The Regional Environmental Center is now distributing translated
versions of the Environmental Action Program for Central and Eastern
Europe (EAP) to 13 countries. The REC is assisting the respective
national ministries of environment to organize seminars to present the
EAP and to present the status of countries' National Environmental
Action Programs. The one-day seminars will explain how the EAP fits
into the Environment for Europe process, how the EAP affects the
particular country, and how that country plans to implement the EAP
nationally through its NEAP.
The EAP was endorsed by 11 ministers of the environment in April 1993
in Lucerne, Switzerland. "It is a tool for helping governments prepare
for and set criteria for their National Environmental Action Programs,"
according to EAP Translation Project Coordinator Colin Woodard. "Since
resources for investing in environmental improvements are limited, the
challenge is to identify the most pressing problems and the most
appropriate investments. The EAP helps governments identify the most
cost-effective investments and the most important institutional and
legislative changes that they should make."
Although the ministers agreed with the EAP's principles, they noted
that in order for it to be useful, it needed to be translated into
local languages. Colin is coordinating the translation, publication,
and dissemination of the EAPs to 13 countries. NGOs in Central and
Eastern Europe can obtain copies of their country's EAP through the
REC's Local Offices.
Contact:Colin Woodard or Melita Rogelj
REC Head Office
A Focus Section on
EAPs and NEAPs
will appear in an upcoming issue of The Bulletin.
We want to know about your experiences.
Send information, complaints, statistics, etc. immediately to
editor@rec.org