Sub-regional Workshop of CIS Countries on the Implementation of Delhi Programme

On March 3-4, 2004 the Sub-regional CIS Workshop on the implementation of Delhi Working Programme according to the article 6 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) was held in Moscow. It was devoted to education, staff training and raising of public awareness.

Five-year Working Programme on the article 6 was approved at the 8th Conference of the FCCC Parties in Delhi in the year 2002. Russia as a Party to the Convention must fulfil its obligations on the article 6 taking into account its opportunities and priorities within the framework of sustainable development.

The Workshop included a number of topical meetings devoted to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, national researches in the sphere of climate change in Russia and Ukraine, economic, environmental and social consequences of climate change in Russia, raising public awareness on the problems of climate change in Russia and other CIS countries.

Presentation of European Pollution Emission Register Was Held

European Commission and European Environmental Agency presented the European Pollution Emission Register for public view in the Internet.

For the first time detailed information on pollution from 10 thousand large-scale industrial projects and enterprises in EC countries and Norway became available to the public. In March the data on Hungary will be added to the Register.

The Register allows to search for pollutants of a specific enterprise (by name, postal code, address or simply by pressing the needed place on the map), data on industrial pollution or certain activities in chosen countries, emissions by naming of pollutants, or the search by combination of these options.

The page also contains the information about each pollutant and their influence on public health and environment.

In summer European Commission plans to issue the survey of states' accomplishment of accountability obligations, bringing to a focus the data quality and the timeliness of information acquisition. It is already obvious that the Register data are not sufficient for some pollutants and countries, especially in the spheres like hog-breeding and battery farms, dumps, surface treatment of metals, industrial emissions and municipal sewer systems. The Commission will continue its work on the Register improvement. Besides, the page is planned to be translated into the EC official languages.

After the ratification of the Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR) to the Aarhus Convention the European Pollution Emission Register is planned to be updated in order to become a full-fledged European PRTR. At the same time the community will be provided with the information on the ways of industrial wastes utilization.

The data on the European Pollution Emission Register are updated every three years. The next accounting date is to be in the year 2006. By the time new EC members will take part in it.

Video discussion with the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State

The video discussion with the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Turner on the ecology and ocean survey was held in the American Embassy in Moscow. Vladimir Zakharov (CREP - Centre for Russian Environmental Policy), Sergey Kuraev (RREC), Olga Ponizova (Eco-Accord) and Eugeny Shvarts (WWF) took part in the discussion from the part of Russia. They exchanged opinions on actual problems of international environmental co-operation.

John Turner was asked questions about the role of the environmental organizations in the USA, social responsibility of business and environmental policy of the country in general. Russian participants of the discussion were also interested in the USA position concerning the climate change, in particular, the Kyoto Protocol. Assistant Secretary of State explained that the USA are not satisfied with this document because around 70 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions does not come within its purview, and called upon to solve problems of this kind on the basis of bilateral agreements, including those with Russia.

Russian-British Project Will Help to Reduce Natural Gas Leakages in Kaliningrad

With the participation of Russian Regional Environmental Centre the actual implementation of Russian-British project "Assistance to the Russian gas industry in the participation in mechanisms provided by the Kyoto Protocol" has begun. Gasmen of the most Western region of Russia received modern high-tech material which, used in producing of seals for natural gas distribution networks, will let essentially reduce natural gas leakages.

Seals made of forementioned material were installed at a Kaliningrad gas-distribution substation and clearly demonstrated their high efficiency: marsh-gas concentration in the valve area reduced dozens of times.

Installation of effective seals will let essentially reduce the harm to the climate system caused by fugitive emissions of methane having 21 times higher global warming potential (GWP) than that of carbon dioxide.

The representatives of Denmark have become interested in the possibility of essential methane emission reduction from the natural gas leakages. They consider the opportunity to realize such initiative as a joint implementation project within the framework of Kyoto mechanisms. Kaliningrad region administration has also warmed up to further co-operation.

Global Biotechnology Forum in Chile

Experts, scientists and high-level delegations from more than 80 countries, as well as representatives from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, industry and the media attended the four-day Global Biotechnology Forum in Concepcion, Chile.

The forum examined the role of biotechnology in in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, as well as its impacts on environment, trade, and public perception. A number of key issues affecting the development of biotechnology in the developing world were identified: inadequate scientific, technical and research capabilities, the absence of entrepreneurial skills, the presence of intellectual property barriers, different biosafety regulations and difficult market access.

The meeting opened a dialogue meant to develop solutions for action, such as: the establishment of a multi-stakeholder forum for informed dialogue on biotechnology and its benefits for the developing world, the creation of a network and database on biotechnology activities in developing countries and those with economies in transition.

In his closing address, UNIDO's Director-General, Carlos Magarinos, also stressed the need to utilize the expertise, skills and activities that the United Nations and other international organizations have in the field of biotechnology, through greater interagency collaboration.

Third meeting of the Aarhus Convention Working Group on GMOs

On March 23-26, 2004, the third meeting of the Aarhus Convention GMO Working Group was held in Geneva in Palace of Nations. The meeting passed off in the atmosphere of more and more intensive confrontation of supporters and opponents of GMOs broad commercial use.

Similar to the two previous meetings the main objective of this Working Group was to study opportunities to elaborate legally binding mechanism for public access to the GMO related information (including genetically modified microorganisms), and the activities connected with it, as well as for the public participation in decision-making concerning GMOs circulation.

Draft elements as results of this Working Group meeting are to be presented at the Second Conference of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention in May 2005 in Almaty for the discussion and approval.

Some countries (for instance, Armenia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania) have presented their written suggestions containing exact wording of legally binding mechanisms. Their full texts are placed on the site of the Aarhus Convention ().

