UNITED NATIONS ACTIVITIES

The High-level Meeting A High-level Meeting within the

framework of the Economic Commis- sion for Europe (ECE) on the protec- tion of the environment was held in Geneva from 13- 16 November 1979 - the first High-level meeting in the 33 years of ECE.*

The Meeting was opened by the Exec- utive-Secretary of ECE, J. Stanovnik and a message from the Secretary- General of the United Nations was read by the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, L. Cottafavi. President of the Conference was Olaf Johansson, Minister for Civil Service, Wages and Pensions (Sweden) and Vice- President was Bruno Straub, Chairman

history of the Commission by provid- ing a new dimension to regional coop- eration in the environmental field, stemming from the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Coopera- tion in Europe (CSCE) and imple- mented through the ECE.

The Meeting was highlighted by the formal adoption of a Convention and Resolution on Long-range Transboun- dary Air Pollution and a Declaration on Low and Non-waste Technology and Re-utilization and Recycling of Wastes (see Environmental Policy & Law, 5 (2) (1979) pp. 104 and 107). The Convention was open for signature fol- lowing its formal adoption.

Courtesy: United Nations High-Level Meeting: at the Presiding table, left to right: Luigi Cottafavi, Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva; Janez Stanovnik, Executive-Secretary of ECE; Olog Johansson, Minister for Civil Service Wages and Pensions of Sweden, elected Chairman of the meeting; R. W. Neath (UN/ECE), Secretary; and Bruno Straub, Chairman of the National Council for Environment and Nature Protection of Hungary, elected Vice-Chairman of the meeting.

of the National Council for Environ- ment and Nature Protection (Hungary). Ian de Jong (Netherlands) and A. Czarkawski (Poland) were elected rap- porteurs.

The Meeting was attended by repre- sentatives of ECE member countries (comprising Europe and North America) at ministerial rank or equivalent, and marked a major achievement in the

*See also Environmental Policy and Law, 4 (1978) pp. 18,82 and 156;ibid., 5 (1978) pp. 2 and 77; 6 (1979) p. 1.

Following the Brezhnev proposals for Paneuropean Conferences on the En- vironment, Energy and Transport, ECE has been actively involved in these ques- tions since 1976. Preparations for the High-level Meeting have been in progress since the thirty-second session of the Commission in 1977 (see Environmental Policy & Law, 4 (1) p, 18) and the Senior Advisers to ECE governments on Environmental Problems, working through special groups of experts, elabo- rated the texts which were presented to the Meeting.

There was a general debate on the en- vironmental situation in the ECE region, covering other environmental problems dealt with in ECE, especially water pol- lution including transboundary water pollution. The Meeting heard state- ments by representatives of practically all countries and organizations present and received messages from several Heads-of-State, including Leonid Brezhnev. (For excerpts from several of these speeches, see pages 3-8) .

The problem of long-range trans- boundary air pollution in the ECE region lras become increasingly serious in recent years despite marked improve- ments in reducing the local impact of air pollutants. Most countries of the region have adopted regulations and monitoring networks for the control of emissions. Techniques for the desul- phurization of fuels and combustion gases have been applied with some suc- cess. The use of fuel with high sulphur content has been restricted in some countries as well as control of other pol- lutants such as particulates. Improve- ments in air quality, however, have been achieved partially by the construction of high chimneys with consequent dis- persion to wider areas and beyond national frontiers. (See statements by Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, and Federal Republic of Germany).

Measures to control the transport of air pollutants across boundaries have been agreed in several bilateral con- ventions but up to now there had not been'an effort to deal with this problem on a broader international scale. The Convention thus represents a major de- velopment in confronting this problem within a multilateral context.

The Convention comprises a pre- amble and eighteen articles. Following the elaboration of fundamental prin- ciples for protecting man and his envi- ronment against air pollution, it con- tains detailed provisions on such matters as exchange of information, consulta- tions, research and monitoring. The Contracting Parties undertake to de- velop, without undue delay, policies and strategies which shall serve as a means of combating the discharge of air pollu- tants. Each party further undertakes to use the best available technology which is economically feasible.

Emphasis is placed on the implemen- tation and further development of the

Environmental Policy and La w, 6 (1980)

Cooperative Programme for the Moni- toring and Evaluation of the Long-range Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe. This programme, which has been carried on by ECE (in close col- laboration with UNEP and WMO) over the past two years, has made consider- able progress with respect to moni- toring and evaluation of transboundary air pollution, especially sulphur dioxide. This programme is to be strengthened and would constitute an integral part of the implementation of the Convention.

