The Unites Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has increased its efforts in order to bring the matter of pollution into everyone’s attention, from cross-border organisations to the average EU citizen. The first half of 2010 was marked by the organisation of several UNECE events, which are meant to attract attention on the urgent implementation of policies for the reduction of polluting emissions. To that end, the Commission established several priorities. Discussing the impact that pollution has on human health, attending various debates concerning the effects and the fight against pollution and the development of a sustainable strategy for the reduction of black carbon emissions represent the coordinates of UNECE’s policy which is meant to increase awareness among the European authorities in terms of the benefits brought by the application of these initiatives.
The first meeting of the Ad Hoc Expert Group on Black Carbon under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) was held in Brussels, Belgium on 17-18 June 2010. Researchers from Europe, North and South America and Asia convened to review the current state of black carbon (BC) research and explore future strategies for reducing the BC emissions.
Black carbon is an air pollutant formed through the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biofuel and biomass. Unlike carbon dioxide (CO2), which can persist in the atmosphere up to 100 years, black carbon resists in the air between several days and several months. In 2009, the Executive Body of the Convention recognized that black carbon poses significant risks to human health and the environment. Long-term exposure to black carbon can lead to serious health issues and even premature death and has a significant climate forcing impact, enhancing the greenhouse gas effect and leading to increased warming. The Expert Group is headed and coordinated by Norway and the US and its aim is to identify the potential problems that could lead to the revision of the current convention on black carbon policies, the Gothenburg Protocol, which dates back from 1999. By the end of 2010, the Group will publish a report dictating the measures which should be taken in order to harmonise the European legislation on black carbon emissions.
UNECE aims at increasing awareness among authorities and citizens in the fight against BC emissions. This was the main debate topic discussed during an extraordinary session organised on 30 June 2010 by the UNECE Convention concerning the free access to information and the non-discriminatory decision-making on environmental issues. During this session, a work group was set up to oversee the implementation of these objectives. The group will be headed by Ireland and it will focus its activity on the objectives stipulated in the Aarhus Convention signed in November 2009, which reunites 44 countries from Europe and Central Asia. The work group will publish periodical reports and elaborate studies in order to oversee the progress made in the implementation of the Aarhus Convention regulations, which are meant to increase the public involvement in the decision-making process.
Raising public awareness on the danger generated by pollution
UNECE also aims at involving in the decision-making process all the European countries affected by black carbon exposure. On 11 July 2010, the Espoo Convention entered into force. This Convention was signed by 35 EU governments in May 2003, in Kiev. Meanwhile, other countries adhered to the convention, including Slovenia, Estonia, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and Norway. Jan Kubis, in charge of the implementation of the protocol, said that the new initiatives are meant to integrate environmental protection in the development process of every country. The protocol identifies a specific pattern for the implementation of the new strategy in the decision-making process: analysis on the effects of the government plans, development of short and medium-term programs, development of a sustainable strategy related to the long-term effects of pollution on human health; raising public awareness on the dangers brought by long-term exposure to black carbon emissions, thus providing the public with a legal basis in order to have access to the decision-making process.
by Alin Lupulescu
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