While informing the International Community about the present situation concerning legal control of GMO circulation, Moldova also introduced Russian and English version of Public Information and Consulting Regulations in the Sphere of Genetically Modified Organisms, approved by the Minister for Envitonment, Construction and Territorial Development on February the 10th, 2004, and also Resolution of the Moldova NGO Round Table on the problems of GMOs and biological safety in the world, Europe and Moldova, which was held on March 12, 2004 in Chisinau. Both documents develop provisions of the Aarhus Convention about the necessity of information access and decision making on GMOs for citizens and their associations.

Official delegations of Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, the Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, USA and Uzbekistan took part in the meeting of the Working Group.

The European Commission also actively participated in the meeting, being the leading negotiator on behalf of the countries - members of the European Union; during the negotiations it was constantly holding coordinating meetings for elaboration of unified position for its members.

The representatives of the UNEP/GEF Project for Biosafety on the very first day made detailed presentations about the realization of two large-scale intergovernmental projects on development and implementation of National Systems for Biosafety aimed to implement the provisions of the Biodiversity Protocol (materials on these presentations may be obtained in the RREC office).

Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe (REC CEE) and Russian Regional Environmental Centre (RREC) also sent their representatives to participate in the negotiations in order to perform more detailed presentation of the situation in the regions of their activity and reflection of the needs and priorities in the drafts of elaborated documents.

The non-governmental organizations: Biosafety Interdisciplinary Network (Switzerland), European Eco-Forum, Friends of Earth (Ukraine), European Inter-Parliamentary Association of Parliamentarian-Ecologists (GLOBE-Europe), International Environmental Resources (IER), CropLife International, the Union for Protection of Consumer Rights in Armenia were also represented at the meeting.

Opening the meeting, the Working Group Chair Helmuth Gaugitsch (Austria) reminded the participants about the decision of the First Conference of the Parties to the Catragena Protocol concerning the implementation of the article 23, about the public participation of this new international global legally binding agreement, which directly intersects with the provisions of the Aarhus Convention on GMOs. He also informed about the exchange of official letters between the Aarhus Convention Secretariat and the Cartagena Protocol Secretariat about the synergism between these multilateral international legal documents and the necessity of the two Forums' coordination and cooperation development. The executive secretary of the Protocol Hamdallah Zedan emphasized the utmost importance of the GMO Working Group activity within the framework of the Aarhus Convention for the development of the public participation procedures concerning GMO handling, and also for the significant contribution into the process of negotiations in accordance with the respective paragraph of the Cartagena Protocol. That was the reason for Zedan's approval of idea to elaborate and pass the Memorandum about the Mutual Understanding between the two Secretariats. The decision was supported by all participants of the meeting, moreover that the process of negotiations on the Cartagena Protocol realization is of global nature, but the end of 2005 all countries - members of the Convention on Biodiversity expressed their intention to join the Protocol and to become the participants of GMO global monitoring and notification system.

Further joint discussion of various suggested projects on the development of legally binding mechanisms concerning providing of information and public involvement in the decision making on GMOs showed the existence of rather big difference in the legal protection rate of the citizens of the countries - members of the European Union, and those of CEE countries and EECCA region: for the last three years European Communitiy has elaborated and approved a number of very detailed directives and rules on GMO handling, national legislation of many European countries has sensibly minute regulations (that is exactly why EU representatives insisted that only provisions that would not be legally binding should be implanted, or the changes in the text of the Convention or its appendices would fully repeat the provisions of the EU GMO directives). Conversely, CEE and EECCA countries either absolutely lack this of sphere of legislation, or have it extremely outdated and not meeting contemporary requirements on biological and environmental safety control.

Proponents of legal instruments development insisted on Aarhus Convention covering not only the European Union region but also the whole European Economic Commission region, so that the Working Group must take into account the needs and wishes of both CEE and EECCA region countries concerning the necessity of minimal international standard elaboration on citizens' access to GMO information and to procedures of public participation, because it substantially hits against their rights to free informed choice of the foodstuff, to protection of their health and environment, right to be heard while such vital and environmentally important decisions are taken as, say, allocation of test fields for genetically modified plants cultivation or commercial release of genetically modified products, seeds, forages.

In the course of most difficult negotiations multiple coordination meetings of representatives of the countries - members of the European Union, EU and EECCA countries (unfortunately, there were no representatives of the CEE countries), EU and European NGOs were held. To make the positions closer the chairman even took an attempt to work out suggested projects concerning the change of the text of the Convention within the framework of a so called "Friends of Chair" meeting - after the plenary session on March 25 the work of the Initiative Group continued up to 22.00.

Finally the representative of Ireland on behalf of the European Union (Ireland presides in EU till the autumn of the year 2004) though noting the impossibility to express any official coordinated position at the moment nevertheless offered a constructive approach to the course of further negotiations.

Ukraine, on behalf of the present delegations of the EECCA region countries, introduced draft suggestions, in the best way reflecting the needs of these countries in the elaboration of legally binding international standard on all mentioned problems.

More detailed information about specific draft suggestions can be received from the report about the held meeting of the Working Group - it is placed on the site of he Aarhus Convention.

The Chairman suggested that the participants of negotiations and other Parties to the Aarhus Convention absent at the meeting should introduce their ideas and text drafts for further discussion both to the Aarhus Convention Bureau by July 15, 2004 at the very latest, and at the 4th meeting of the GMO Working Group on October 18, 2004 in Geneva. During this concluding meeting the suggestions should be drawn up by the Working Group in their final shape in order to be examined by the Parties to the Aarhus Convention in May, 2005 in Almaty.