Publication Name

MINING FOR CLOSURE

1.2

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 and mining

in south eastern

europe

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.

ENVSEC consultations in Belgrade in 2002 led to a

first assessment of environment and security inter-

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