The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), together with the United Nations Development Programme and UNEP, helped Belarus and Ukraine monitor and analyse the transboundary environmental impact of activities in the Khotislavskoye quarry in Belarus, located just 250 metres from the Ukrainian border.

The results of the pilot post-project analysis under the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention) were presented at a subregional conference in Minsk on 15 April. A bilateral working group was created to monitor the environmental effects of the quarry. The two countries agreed to continue their annual exchange of monitoring data, and to make this information available to the public.

The project was conducted in cooperation with Belarus’ Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection and Ukraine’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources. It is being implemented jointly by UNECE, UNDP and UNEP, and financed through the Environment and Security Initiative (ENVSEC).

The project also contributed to a large regional project of the European Commission, “Towards greener economies in the Eastern Partnership” (EAP-Green), which is being implemented by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, UNECE, UNEP and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

More information: mahir.aliyev@unep.org