Mining for Closure: Policies, practises and guidelines for sustainable mining and closure of mines

ment, the desk assessment of security risks posed by mining Reducing Environment & Security Risks from Mining in South Eastern Europe (Peck, 2004), and the final version of the UNEP Rapid Environmental Assessment of the Tisza River Basin (Burnod-Requia, 2004) were also presented. Within the ENVSEC initiative, South-Eastern Europe covers Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedo- nia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and Kosovo (territory under UN administration). The Tisza Riv- er Basin includes Romania, Ukraine, Slovak Repub- lic, Hungary, and Serbia and Montenegro. The past decade of war, conflict and transition has left the re- gion with a legacy of inadequate growth, declining living standards and high environmental stress. The region is significantly affected by heavy industrial pollution in urban-industrial areas, intensive agri- culture with yet uncalculated health impacts, a lack of water technology and infrastructure, and indus- trial pollution from the resources and mining sector. Shared resources such as transboundary lakes and rivers as well as biodiversity (e.g. in the Carpathian mountains with a particular focus on the TRB) pose both a challenge and opportunity for cooperation. There is growing understanding that environ- mental degradation, inequitable access to critical natural resources and transboundary movement of hazardous materials increase tensions between nation-states and thereby pose a risk to human and even national security. For example transboundary pollution often affects negatively the relations be- tween neighbouring states. Also health risks and involuntary migration due to water scarcity, uncon- trolled stocks of obsolete pesticides or other forms of hazardous waste have been identified as threats to stability and peace. Ongoing disputes and disagreements over the management of natural resources shared by two or more states, can deepen divides and lead to hostili- ties. However, common problems regarding the use of natural resources can also bring people together in a positive way. Communities and different na- tions can build confidence with each other through joint efforts to improve the state and management of nature. Environmental co-operation can thereby act as an important means for preventing conflicts and promoting peace between communities.

1.2

envsec and mining in south eastern europe

Environment and Security (ENVSEC) is an Initia- tive of three organizations – the United Nations En- vironment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Or- ganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an associate partner in the Initiative. The Initiative is aimed to provide a framework for co-operation on environmental issues across bor- ders and promoting peace and stability through environmental co-operation and sustainable de- velopment. The Initiative focused on the three pi- lot regions: Central Asia, the Caucasus and South Eastern Europe/Tisza River Basin. The Initiative is structured in three distinct but interlinked pillars, dealing with: vulnerability as- sessment and monitoring; capacity building and institutional development; and policy development and implementation. After the launching of the Initiative at the Kiev “En- vironment for Europe” Ministerial Conference in May 2003, and preparation of the regional report on environment and security priorities in SEE/ TRB, the ENVSEC Partners, in consultations with the countries in the region, have developed the fol- lowing priority fields of action: Managing and reducing trans-boundary risks of hazardous activities. Management of trans-boundary natural re- sources. Crosscutting issues (awareness, information, education, etc.). The identified fields of action, including project proposals, were presented at and confirmed by “the ENVSEC Consultations on SEE”, held in Skopje, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on 23 -24 September 2004. A rapid Environmental Assess- ment of the Tisza River Basin was presented to the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River in December 2004. These topics were again confirmed at the Sub-regional Conference on “Reducing Environment and Security Risks from Min- ing in South Eastern Europe and the Tisza River Basin (TRB)” conducted in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 11-14 May 2005 where the full drafts of both this docu- • • •

ENVSEC consultations in Belgrade in 2002 led to a first assessment of environment and security inter-

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MINING FOR CLOSURE