Common interests address common questions in Graz

Some say the Spirit of Rio is dying, but environmental ministries disagree. In Graz, Austria on 28 August, the environmental ministers from four Danube countries discussed global and regional environmental issues, including UNCED's Agenda 21 and the Lucerne conference's Environmental Action Program. The conference brought together environmental ministers and representatives from Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Austria. It was held in order to keep communication lines open regarding both global and regional environmental issues shared by these four countries that share the Danube River, says Zsuzsanna Arokati of the Department for International Cooperation in Hungary's Ministry of Environment and Regional Planning. Other issues, including ways of creating multilateral cooperation, information sharing and regional economic and environmental issues, were also discussed.

There were no official agreements made during the conference, but the countries agreed to hold a series of workshops about environmental measurement and information systems. Hungarian and Slovak environmental ministries discussed separately the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Dam, but the plenary session's agenda did not include the dam. Says Arokati, the conference took place in a common feeling of cooperation, so the Spirit of Rio may be alive afterall. A larger question is, however, if this spirit will turn into real action and long-term results.


Contact:
Department for International Cooperation
Ministry of Environment and Regional Planning
Budapest, Hungary
tel: (36-1) 201-3843, fax: (36-1) 201-2846


THE BULLETIN * AUTUMN 1994