Envirorrnental, lZ~licy and Law, 8 (1982)

a ~ees 'on .Fund project selection and b~.plementation, ,including any undue i~flt~eace on the level of the balances of qcc's in the Fund.,

Unless the Governing Council di~ rJ2ts otherwise, he considers that he ~l',~ald cor~tiune his policy of develop-

g nee-! it,laCed activities that a~par t o"~be medium-term plan approved by the Governing Council, placing a greater emphasis on asse.,;sment and raanagement activities, especially out- side the contributing countries.

Project and P r ~ a i ' n m e Evaluation (10/~3)

The Council, in decision 96 (v), mquesttzl the Executive Director to r%ort ~egalarly on the progress of project and programme evaluation, and the above report is submitted in compliance with teat decision.

Furor in-depth evaluations, cover-

ing a total of 15 project-c,, were com- pleted during the course of 1981 and will be reported on in detail in tdrth- coming issues of Reports to Govern- meats.

In document 9/11, the Executive Director described what he considered to be the main constraints facing the evaluation programnle (see Environ- mental Policy and Law 7 (2) (198t) page 90). During the past year, efforts have been made to overcome the diffi- culties, especially in connection with the development of the system-wide medium-term environment prograimne (SWMTEP), but he feels it would be unrealistic to expect the eons~aims to disappear completely, especially in the face of financial limitations. At the same rime, he considers that good progress has been made towards the full integration of the evaluation sec- tion in the project appraisal and design process, and towards the integration of

109

evalcatlun as a desision-makir.g tool, especially at the project level.

At ~he programraing level, it i~ envisaged, that the evaluation sectio:~ will p~ticipate fully in the further elatxm~don of the SWMTEP in order to enstm that a clear relationship i~ establi:hed between the objectives of ,~. progra:nme and its eor0poue:at parts. By es~r~blishing such a relarionshie, the ew.luation of the SWMTF, P, both by the secretariat and the Governing Count :',, will be facilitated,

Th: priority work programme for the evaluation section, dell., "ling on staff i~:~,ources, will be as follows: (It timely publication of Report to Gov. ernme~ts; (2) advice or, the design of projec, proposals and revisions in or- der to, facilitate the evaluation of p.'o- jects; '3) in-depth project esaluations; aim (~)design of e valuauon indicators for th: system-wide medium-temp, en- viron,,nent programme.

UN/ECE

Programme and Policy Discussion

ihe tenth session of tile Senior Add ,~., ~. VCE Governments on En- v~ronmeuta! Problems was convened in Geneva fr,,)m 9 to t2 Feb~m'y f982.

"1 ~e m~ting was mteraled by re- presentatives from 28 countries from iSastem ano Western Eu~pe as well as tha USA aeM Canada, Representatives were also present froro the United N~t:_cns Environment Programme (UNEP), the Intema.hor~ Labour Of- f ix rILn,. ~e lnter-Governmemal a'.~Lirr, e Con~uhative Organization , I, I'.'C,.,, the International Atomic En-

ergy Agency (IAEA), the Council for Mutual Econolmc Assistance ICME.'), and the European Economic Community (EEC). The lntematiooal Union for the Conser,'ation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the Emopean Council for Chemical Manu- facturers Federations and the interna- tional Council fo~ Garae and Wildlife Conservation were als~ represented,

Ms. M.E. Hoinke.~. (US,:.,) was elected Chairman and Prof. V ,G So- kolowski (USSR), Vice-Chairma~L ,Mr. P. Burgess (UK) and Mr. J.

Sobisek (Czechoslovakia) were desi,,- hated rapporteu-s.

The theme .,elected for this year's it~,-depth discussion was "er.vi "o,'mlen- tel aspects of policies regarding the conservation and rational utilization of natural resources",

Most delegations took the (,pportu- mty to exchange information m their current and planned policies, s:res,;ing that the topic of the discussion was a complex issue strongly linked to eco- ~1 ~aic development and socio-political c ,asiJerations, Many empha.~ized that

0378-777X!82/0000-0090/$02.75 ~' ~.982 North-,-Iolland

the ,:o~ sarvation mat rational utiliza- tint cd I a~[urat ros,)urces was a national isst~e in their count~.es, a topic to which their Governments v'ere attach- ing high priority.

During the discussion, the view was expressed that general public awareness and participation in plan- ning and development activities re- tared to the consecvatioa and ratienal utilization of natural n:sources were essential to the successful implementa- tion of such programmes. In certain instance,;, specific national laws define the rights and responsibil;ves of ciii- runs concerning resource manage- nse, t~.

GNat emphasib was placed oft the n,:e~ far integration of physical, socio- e~ uremic and et vironmental planning ir the: ~ound m,rnagement of nat,'ral re,sources, a'~d the need for long-term p:r~c!iv,*s m fc,:muhrte res?oasive p, anning p.~licle~, w ~:~ underlined by -r a~ly delegations,

It was uldicuted th~.t the ,le*reIop - :'Ii£']rt of fftore accurate and plc~l',c Xar wledge of tile existing str,cks and ':lows of r,aturi:d re!,oarces znd the 'rends in th~.ir actuai't) was of prime irepcrtanc¢ In sound phlmdng and pub toy fom~ulation act!vi!h::s.

