Kiev Environment for Europe Conference

• A Brief History
• The Kiev Agenda
• UK Preparations
• UK Objectives
• UK Defra press releases:
  • 23 May 2003 - Kiev Conference 'fulfilled its promise' says Margaret Beckett
  • 22 May 2003 - Kiev Conference: Margaret Beckett launches UK environment for Europe fund
  • 21 May 2003 - Kiev Conference: protocols signed

A Brief History

The Environment for Europe process was launched in Dobris in 1991, in the then Czechoslovakia, to serve as a framework for improving and harmonizing environmental quality and policies on the continent. Josef Vavrushek the minister of Environmental protection of the former Czechoslovakia saw it as a unique opportunity to unify the countries thus promoting peace, stability and sustainable development.

The programme seeks to improve coordination of national and international efforts in Europe, focusing on central and Eastern parts of the region. The process sits within the UNECE framework, in which there are 55 member states - see www.unece.org/oes/about/members.htm - including countries in North America (Canada and America), Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) and Western Asia (Israel).

The UNECE region covers more than 47 million square kilometres and has a population of 1.2 billion (20% of the worlds population). Details of the UNECE region are available at www.unece.org/oes/about/region.htm

The Kiev Agenda

• Environmental policy in transition: lessons learned from ten years of environmental performance reviews
• Environmental monitoring and the third pan-European environmental assessment report. This report will be launched in London on the 13^th May.
• Environmental strategy for Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia
• Environment, water and security in Central Asia
• Guidelines on strengthening compliance with multilateral environmental agreements in the UNECE region
• Environment and education
• The Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy and related issues
• Energy and Environment

• A protocol on strategic environmental assessment
• A protocol on pollutant release and transfer registers
• A protocol on liability and compensation for damage resulting from the transboundary effects of industrial accidents on transboundary waters

The UK signed all three of the protocols.

UK Preparations and follow up

Defra has a small team that worked on the UK preparations for the conference that is now working on follow-up. The team have organised 2 stakeholder events so far:

Preparatory Stakeholder Event

A stakeholder event was organised at Chatham House as part of the run up to the conference in February 2003. Defra Secretary of State, Margaret Beckett addressed the event that approximately 50 people from civil society, the private sector and government departments attended. For further information see:

• the Secretary of State's speech (20 KB)
• the notes from the event (70 KB)
• UK Environment for Europe Fund

Follow-up Stakeholder Event

The team organised a further stakeholder event that took place on Monday 21 July 2003 to look at follow-up to the conference. This event had the following objectives.

• Identify key areas of follow-up from the conference for the UK
• Agree on how the UK can deliver Kiev commitments
• Increase understanding of stakeholder involvement in the Kiev process
• Explore funding options for UK stakeholders.

For further information about the event please look at the programme and papers on the outcomes of Kiev and report of the meeting below:

• Programme for the event (25 KB)
• Session 1 Paper - Outcomes of Kiev (25 KB)
• Report of meeting (55 KB)
  • Executive summary (10 KB)

Following the event on 21 July, the UK strategy on Kiev Follow-up is being finalised. Further information will be posted onto this website when it is available.

If you would like any further information, please contact Philip Stamp at efe_enquiries@defra.gsi.gov.uk.

Side Events at Kiev

Defra launched its new Environment for Europe fund of £2million that has been designed to help deliver the outcomes of Kiev. The launch took place at the UK stand during the Kiev Conference as part of the press briefing. The exhibition demonstrated some of the work that the UK is supporting within the UNECE region, drawing on examples from the FCO, DFID and Defra. There was also a roundtable discussion to seek views from stakeholders about what they believe the priority areas for the fund should be. This was extremely successful and was attended by approximately 60 representatives from civil society within the UNECE region.

For more information about the fund please contact Iuliiana Best by e-mailing efe_enquiries@defra.gsi.gov.uk.

The FCO also organised a side event at the Kiev Conference on the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership which was launched at WSSD. For more information please visit the REEEP website at www.reeep.org. The FCO also funded a seminar as part of the Stakeholder Forum project to debate the roles and opportunities for NGOs and wider civil society to address the Principle 10 issues of participation, justice and access to information.

UK Objectives

The UK had 3 key objectives:

• WSSD Follow-up - Many of the issues discussed at Johannesburg, such as biodiversity, water and sanitation, sustainable energy, capacity building, and environmental integration were also important areas at the Kiev Conference. The UK wanted to ensure that the EfE process focuses on delivery of the relevant WSSD commitments including Type II initiatives.

For more information about Defra's work on sustainable development and the World Summit on Sustainable Development please visit the Government's sustainable development website at www.sustainable-development.gov.uk

• A focus on Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia - Kiev's distinguishing feature was that it brought together the countries of west and east Europe, plus the US and Canada. It was the one opportunity in three or four years to consider the needs of the wider Europe region together, and especially those countries outside of the EU. The UK believes that this means supporting the EECCA countries in meeting their priority needs, whether through a common Environment Strategy, that they are developing, or through bilateral and sub-regional initiatives as well as national strategies for poverty reduction.

• Ensure that the Environment for Europe process responds to the consequences of EU enlargement - The EU will become the principal and most effective means of international law-making for most countries in the European region. Many EU neighbours are increasingly focused on harmonising with or at least approximating to EU standards. Convergence of legislation and standards will itself help strengthen economic links and facilitate freer trade and investments.