Under the terms of the Convention, an Executive Body shall be constituted within the framework of the Senior Advisers and shall meet at least annual- ly. (Thus, it is hoped, that in the near future no extra costs will fall on the Secretariat). The Executive Body shall review the implementation of the Con- vention, establish working groups to consider matters related thereto and pre- pare studies and other documentation.

A Resolution on Long-range Trans- boundary Air Pollution, adopted by the Meeting, provides that signatories to the Convention shall initiate as soon as pos- sible, on an interim basis, the provision- al implementation of the Convention and shall carry out the obligations arising from the Convention to the max-

imum extent possible pending its entry into force.

It would be interesting to learn if Leonid Brezhnev is satisfied with the present result of his initiative. The Convention and Declaration may be regarded certainly as positive results of the CSCE, merely from the political sig- nificance of such a Convention. How- ever, those people involved actively with the environment can only be dis- appointed by its toothlessness: none of the eighteen articles contain any provision to deal with the (not too unlikely) case of responsibility of governments who infringe or disregard the Convention.

With regard to the question of Low and Non-waste Technology and the Re-utilization and Recycling o f Wastes, the ECE has been engaged actively in problems relating to this subject in close cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The Declaration on this subject, adopted by the High-level Meeting, will give further impetus to international cooperation in this field, although again, environmen- tally speaking, it can be said to have achieved nothing new.

The Declaration "recommends" the evaluation of the industrial application of this Low and Non-waste technology

to optimize the use of raw materials and energy, recycling and economic efficiency - all of which were never seriously dis- puted in the first place. In this sphere also, there is to be an exchange of in- formation with the ECE Working Groups.

The Meeting envisaged that as a re- sult of its decisions, an increased work load would fall on the ECE secretariat and that, taking into account paragraph 2 of the resolution on long-range trans- boundary air pollution, the Senior Advisers would be required to examine the extent of the work load and of the resources necessary to enable the secre- tariat to carry out this additional work effectively. It requested the Executive- Secretary of ECE to inform the forth- coming Madrid meeting of the results of the High-level Meeting, including its reports and the texts of the documents adopted.

With the adoption of the report, the High4evel Meeting came to a close al- most a day earlier than scheduled. MJ []

(For full text of Convention, see Selected Documents page 37). Readers will find it interesting to compare the final text with the draft one printed in Environ- mental Policy and Law, 5 (2) (1979) p. 104.

Highlights from Statements Each o f the following statements was delivered either by the responsible

minister in the national government or Head of Agency.

Rol f Hansen, Norway I do not suggest that we shall be able

to solve the acid rain problem immedi- ately. National and international re- search efforts have, however, established that measures to deal with sulphur pol- lution can only be fully effective if they are coordinated at the European and North American level. Our first and most important task, therefore, is to start a process which can lead to im- proved coordination of national pollu- tion control policies. I stress the word national, because I do not believe that in general it will be necessary to develop a full harmonisation of air pollution polic- ies in the ECE region, in order to combat long range transboundary air pollution.

We must ensure that the officials who will be responsible for the follow- up to the meeting, receive guidance so that their work can be effective and suc- cessful. Bearing in mind the objectives we have agreed to in the Convention, it is particularly important to proceed with the implementation as soon as pos-

sible of paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Reso- lution. We should therefore invite the Senior Advisers on Environmental Prob- lems to convene a special session early in 1980 in order to determine ECE and national contributions required for the implementation of the Resolution. In addition, the high-level meeting should confirm that the necessary additional secretariat resources in support of the follow-up work, will be provided from the outset.

I should like briefly to relate to you the latest Norwegian data with respect to the acid rain situation:

This summer we experienced heavy rainfalls with pH values as low as 3.9 in some of the most exposed areas. During the month of August one ton of sul- phates per square kilometer was depos- ited in these areas. It should be noted that only about 10% of the sulphur de- position in Norway is due to emissions from Norwegian sources.

We do not see the air pollution Con- vention and the Resolution as instru-

ments to deal with sulphur problems alone. The cooperative framework we are establishing will be of great impor- tance also for other air pollution prob- lems. It may, for example, prove to be an appropriate forum to carry further, in the first instance in a regional con- text, the present international discus- sions on the need for coordination of measures to protect the ozone layer from discharges to the atmosphere due to human activities.

With regard to the problem of water pollution, including transboundary water pollution, we support the further development of international coopera- tion to limit pollution in shared water- ways, and in those marine areas where agreements for internationally coordi- nated protection have not yet been established.

I also welcome and support an in- creasing involvement of the ECE in the area of nature conservation. ECE's par- ticipation in this area should in my view be particularly directed towards the task of monitoring and protecting endangered flora and fauna.*

*See Selected Documents at page 40.

Environmental Policy and Law, 6 (1980) 3