EfE themes: Environment and security
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Based on the mandate from the 2007 Belgrade Ministerial Declaration, "environment and security" related work has primarily been carried out through the "Environment and Security Initiative" (ENVSEC).
ENVSEC is a partnership between the United Nations environment and development programmes (UNEP and UNDP), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Regional Environment Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC). The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has joined the Initiative as an associated partner. Click here for more information on ENVSEC organization and management.
ENVSEC works to assess and address environmental problems, which threaten or are perceived to threaten security, societal stability and peace, human health and/or sustainable livelihoods, within and across national borders in conflict-prone regions. Recent examples of ENVSEC activities include:
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Through assessments and in-depth research of the transboundary impacts of industry and hazardous waste, ENVSEC has provided practical and strategic recommendations on how to foresee and mitigate the impacts on specific sites (such as the 'Mining for Closure' process in South Eastern Europe). Eighteen industrial (including uranium mining) and hazardous waste sites have been investigated in the Balkans and in the Ferghana valley of Central Asia, and such work is to be expanded to the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. By drawing attention to concrete problems and investigating solutions, ENVSEC is in many cases becoming a bridge to ensure remediation of 'hot spots'. For example, it is playing a role in the containment and destruction of left-over rocket fuel in Armenia and Ukraine and obsolete pesticides in Moldova, Belarus and Tajikistan.
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ENVSEC fosters information exchange, agreements and practical cooperation over shared waters. In specific cases this has helped to build understanding, cooperation and long-term development. Examples include environmental-agricultural cooperation in the Prespa Lake; a management agreement and improved information exchange for the Dniester basin; and cooperative monitoring in the Prut, Kura, Araks / Aras basins and Central Asia. In the Balkans, ENVSEC has been looking for arrangements and locations for cross-border 'peace parks', and in the 'greater Caucasus' it has helped re-open a discussion towards a region-wide environmental convention.
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In the areas of 'frozen conflicts' in the Caucasus and Moldova, ENVSEC has promoted broad environmental cooperation, thus trying to add a 'softer' dimension to a difficult process of political settlement. A mission to Nagorno Karabakh in 2006 not only helped Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities to identify causes of powerful grass fires, but to reflect upon various options of how a dialogue over environmental problems and emergencies in the area could be strengthened. Bringing together local environmental authorities in the turbulent Ferghana valley and preparing local communities to anticipate natural disasters, such as floods or landslides, not only increases mutual understanding but also mitigates major environmental risks to human security.
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ENVSEC has contributed to strengthening environment and security institutions and policies in vulnerable areas. For example, in the Ferghana valley it helped to establish 'Aarhus centres' and helped local authorities to better inform the public about the environmental situation. Elsewhere, it has systematically mainstreamed reporting on environment and security in the mass media of the Caucasus and Central Asia, promoted public participation in decision-making on related issues, and helped to implement existing policies (such as regional environmental conventions) or develop new ones (such as the new Environmental Security Strategy of Moldova).
ENVSEC currently focuses on the following regions and issues:
Click here to access the ENVSEC website, which contains additional and more detailed information on the Initiative.
Click here to connect to the ENVSEC Progress Report 2006 published in March 2007.
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Documents related to "environment and security" discussed at the 2007 Belgrade Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference
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The following documents related to "environment and security" have been submitted to the 2007 Belgrade Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference:
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Environment and Security Partnerships: Conflicts and the Environment (submitted by: Belgium, Finland, Germany, Hungary and Italy, in collaboration with UNEP as competent partner of the ENVSEC network). View document: ENG, FRE, RUS.
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Europe's Environment: the Fourth Assessment (submitted by: European Environment Agency). Note: This report will be made available during the Belgrade Conference. View document: ENG, FRE, RUS.
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Policies for a Better Environment - Progress in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (submitted by: EAP Task Force). View document: full text ENG/RUS, summary.
- Assessment of Transboundary Waters in the UNECE Region (submitted by: Finland on behalf of the Bureau of the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes). View document: ENG, FRE, RUS.
- Challenges and opportunities of transboundary accidental water pollution, liability and compensation – progress towards ratification of the Civil Liability Protocol (submitted by: the Bureaux of the UNECE Industrial Accidents Convention and the Water Convention). View document: ENG, FRE, RUS.
- Integrating Environment in Key Economic Sectors in Europe and Central Asia (submitted by: the World Bank). View document: ENG.
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Initiative on Strategic Environmental Assessment (submitted by Armenia, Belarus and Moldova). View document: ENG, FRE, RUS.
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Progress Report on Partnerships in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (submitted by: EAP Task Force). View document: ENG, RUS.
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Last update of this page: 17 April, 2008.
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