Environmental Performance Review of Belarus to be ready by September 2015

UNECE experts will prepare the Third Environmental Performance Review (EPR) of Belarus by September 2015, Mr. Antoine Nunes, EPR Program Leader, told reporters, BelTA has learned.

"Our experts have received quite a lot of information, and now they have a month to prepare their chapters which we will combine into a general report. We will submit this report translated into the Russian language to the Ministry of Natural resources and Environmental Protection in September,” Mr Antoine Nunes said.

The draft report will be discussed at the meeting of the UNECE Committee on Environmental Policy in October 2015.

So far we can talk only about the emotions of our experts as the report proper will be ready by the autumn of 2015. For many of them Belarus was not what they expected to see as they relied on the information available in the media. Many of the experts told us they would come back and bring their families to show the cleanest country in the world, First Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Protection Iya Malkina said. She noted that the arrival of the experts of the UN Economic Commission for Europe was initiated by Belarus. "We understand that there is a need to review our environmental activities. This shows said that the state positions itself as environmentally friendly,” said Iya Malkina.

The Environmental Performance Review of Belarus will consist of 14 chapters covering air protection, water and waste management, energy, transport, forestry. The EPR will be published and can be used by the countries that provide international financial assistance for the development of environmental aspects in developing countries. The EPR is an external independent evaluation of the environmental policies of a state, the results it has achieved in the field of environmental protection and sustainable development.