EU EASTERN BORDER ENVIRONMENTAL

SAFETY BELT

Project concept

UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Environment Agency of England and Wales

New Eastern border of the EU

New EU border:•Northwest Russia•Belarus•Ukraine•Moldova (after theaccession of Romania)

Environmental safety

The environmental safety of the border areas in the neighboring to the EU countries is one of the key factors of the regional stability.

This safety depends on countries’ technological capacity, but even more fundamentally on the effectiveness of decision making regarding environmental issues and timely access to relevant and objective environmental information.

Interests / NeedsEU: Environmental safety on the eastern border Access to objective information on the environmental situation/risks in

the border countriesEU border countries: Cooperation with the EU Help in decreasing of environmental risksCities in the EU border countries: Safe environment Environmental management systems Control of local private businesses Environmental information for decision makingCitizens of the cities in the EU border countries: Improvement of quality of life Local environmental information system Guidance for concrete actions aimed at improvement of the quality of

life

Problems Environmental information is scattered in different

organization and owned by different stakeholders Environmental information has low impact on

decision-makers and general public It is difficult to obtain information on pollutants’

release. Russia and Belarus have not signed the PRTR Protocol, Russia has not signed the Aarhus Convention

National environmental information is of little relevance to a lay person

General public has mistrust of “official” information State environmental agencies regard environmental

NGOs as “non-professional” and politically engaged

Background

Workshops on environmental information management (Kiev, January 2004, and St. Petersburg, May 2004)

Development and presentation of the Pskov pilot local environmental information system at the Second Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention in May 2005.

Creation of 4 multi-stakeholder Environmental Information Centers in Northwest Russia

What do we have?

Aarhus Convention ratified in 3 of 4 border countries PRTR protocol signed by 2 border countries Aarhus centers in 2 cities of 2 border countries EICs in 4 cities in NW Russia based on multi-

stakeholder approach Potentially sustainable Pskov pilot model of the local

environmental information system Partnership with EA / WIYBY platform Support of UNEP

EU Eastern borderEnvironmental Safety Belt

Suggested location of EIN hubs

Countries Cities Aarhus centers

Environmental Information Centers

Belarus NovopoltskMinskGomel

○ ○ ○

Moldova Chisineu ●

Russia Murmansk Apatity Arkhangelsk PetrozavodskSt. PetersburgPskovKaliningrad

○ ○ ● ○ ● ● ●

Ukraine KievVinnitsiaLvivOdesa

● ○ ○ ○

● hub exists

○ hub to be

set up

Strategic objective:

Improvement of environmental situation along the new EU border through:

Access to timely and relevant environmental information as a basis for environmental decisions by governments and the rest of society

Raising the environmental awareness of the population

Involvement of the public in border countries in decision-making on environmental matters

Goals To provide a strategic framework for the efficient and effective

delivery of environmental information services; To increase the accessibility of environmental information on all

levels (from decision makers to grass-roots) according to the principles of the Aarhus Convention;

To build an environmental information network in border countries;

To enhance the outreach capacity of government bodies in border countries;

To increase the impact of environmental information along the whole information chain, especially down to the levels of local self-governance bodies (municipalities) and the general public.

How? Creation of environmental information hubs in the cities

posing environmental risk, providing with data on pollutants release and state of the environment and delivering of processed information to decision-makers and the general public through local environmental information systems;

Integration of hubs into a cohesive environmental information network. Interoperable systems and common standards will allow information to be shared, accessed and used across the boundaries.

Stakeholders’ cooperation in sharing of environmental information, assessment of environmental risks, their prevention and gradual improvement of the overall environmental situation in the border countries.

Environmental Information Network Hub resources

Environmental Information Network Hub

Environmental Information Network Hub

UNEP/GRID-Arendal

EA of England and Wales

Donor agencies

Regional/City

Administration

Funding and Equipment

Fees

Know-how & tech. supportManagement

PremisesInformationLegal support

Polluting enterprises

Payment for information

General public

Businesses (e.g. realtors)

State environmental

agencies

Environmental

NGOs

Universities &Educational

institutions

Activities Set-up of environmental information hubs in 9 cities Strengthening the existing information hubs in 6 cities Capacity building of national and local environmental institutions Set-up of local environmental information systems in 15 cities Environmental media work (media training, media tours to

ecological hot-spots, creation and support of professional associations of environmental journalists)

Environmental awareness-raising programs with the general public

Enhancement of the use of environmental information on the municipal level through joint capacity-building training in social marketing /outreach for joint groups from state and non-profit sectors

Development of information products