The Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (informally called the Espoo Convention) is a
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE or UNECE) is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was established in order to promote economic cooperation and i ...
(UNECE) convention signed in
Espoo
Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, in 1991 that entered into force in 1997. The Convention sets out the obligations of Parties—that is States that have agreed to be bound by the Convention—to carry out an
environmental impact assessment
Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental imp ...
of certain activities at an early stage of planning. It also lays down the general obligation of States to notify and consult each other on all major projects under consideration that are likely to have a significant adverse environmental impact across boundaries.
As of April 2014, the treaty had been ratified by 44 states and the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
.
Amendments
The Convention has been amended twice.
The first amendment was adopted in
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
in 2001; it has entered into force 26 August 2014. It opens the Convention to accession upon approval by United Nations Member States that are not members of the UNECE.
The second amendment was adopted in
Cavtat
Cavtat (, it, Ragusa Vecchia, lit=Old Ragusa) is a village in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. It is on the Adriatic Sea coast south of Dubrovnik and is the centre of the Konavle municipality.
History
Antiquity
The original city was ...
,
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
, in 2004; as for the September 2016, it is not in force yet. Once in force it will: allow, as appropriate, affected Parties to participate in scoping; require reviews of compliance; revise the Convention's Appendix I (list of activities); and make other minor changes.
Procedure
The Convention involves a Party (or Parties) of origin (States where an activity is planned) and an affected Party (or Parties) (States whose territory may be significantly adversely affected by the activity). The Convention's main procedural steps are:
* application of the Convention by the Party of origin (Art. 2.2, 2.5/App. I+III)
* notification of the affected Party by the Party of origin (Art. 3.1)
* confirmation of participation by the affected Party (Art. 3.3)
* transmittal of information from the affected Party to the Party of origin (Art. 3.6)
* public participation in the affected Party (Art. 3.8)
* preparation of EIA documentation (Art. 4/App. II)
* distribution of the EIA documentation for the purpose of participation of authorities and public of the affected Party (Art. 4.2)
* consultation between the concerned Parties (Art. 5)
* final decision by the Party of origin (Art. 6.1)
* transmittal of final decision documentation to the affected Party (Art. 6.2)
* post-project analysis (Art. 7.1/App. V)
Inquiry commissions
Article 3(7) of the Convention offers a procedure by which parties can solve differences by scientific, non-judicial means. The first case in which an inquiry commission was established under article 3(7) was that of the
Bystroe Canal
The Deepwater Navigation Course "Danube – Black Sea" is a deep-water canal in the Danube Delta that runs through the Danube Delta distributaries Chilia, Old Istambul and "Bystroe". Through most of its length it coincides with the ...
, at the request of Romania in 2004.
A case which involved countries far apart on the globe was raised by
Micronesia
Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...
, which claimed that the
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
coal-fired plant at
Prunerov was significantly affecting its climate due to
global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
.
Related issues
The Convention was also instrumental in the creation of
Strategic Environmental Assessment
Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is a systematic decision support process, aiming to ensure that environmental and possibly other sustainability aspects are considered effectively in policy, plan and program making. In this context, followi ...
and has been supplemented by a
Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment
Protocol may refer to:
Sociology and politics
* Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states
* Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state
* Etiquette, a code of personal behavior
Science and technology ...
.
See also
*
Environmental issues
Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...
References
External links
Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary ContextSignatures and ratifications at depositary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context Convention
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe treaties
Transboundary
Treaties concluded in 1991
Treaties entered into force in 1997
1997 in the environment
Transboundary Convention
Treaties of Albania
Treaties of Armenia
Treaties of Austria
Treaties of Azerbaijan
Treaties of Belarus
Treaties of Belgium
Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Treaties of Bulgaria
Treaties of Canada
Treaties of Croatia
Treaties of Cyprus
Treaties of the Czech Republic
Treaties of Czechoslovakia
Treaties of Denmark
Treaties of Estonia
Treaties entered into by the European Union
Treaties of Finland
Treaties of France
Treaties of Germany
Treaties of Greece
Treaties of Hungary
Treaties of Ireland
Treaties of Italy
Treaties of Kazakhstan
Treaties of Kyrgyzstan
Treaties of Latvia
Treaties of Liechtenstein
Treaties of Lithuania
Treaties of Luxembourg
Treaties of Malta
Treaties of Montenegro
Treaties of the Netherlands
Treaties of Norway
Treaties of Poland
Treaties of Portugal
Treaties of Moldova
Treaties of Romania
Treaties of Serbia
Treaties of Slovakia
Treaties of Slovenia
Treaties of Spain
Treaties of Sweden
Treaties of Switzerland
Treaties of North Macedonia
Treaties of Ukraine
Treaties of the United Kingdom
1991 in Finland
Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands
Treaties extended to Greenland
Treaties extended to Guernsey
Treaties extended to Jersey
Treaties extended to the Isle of Man
Treaties extended to Gibraltar
Transboundary environmental issues