EU EASTERN BORDER ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY BELT

1. EU EASTERN BORDER ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY BELT Project concept UNEP/GRID-Arendal Environment Agency of England and Wales

2. New Eastern border of the EU • New EU border: • Northwest Russia • Belarus • Ukraine • Moldova (after the • accession of • Romania)

3. 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.

4. Interests / Needs EU: • Environmental safety on the eastern border • Access to objective information on the environmental situation/risks in the border countries EU border countries: • Cooperation with the EU • Help in decreasing of environmental risks Cities in the EU border countries: • Safe environment • Environmental management systems • Control of local private businesses • Environmental information for decision making Citizens 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. EU Eastern borderEnvironmental Safety Belt

9. Suggested location of EIN hubs ● hub exists ○ hub to be set up

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Environmental Information Network Hub resources Donor agencies Funding and Equipment Environmental NGOs UNEP/ GRID-Arendal Regional/City Administration Know-how & tech. support Management Environmental Information Network Hub Premises Information Legal support State environmental agencies EA of England and Wales Universities & Educational institutions Fees Payment for information Polluting enterprises General public Businesses (e.g. realtors)

14. 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