and 90 in CBC programmes and committed to dedicate at least the same amount for this current budgetary period. The Commissioner highlighted the main success stories of EU support included legislative developments, infrastructure and raising awareness in addition to mainstreaming environment into other policies and ensuring EIA for large infrastructure projects as well as SEA. He highlighted the achievements in the waste sector, in monitoring the state of the environment and environmental data as well as illegal movements of waste. He noted the EU support has provided tangible results on environmental protection to the benefit of all but that it was imperative to ensure ownership not only of the ministries of environment but also other ministries, private sector and CSOs to ensure the long term impact and sustainability of our action. For this, Commissioner Hahn called for the intensification of our cooperation including increasing involvement of EU Member States or at least those that are close to EaP countries borders to achieve our common goals. Commissioner Hahn concluded his intervention highlighting the role of environment protection in creating opportunities for job creation and research in particular in relation to green technologies where the EU has a clear advantage over the EaP countries and had much to offer including by offering business opportunities. The EU is exporting its technologies and know-how with the green technologies representing in some countries up to 10% of the business sectors. Working together for the protection of the environment is in our mutual interest. The BY chair, Ms Malkina, presented the three topics for discussion noting that it was clear that it would not be possible for the countries to find solutions but the meeting offered the opportunity to share ideas about the priorities for future cooperation based on our common challenges. Her intervention was the first in making an intervention. She first presented the main environmental objectives of BY for the coming years as well as the progress and achievements made in various environmental areas. She highlighted the importance of 2015 as the year of international commitments and global action, which will require additional further steps in the future. She highlighted that the priority goal for BY was not to exceed the anthropogenic influence of the environment beyond was it was possible making a specific connection between environment and health and ensuring an harmonisation of the environmental goals. She noted that BY has raised to position 32 in the Ecological footprint index and has set forth goals for ensuring a sustainable development by the year 2030 covering the three pillars. The second priority was the shift to a Green Economy as the only way to ensuring SD by ensuring an economy guided by green principles highlighting the cooperation with the EU and UNDP in the Green East project which was elaborating and testing practical solutions and examples of green economy. Thirdly is the protection of biodiversity to meet the Aichi Targets and to ensure ecosystem systems and their services are restored. Ms Malkina noted that BY has

4 passed from 7.7% of its territory declared as protected areas to 8.2% and soon to achieve 8.6% noting that this has been led to a positive increase of tourism of about 260%. Fourthly she highlighted Education for Sustainable Development as crucial to ensure the link between environment protection and society indicating the number of green schools and the new Aarhus Centre established in the city of Grodna as well as the Public Consultation and Coordination Council. She also highlighted efforts on ensuring a more sustainable management of water resources by the updating of infrastructure and the adoption of a river-basin approach [something about 93% of international agency]. In the area of Air she noted the improvements of air monitoring and the success of the air quality policy in particular through actions in the area of transport, ODS achieving a reduction of emitted pollutants of 2.1% while DGP grew by 10%. She noted waste as the delayed action mine which enormous impacts on health emphasising the need to create a market of secondary row materials. She highlighted the national action plans through which 3 OPs landfills have been cleared stored and packaged for elimination. (something about 83% row materials). On Climate Change, Ms Malkina outline the commitments under the UNFCCC and the efforts made to assure the transition to a low carbon economy emphasising the importance of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and the aim of reducing GHG emissions by 15% with a combination of actions including forest management and ecosystem services or the construction of NPP to increase the nuclear capacity of the country. She stressed the need for better models to assess the impacts of CC on socio-economic context to ensure consensus while ensuring the accessibility of energy. BY is working on its INDCs noting as well the commitments under the Riga Declaration. She noted the usefulness of the Environment Performance Review under UNECE, which includes recommendations from international experts that BY is willing to implement. In this sense she highlighted the need for an integrated approach taking into account local conditions but also global trends, again noting the usefulness of the EaP green east project. As the elements for the future strategy in BY action to protect the environment, she highlighted establishing better links between environment and health, the monitoring of environmental components with the support of international experts, and the assessment of the cost-effectiveness of environment protection also in relation to human life as well as ensuring he application of BATs. Ms Malkina identified the following areas for further cooperation under the EaP: Development of Green Economy, Rehabilitation of ecosystems and their services, education for sustainable development, water management, waste as a secondary row material, reduction of energy consumption, the assessment of the economic

