Improving access to environmental information in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia

Aarhus ConventionAarhus Convention   Task Force on Access to InformationTask Force on Access to Information

Second meetingSecond meeting

Geneva, 16–17 December 2013Geneva, 16–17 December 2013

Lukasz WyrowskiLukasz WyrowskiECE Environment DivisionECE Environment Division

Background: Environmental Information at UNECE Monitoring and Assessment Programme

Forums

•Joint Task Force on Environmental Indicators (JTF)

•Working Group on Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (WGEMA)

Background: Environmental Information at UNECE Monitoring and Assessment Programme

Objectives

•To serve the policy-makers in improving environmental governance

•To serve the public to be well informed about the environmental conditions

Background: Environmental Information at UNECE Monitoring and Assessment Programme

Focus

•Supporting the production and sharing of environmental indicators

•Enhancing the capacities for preparation of indicator-based State of the Environment (SoE) reports

•Enhancing the capacities for preparation of other assessments

•Supporting the use of modern technologies for environmental information presentation

Background: Environmental Information at UNECE Monitoring and Assessment Programme

Tools

•Guidelines

•Networks to exchange good practice

•Hands-on training

JTF: Public access to environmental information in EECCA countries

CountryIndicators produced

Indicators available online

LanguagesFormats used for data presentationA1 A2 A3 B3 C10 C11 D1 I1 National RUS ENG

Armenia + + + + + + + + + + + + JTFAzerbaijan + + + + + + + + + + + JTFBelarus + + + + + + + + + + + + JTFBosnia and Herzegovina + + + + + JTFGeorgia + + + + + + + + + + Partly JTFKazakhstan + + + + + + + + + + + Partly JTFKyrgyzstan + + + + + + + + JTFFYR of Macedonia + + + + + + + + + + + EEA and national formatsMontenegro + + + + + + + + EEARepublic of Moldova + + + + + + + + + + + + Partly JTFRussian Federation + + + + + + + + + + + Partly JTF, national formatsSerbia + + + + + + + + + + + JTF, UNSD and EurostatTajikistan + + + + + + + + + + JTFTurkmenistan + + + + + + + + + + + National formatsUkraine + + + + + + + Partly JTFUzbekistan No information providedECE Core Set of Indicators: A1. Emissions of pollutants into the atmospheric air C10. BOD and concentration of ammonium in rivers A2. Ambient air quality in urban areas C11. Nutrients in freshwater A3. Consumption of ozone-depleting substances D1. Protected areasB3. Greenhouse gas emissions. I1. Waste generation

WGEMA: Improvements in data presentation since Oct. 2012

Country Improvements in data presentationArmenia -Azerbaijan -

Belarus

Data from radiation monitoring stations, data on surface water quality, as well as data on concentrations of priority pollutants in ambient air are now made accessible to the public (http://rad.org.by)

Bosnia and Herzegovina

-

GeorgiaAn interactive map on protected areas was developed (www.apa.gov.ge)

KazakhstanThe content management system of the web portal of Kazakhstan’s Aarhus centre of was modernized (www.aarhus.kz)

Kyrgyzstan -

FYR of MacedoniaA pilot database for emission data was launched providing data on air quality in real-time (www.airquality.moepp.gov.mk)

MontenegroAn online water database including spatial data was made accessible to the public via EEA

Country Improvements in data presentation

Republic of Moldova

• An internet platform to facilitate public access to information on water resources is currently developed• A GIS containing information on ground waters is currently developed

Russian Federation

• Data in real-time on concentrations of pollutants, as well as meteorological and hydrological parameters was made accessible to the public online (www.pogodasochi.ru; www.tatarmeteo.ru)• An interactive map of monitoring data for geological processes was developed (www.geomonitorinp.ru/egp 2013 (II).html)

SerbiaAir quality monitoring data is now accessible to the public in real-time at EEA’s “Ozoneweb” (www.eea.europa.eu/maps/ ozone/welcome)

Tajikistan -Turkmenistan -Ukraine -

Uzbekistan -

Russian Federation: Data on air quality in Sochi region (www.pogodasochi.ru)

WGEMA: Data presentation in EECCA countries

Belarus: Data on the atmospheric air, radiation control, and surface water (http://rad.org.by )

Georgia: Interactive map on protected areas (www.apa.gov.ge)

Priorities for further improvement to data presentation in EECCA countries

• Production and sharing of data (indicators) in common formats• Strengthening the visibility of SoE reports on agencies’ websites (easy

access to pdf files, interactive presentation of SoE reports directly on the webpages)

• Improvements to descriptive parts of SoE reports (to be better policy-makers oriented and more understandable to the public) – brief indicator analysis – application of the Driving forces, Pressures, States, Impacts and Responses

(DPSIR) framework– inclusion of countries comparative analysis– application of SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and

Threats)– Increasing visual material (incl. GIS or satellite imaging)

Thank you for your attention