The Eight Ministerial Conference «Environment for Europe»
On 8 June, in the city of Batumi (Georgia), the Eight Ministerial Conference «Environment for Europe» (EfE) kicked off which lasted until June 10. The Conference was established in 1991 and is taking place in different countries every few years.
The conference was attended by 600 delegates from 56 countries of member States of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, working on environment and natural resources. They discussed the prospects of «green» economy, as well as the issues of improving air quality of the environment and human health.
The conference provided a platform for establishing a unique partnership among EU countries and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) provided in the region with organization of the UN system, other intergovernmental organizations, governmental delegations, regional environmental centres, non-governmental organizations, media, business sector and other representatives of civil society.
Two themes of Eighth "Environment for Europe" Ministerial Conference (EfE) – "greening the economy in the pan-European region" and "improving the air quality for a better environment and human health" – are the most significant and the urgent topics for the countries of Central Asia.
For more than 14 years, the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) has been supporting the platform for different stakeholders and offers technical assistance to countries to promote sustainable development and greening the economy through dialogue and cooperation. For the preparation for the Eighth "Environment for Europe" Ministerial Conference, the centre organized national and regional consultations across Central Asian countries and organized a survey on environmental policy.
CAREC took active part in Eighth "Environment for Europe" Ministerial Conference (EfE) and organized exhibition and collaborative side event with international and regional NGO partners. An interactive exhibition was also organised from 8th to 10th of June in the exhibition hall conference in the «Hilton» hotel.
The collaborative side event «Greening the Economy and Sustainable Development in Central Asia-Current Achievements and the Ways Forward» - 9 June 8.00-9.45 morning (Lazica conference hall, Hilton hotel) was organized jointly by CAREC and Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), Interstate Commission on Sustainable Development (ICSD), the United Nations Environment Programme, The Regional Office for Europe (ROE UNEP), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).
Interactive discussion: «progress towards greening economy and reaching EfE targets on the national level» was moderated by CAREC Executive Director Dr. Iskandar Abdullaev. Interactive discussion: «review of regional initiatives and activities to support green economy and EfE process» was moderated by Director and Regional Representative of UNEP ROE Jan Dusik.
During the meeting selected examples of region were highlighted, by providing an overview of progress made and future perspectives in the Central Asian region.