Systems of natund resources ac- counting and budgeting were consi- tiered by several delegations to consti- tute the ha ~ s for full and appropria,e w,e ol nat*a',ll resomz:es Fnrthermore, it was gen.:'ralP/agreed t.at the deve- lc,pment and implementation cq low- arid ann-waste technologies as ~ell a-' a:ehnicai means to recover. 'recycle and re-use wastes an,I second:t~ mate- rals were key fae.'c.'~; in tire conserva- :~on and ~,itmnal ati}ization o~: natural lesoarce'~.

In S~llTV~ar'izi~g the d!scu,,;sion~, the Chalrm~n notec "~he heaefits of l:,ubiic awmeness and invorhrc.monl ill effective decision-making for natural resource 0lanning activities, the ad- vantage of pr'evo~tive measures for environmental disct,rb~nces which ;n-

lude eonside~tior c,t' t,*-,~: i" ;,~-'td di- mension of ml'~ur~t re~eurt:e manage- moat, and the uti!~,.~2 of :~yalems of

natural resource accounting and budgeting". It was agreed that the ~enior Advisers woald "'consider pro- posals for a future seminar on this topic when discussing the pr~,gramme of work for 1982 to 1986 ami accept the invitation to co-operate with the Committee on Housing Building and Planning in the o~ganization of the forthcoming seminar on integrated pianniag to be held in Finland from 6 to I( 'une 1983".

T r a n s b o u n d a r y A i r P o l l u t i o n

In introducing the report e ~ the second session of the Interim . . a tire Body (IEB) for the Con"e~aon nit Long-range Transboundar , Ar Pollu- tion, the secretariat drev' attention to the status 3f the ratir,catien of the Convention tnform~Aon was also given on the implementation of the e~tensive Work Plan adopted by the IEB covering effects of sulphur corn- pounds and other related ~ ir pollutar~ts o n health and t'ue enviroar=lent, c o~trs[ technologies, monitoring and eva]ua- tioq oI the long-range transmissio.-~ of aaz pollutants, anal, ,~ ~frhe costs and benefits associated '-t~h di"terent lesels of reduction o ~tdphur emis- si¢,ns and strategies v.,d polic~c,, fz~ the abatement of sulph,.lt era,asians.

'[he conference noted with satin- faction that the pr, ,visitm;il irr:pleme~- tallon rfthe Convention" ,as proceed- lag i* a constructive way. Signatories veery urged to expedite the ratific.tiun pIOI.CS5 SO 'q,.lt the Conventio;', , ay enter into [urea by the end of 1")82. Seveial 6elegatic~ns stated that their counmcr would lie :'end 3 to ratify ~he (2"onvention in the very near fu-ure.

The Swedish delegation gave in- filrmation aboul tile conference ~o be held in Stockholm in June 1982 on b anshoundary air pollution, in particu- lar from sulphur emisv,ion.s. All the signatories to the Coavenw'n ~nd rele- vant international orgamzations had ~een invited to the Conference whieh would provide an opportunir, to sup- port the political momentum of the Convention Preceding the Confer-

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Environmental Policy and Law, 8 (1982)

once, to he covered at the ministerial level, expert meetings would 'iscuss the available knowledge of problems caused by sulphur emissions and the deposition and effects of Iong.~nge transboandea'y air pollution on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, as well as costs a~u optimal application of ,eeh- nologies to reduce emissic, ns n~ sul- phur .and nitrogen oxides from fuel combustion.

Favourable responses ~o thi~ invi- tation had already been recei~ e¢ from various Goveramems as well . . in- vited e.xpe~ts.

Following discussion of the var- ious projects in the Work Plan, the conference agreed on il~ ~. ne ~.d for full an-operation from the Signatories to carry !~ t, ut. Some delegaticvs consid- ered that, " wod~ was r~eeessary on the transpo~, ~, : " ;~'al%n ~,. a dep- osi:fon of air-borne potiuizqt~, and attention was also drawn to the desu- abilit? of ensuring adequate secwtanm resoutzes and expertise for the further activities imddr the Conve alton

Low- and Non-was te Technology and Re- tfilization a n d Recycling of W; ,stes

The sec~'etariat introduced #e re- port o~ the second session ~A" the Working Party on Low- and N-n- waste Technology and Re-uti:ization and Recycling of Waste~., in t_rdcu- lar. it was noted that tile Ctmq, '.dram nn Low- and Non-waste Tecb,:.~iogy now contained 46 monographs and that an additlonal 31 had been ap- pro'.;ed for inelusfon during the ~ourth aleeting of national focal possets in December lOCI.

