Project title: South East European sub-regional platform to beat pollution
Geographical scope: South East Europe, with a specific focus on Western Balkan countries.
Time frame: Ongoing
Co-financiers / Donor(s): The Italian Ministry of the Ecological Transition (Formerly the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea). Since the establishment of the Carpathian Convention in early 2000, the Italian Ministry and UNEP have been working together mainly in the Western Balkan Region through stand-alone activities and co-funding Global Environment Facility (GEF) projects focusing on capacity building and institutional strengthening to prevent, monitor and reduce environmental pollution in the region.
Contributions to SDGs:
- SDG3 - Target 3.9
- SDG 6 - Target 6.3
- SDG 12 - In particular target 12.4
- SDG 14 – Target 14.1
Environmental challenge: Pollution is one of the most pressing health issues worldwide, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development offers, through the SDGs and its pollution reducing targets, a great chance for triggering concrete initiatives to tackle it.
The Third Environmental Assembly (UNEA-3) was held in Nairobi, Kenya in December 2017 under the overarching theme of pollution: “Towards a Pollution-Free Planet”. UNEA-3 resulted in several urgent commitments to end the pollution of air, land, waterways, seas and oceans, and to manage our chemicals and waste safely3.
The Western Balkans is one of the most polluted regions of Europe, facing several environmental challenges such as air, freshwater and soil pollution, waste and chemicals management and wastewater discharges. In the coming years, all Western Balkan countries will have the chance to move forward on their respective European paths by addressing vital reforms and complete political, economic and social transformation.
Project: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Government of Serbia, with support from the Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition (IMET), convened a regional Ministerial Conference on “Innovative Solutions to Pollution in South East and Southern Europe” on 4-5 December 2018, in Belgrade, Serbia. The Ministerial Conference resulted in the adoption of a Joint Ministerial Vision on Innovative Solutions to Pollution, in which countries highlighted the importance of regional cooperation to address pollution-related challenges.
To implement the outcomes of the Belgrade Ministerial Conference, UNEP developed two project proposals. One was to establish a Sub-Regional Platform to Beat Pollution in South-East Europe (SEEPP), while another focused on providing assistance to Western Balkans countries on pollution prevention, monitoring and reduction.
The overall objective of the pollution platform is to accelerate and contribute to the application of the UNEA Pollution Implementation Plan in South East Europe and the Western Balkans, as well as to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the region.
The objectives of the project are to:
- Facilitate the creation of innovative multi-stakeholder partnerships dealing with pollution;
- Foster sub-regional cooperation and project/programme development in the fields of environmental protection and sustainable development, with a specific focus on prevention, reduction and monitoring of pollution;
- Support the exchange of information on initiatives and best practices and to catalyse action;
The main expected results to be achieved by this project are: The establishment of a South-East European Platform to Beat Pollution (SEEP) and the development of a feasibility study on the possible development of the SEEPP.
Events:
During the meeting on “The establishment of the South-East European Platform to beat Pollution (SEEPP)” held in Vienna on 24 – 25 of June 2019, several South-East European countries confirmed the need to develop actions and strategies to beat pollution at the regional level to protect the environment and human health. They identified Environment and Health (in particular air pollution and waste management) and the need to establish and reinforce the environmental rule of law as priorities.
In order to address these priorities, two regional exchange webinars were organized:
- 21 June 2021 “Environment and Human Health in the Western Balkans: Challenges and opportunities”: During the event, UNEP’s study on “Air Pollution and human health: the case of the Western Balkans” was presented.
- 5 October 2021 “The importance of the rule of law in beating pollution: the establishment and reinforcement of the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) and the environmental responsibility in the Western Balkans”
News:
- Serbia. The toxic legacy of the Balkan wars (RAI24)[360° video] UN Environment rolls up its sleeves to clean up contaminated sites, Serbia (Euronews)
- Countries from South East and Southern Europe agree common vision to beat pollution
- UNEP lays the groundwork for cleaner soil in Serbia
- Participants of Belgrade Ministerial Conference – Reducing pollution in Southeast and South Europe is a national, regional and global challenge (Balkan Green Energy News)
- Air pollution is responsible for up to one in five premature deaths in 19 Western Balkan cities
Any questions?
For more information please contact: Elena Stefanoni (elena.stefanoni@un.org)
