R O A D T O A A R H U S
This June, world leaders met in New York to review progress made since the 1992 World Summit on Environment and Development in Rio. The outcome was a sobering event for all those who thought that, following the commitments made at Rio, sustainable development would come easily and by itself. The reality was that participants still face enormous difficulties in implementing Agenda 21. And media reported the failure of governments to help prevent climate change and assist in developing poor southern countries.
But media failed to report on initiatives that spun out of Rio, or which evolved independently, which are already bringing not spectacular... but important results, like the "Environment for Europe" (EFE) process.
Besides participating in the Rio process, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have been involved in the EFE process which began in Dobris, Czech Republic in 1991. Since then, two additional EFE conferences, one in Lucerne, Switzerland in 1993, and the other in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1995, were held, with the EFE road now leading to the 1998 conference in Aarhus, Denmark. As the two processes have taken place in parallel, many question their relationship, while European NGOs continuously request that the EFE process take on implementation of Agenda 21 in Europe.
In 1993, some viewed the EAP as an alternative to Agenda 21 adopted a year before in Rio, perceiving Agenda 21 as too broad to be practical and sometimes even comparing it to the unrealistic visions of socialist revolutionaries. The EAP, in contrast, was based on the strict logic of a market economy and realistic objectives. Today, the compromise position is that most CEE policymakers regard Agenda 21 as a broad set of long term goals and values while the EAP provides the tools for implementing them.
By participating in the EFE process, CEE countries have significantly increased their environmental policymaking capacities. Most ministries of environment have policy departments that are developing National Environmental Action Plans and other policy documents, more or less combining the EAP approach with the objectives of Agenda 21. Most countries have also adopted environmental acts which promote sustainable development and enable the authorities to develop integrated environmental policies and regulations. Finally, local communities are increasingly approaching environmental policymaking in a systematic way.
The REC has been part of the EFE process from the beginning, initially focusing its support on CEE NGOs and later undertaking initiatives supporting environmental policy development in CEE. On the road to Aarhus, the REC was charged with being the secretariat for the Sofia Initiatives (Air Pollution, EIA, Economic Instruments and Biodiversity), and now the REC is providing grants for NGOs preparing for Aarhus, taking part in the Public Participation Convention negotiations, and working with local communities on Local Environmental Action Plans.
At the same time, the REC is also a assisting the UN with its Global Environmental Outlook report which includes an assessment of the implementation of global conventions in CEE.
In this complexity of international processes, conventions and institutions, Aarhus will provide an interesting forum where Ministers, NGOs and business representatives will come together to discuss a broad spectrum of issues. As such, it should provide a good opportunity to set future environmental objectives in Europe on how to best utilize the capacities of various actors. If it succeeds, it will contribute significantly to the implementation of Agenda 21, the EAP, EU accession, climate change and biodiversity and other conventions, and many other local, national and international policies.
Of course, it is one and the same environment they all aim to protect.
- by Jernej Stritih, Executive Director
of the Regional Environmental Center