5 cost of environmental degradation, including the costs for human life and the application of BATs, developing clear-cut mechanisms for regulatory development. The intervention by AZERBAIJAN Environment Deputy Minister stressed that economic growth was only possible with better management of resources and shifting towards green growth which implies implementing an energy efficient, low carbon, low pollution economy. In his intervention, he highlighted the Rio+20 Declaration which presented the complex balance between natural resources and biodiversity and the interaction with other sectors. He stress the rapid economic development due to oil exploration but also the environmental problems linked to that and the need to focus on biodiversity, decontamination and land preservation (green territory) for which State Programmes were underway. The importance of environmental technology and green growth was particularly emphasised. Among the progress made, he highlighted the share of renewable energy for the electricity sector and natural gas and noted the EaP Green project support to access UNECE SEA protocol by reviewing the legislative framework and the pilot project that will be carried out in AZ. He highlighted the potential to reduce waste and use it as a secondary row material. He acknowledged that despite being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, AZ needed to be ecologically sustainable. He praised the meeting at ministerial level as an excellent platform for regular exchanges and to learn about best practices and called for further meetings to define the strategic planning for the future. The short intervention by ARMENIA Environment Deputy Minister focused on AR priorities for cooperation, namely water, sustainable agriculture, waste management, green economy, forest policy and joint products. GEORGIA Environment Minister acknowledged the EU contribution to environment and explain Georgia is now working towards the harmonisation of its environment legislative framework with that of the EU and carrying out a series of reforms as part of GE commitments under the Association Agreement. Mr pointed out that the environment chapter requirements were the largest in the Association Agreement for which a roadmap has been developed. The minister highlighted the role of EU regional and bilateral support to facilitate the approximation obligations. He stressed that the ENP is a useful tool and welcome the revision given the different challenges facing the countries. The regional approach is a success but needs to take into account differentiation while focusing on regional challenges. He noted that to solve environmental problems given their transboundary and cross-border challenge the regional approach is very important and requires concerted efforts. Mr particularly highlighted nature conservation, the rational use of natural resources, environment integration, planning, climate change adaptation and mitigation (he further noted GE contribution to COP21) and the implementation of Multilateral Environment Agreements (MEAs). He concluded by requesting the continuous active participation within the Eastern Partnerships, both at bilateral and multilateral level. Later on Mr offered that the next ministerial discussion on environment take place in Batumi (Georgia) back to back with the Environment for Europe Ministerial.

6 MOLDOVA Environment Minister welcomed the discussion to define priorities for joint action and requested these meetings to take place on a regular basis given the countries mutual interests and commitments. He stressed the importance of working within Platform 2 in view of the implementation of the Association Agreements. Regarding priorities for cooperation he highlighted environmental management, environment integration, air, water, waste, nature protection, chemicals and climate change. As regards specific needs he highlighted the reform and modernisation of the administration including to develop new legislation, collection and use of data, regional cooperation, financial support (at national and international levels) to assess the cost of non-protecting the environment, sharing experience with other countries that have undergone the process of approximation recently, like Bulgaria; he also highlighted the need to develop ideas for new projects. UKRAINE Environment Deputy Minister stressed that ecological needs have to be integrated into all sector policies noting that the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities should apply to all areas of environment protection and not only to climate change. He acknowledged the role of the EaP to boost common understanding as well as high level cooperation as well as to share experiences at multilateral and bilateral level regarding meeting requirements and international standards. He particularly highlighted UA efforts in the energy and transport sector to prepare for COP21. He considered that urban planning was an area that had not received sufficient attention in the past and it could be interesting to focus more on it given the impacts on air quality and climate change. He also stressed the need for concerted action in the area of waste which also has implications in the fight against climate change (e.g., landfill gas). Mr explained that UA has a new Environment Protection strategy and it is now working on the action plan for As GE and MD he stressed the new and ambitious commitments included in the Association Agreement and the value of sharing experiences with other EaP countries; he particularly highlighted Green Economy and sustainable consumption and production. He finalised his intervention by stressing the role of CSOs and the need to involvement in the strategic planning in line with the Aarhus Convention and emphasising again the importance of the EaP to find ways to address common challenges. The BY chair stressed that all countries have identified their own national problems but noted that they were very similar since these are common challenges and we all have a common goal. For this Ms Malkina took the request from various countries about the need to meet more frequently. She acknowledged that the urban dimension was an acute problem and the current economic development, especially industrial sector, required close monitoring of environmental impacts. Environment and Economy should god hand in hand. LATVIA Secretary of State from the Environment Ministry highlighted the importance of the SDGs and the crucial meeting in Septembers stressing four aspects: (1) SDGs need to be clear and understandable; (2) need to ensure stakeholder involvement and be mulisectoral; (3) Develop an adequate implementation framework; (4) Partnership, we need to work together. Mr

