Renewable energy, organic farming and ecotourism are among sectors to receive a boost in Belarus following approval of a Green Economy Action Plan developed in cooperation with UN Environment and partners.

Among the actions is a plan to introduce electric car charging stations across the entire country, with a minimum target set of installing five charging points for every 50,000 residents each year in major cities for example.

The activities involve legal, regulatory and political actions for a raft of economic sectors, with a responsible ministry and government body identified to deliver on each one.

The plan – to run until 2020 - was approved by Belarus’ Council of Ministers on 21 December 2016 after getting the green light from all ministries and following over 100 comments from civil society on a draft version being taken into account. To ensure the transition remains on course, the country’s Ministry of Environment will also present an update on progress and suggest any necessary revisions by 10 February each year.

The Action Plan was designed under the EU-funded EaP GREEN project, which is carried out in the six Eastern Neighbourhood countries by UN Environment, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the UN Industrial Development Organisation and the UN Economic Commission for Europe.

The Plan and its actions also form part of the green economy commitments made by Belarus at the Ministerial Environment for Europe Conference held in Batumi, Georgia.

There, governments and organisations from across the pan-European region made over 100 pledges for the transition to a Green Economy, ranging from stopping food waste going to landfill in Lithuania to the construction of a major solar power station in Uzbekistan.

You can find out more on the commitments made by your country or your sector of interest in what is known as the Batumi Initiative on Green Economy by viewing a database prepared by the Green Growth Knowledge Platform here.

For more information please get in touch with rie.tsutsumi@unep.org