Refecence wan als~ made "~e work ot'~he task force on metl,.., , evaluating low- and noa-wa," ,' tech- nology tnl. t() the resul~ ,of va,,.~ on incentives for the prom 'hun , ,iueh technology, international was e ex- changes and :.he con col of oxic wastl~s.

The de~ega~on of the <_,emma

£.,-~vironrnenta! Policy and Law, 8 {1982)

I emoc~tie ~epublic (the lead country ¢ :'the ta' k fores) informe'~:i the meeting

~out the progress of the task force on ,ethods of evaluating low- and non- aste technology, for preparation of a

v~aaual on thi~ topic. Chaplets I and 11 1 we bee_n prejared and were submit- t :3 to ~ e second meeting of the task

~r~e in N~vembex 1980. Chapter tli ~11 con,:era specific application of the

r ~ethods and criteria for comparison, outlined in the first two chapters, to concrete examp!es flora the Compen- c ium.

Several delegations considered that the completion of the Compendium was the central effort in the work programme. In this context, a wider participation of ECE governments on thls ctmpilation was encouraged. Many delegations felt that the dtssemi- n~tion ~.f the ir~formation contained in the Compendium is of continuing con- cern and ways and means should be eonsid,~red to assure broader dissemi- nation of the information, aithough a data bank was considered premature at this stage.

Pr~ection of Flora, Fauna and Their Habitats in the ECE R e g i o n

Tl~z task force on legal instru- ments, chaired by Mr. Prillcwitz of the Netherlands (lead country) pres,mted a report of the ta~k force which included information o~ the major international conventions such as CITES. Ramsar, World Heritage. Migrato~ Species. and encouraged wider ratification. The ~rza.ior conclusions of the report were brielly reviewed and the delegation of the Nethcrk~Gs proposed a eontinua- tiot~ ¢.f w~ck to elahot-a'c draft recom- mendations to ECE Governments oa the ~egrer t~ which it would be desir- able ~d fi~asible to expend the: appli- cation: ~ 1 use of existing legal instrtl- i!:ents and ~ctivities.

T'ae Senior Advisers decided to: "'ta~e note of the report (ENV/R. 138) ,rod rcq'~,est the task force to develop a

set of recommendations to ECE Gov- ummeats on existing and, possibly, new instruments and programmes frx the twelfth session of the Senior Ad- visers in 1984". The ,task force on representative eco- logical areas, chaired by Mr. Esping of Sweden, presented a report and hackgrour/d document and a note on discussions with UNESCO, The Swedish proposal for a European n,~,t - work on representative ecological areas had drawn criticism for its poten- tial overlap with L:'qESCO's biosphere network, and a go~J deal of negotia- tion went on befoP, and during the

Courtesy: En~ironmeng Car aaa

debate to resolve the conflict. While some delegaqons supported Swe_%m others took the UNESCC line and favoured termination of ECE invo; re- meat.

The meeting finally decided t o request tile task three to report back after the 1983 Mmsk meeting of tiN.+ ESCO, to the twe;"th session in 1+84.

E n v i r o n m e n t a l I m p a c t A s s e s s m e n t

The report of the ~:d/~, ~' r, ,eting to define activities on er~, H'o,ar~ ~J~a int-

111

pa,:t assessmeJlt, held from 25 to 26 N¢~vember 1981, was introduced by M.J. Kakebeeke (Netherlands), ch~air- man of the meeting.

Sufport was generally expre:,sed with re#ard ~o the programme of v, ork elabora~'.xl by :he ad hoc meeting, ~nd it was ,nentioned tha*~ this programme b~:sicaky reflected the specific in!cn- ti:ms contained in the Final Act 3f ~:,,~ Confer.:'nce or Security z nd Co-oper~. lion in ]Europe.

Gv'.at imw,nanec was plztce'd on the pr,:ject on frameworks and rrelho- dolog 3 of en,dronmental impat:t as- scssm,tnt, in particular regarding as- sessm,m relatl',J to plans and policies. It v,~. suggested that it would be us ~,fu~ to stud)' experiences in this field at local, regio-,al and national levels of d:ciston-makiag and that, on the basis ot tht: study md analysis of national activi~ves, the Group of Experts might prodt,'e a set of recommendations ccncc:aing best available methedolo- gi~,s c,f environmental impac~ assess- m~flt

irterest was shown in the exchange of imormation on and elaboration of meth~.dologies for the application of envi::nmental hnpact analysis in tran:srontier situations.

.~ tention was drawn to the project on ~?plication of environmental im- pact assessment for developing coun- tries It was suggested that this 2reject sho~!5 not c qy be directed to help provide developing countries with rel- evant information from the ex,oeriea:e of ECE member countries but also be directed to assist aid ager~cies, In this connection, representatives of ~.JNEP and the EEC expressed their walling- hess to provide assistance in imple- menting the project.

The meeting finally endorsed the programme as drafted, i,e., inch,ring .the part which calls for " a study of experience in ECE countries in envi- ronmental impact assessment in orde~ t," provide developing countries with relevant information". This project is to be carried out by a task force chaired by the Netherlands. [ ]

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