7 stressed the EaP is a good platform for cooperation on the implementation of the post 2015 agenda. The European Environment Agency presented the work it carries out with all EaP countries and beyond regarding environmental information which is crucial for good decision making both at national and international level. Mr Stanners stressed that transboundary challenges required a common understanding, sharing knowledge and practices. He summarised the results of the SEIS I project, which is part of the Flagship on Environment Governance and Climate Change as well as the close coordination with international organisations such as UNEP and UNECE making use of existing frameworks such as the information already available under the Aarhus Convention. EEA announced its readiness to continue working on the implementation of SEIS in a new phase that will soon start. The European Investment Bank presented its portfolio of projects in the water sector and solid waste sectors as well as EIB's success in mainstreaming environment considerations into energy and transport investments. He highlighted the complementarity with NIF funds as well as its work on addressing pollution hotspots in the Mediterranean through MeSHIP. He supported the vision that a better strategic framework could further improve investments by promoting a joint-blending approach based on regional priorities. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development also presented its portfolio of environment-related projects in particular under the Municipal and Environmental Infrastructure initiative and the Sustainable Resources Initiative. EBRD also stressed the value of the E5P and the possibilities to support SDGs and pointed The General discussion was followed by an exchange of views and shared experiences on EIA/SEA as well as on private sector and the public's involvement on environmental issues. All countries detailed their efforts including new EIA laws and emphasised the role of the Aarhus Convention and the Aarhus Centres as well as the importance of being as open and inclusive (civil society, private sector, etc) as possible. Commissioner Vella intervened to summarise the main conclusions of the meeting. He welcomed the commitment and the willingness to continue further cooperation on environment within the EaP in particular in nature conservation, water, air quality and its links to health, waste and circular economy, climate change. Commissioner Vella concluded by calling all participants to work together and praised the usefulness of ministerial meetings within the EaP emphasising that global problems do not exclude bilateral and multilateral cooperation to share experiences and find common solutions. In this sense, he stress the usefulness of State of Environment Reports and Outlook (SOER2015) to adopt preventive action, the need for better institutional structures involving citizens to facilitate national cooperation and action, for legislation particularly in the area of EIA/SEA, for cooperating with the business community and for communicating that protecting nature is not a cost but and investment in a better and more prosperous future. The choice it is not between development vs not development but between

8 development and sustainable development. Commissioner Vella expressed his willingness to continue the discussion and took on the requests by EaP countries to continue the meetings at ministerial level suggesting a formal EaP Ministerial on environment with all EU Member States. Commissioner Hahn also expressed his support to continue ministerial meetings on environment within the EaP and stressed again the links between environment conservation and economic development, particularly highlighting tourism, and that environmental issues are challenging but offer more opportunities. Ms Malkina closed the meeting noting the shared goals and challenges and stressing the EaP as a platform for constructive dialogue, to find solution to common problems and exchange views and share experience and the need to continue cooperation. She expressed her gratitude to all partners and invited all partners to continue the dialogue in the future to create the right conditions for an adequate environment all over Europe.

ECE/BATUMI.CONF/2016/1

ECE/BATUMI.CONF/2016/1 ENVIRONMENT FOR EUROPE UN ENVIRONNEMENT POUR L EUROPE ОКРУЖАЮЩАЯ СРЕДА ДЛЯ ЕВРОПЫ გარემო ევროპისათვის BATUMI, 8 10 June 2016 Eighth Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference Batumi, Georgia 8 10 June