Publication Name

vention. With 2012 funding provided by BP

, the CIC is also

designed to satisfy the need for public disclosure

and outreach.

Ministerial Statement

and Decisions of the Third

Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the

Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine

Environment of the Caspian Sea - 10-12

August Aktau,

Republic of Kazakhstan:

“The Ministers of Natural Resources and Environment

and High-Level Officials of the Governments of the Parties

to the Framework Convention for the Protection of the

Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea…

10. Welcome the presentation of the first State of the

Environment report as a comprehensive document to

implement the activities of the Caspian Environment

Program and the Tehran Convention; decide that the next

State of the Environment report should be issued in four years

time, and request the (interim) Secretariat to develop for

submissionanddecisionby theConference of theParties at its

fourth Meeting, a format for future state of the environment

reports with major indicators and networks of institutions

capable of measuring the quality of the waters of the

Caspian Sea.”

At national level an

Integrated Environmental Assessment of

Lake Sevan

, was carried out in collaboration with the Associ-

ation for Sustainable Human Development in Yerevan.

The

work was intended to guide policy on protection of the most

important inner water body of the Republic of Armenia.

First Deputy Minister of theMinistry of the Environment

of the Republic of Armenia Mr. S. Papyan on the impact

of the Lake Sevan assessment:

“The group of experts has collected, analyzed and

systematized the information materials on the issue,

available in the country as well as the new results obtained

in the course of special expeditions. The elaborated

suggestions and recommendations require special

attention. I use this opportunity to thank GRID-Arendal

for the support of this extremely relevant project”.

The assessment had the intended effect as certain

recommendations were adopted by the Armenian

Ministry of Nature Protection and, subsequently, incorpo-

rated in the 2012 Programme of Work of the Lake Sevan

Commission (see box above). This includes the establish-

ment of a special working group comprising government

officials and civil society representatives (an environmen-

tal coalition) tasked with investigating the impact of min-

ing on the water quality.

Further sensitisation at the poli-

cy level was demonstrated by the decision to discuss the

results of the environmental assessment at a meeting of

the National Council for Sustainable Development in Oc-

tober 2011 attended by the Prime Minister.

The CB&A Programme has embarked on developing a

new area of work, focusing on chemical safety. A project

proposal related to combating Persistent Organic Pollut-

ants (POPs) in the food chain of indigenous peoples in

the Russian Arctic (particularly the Nenets) has been pre-

pared and submitted for funding to the Norwegian Min-

istry of Health and Care Services. The Centre for Environ-

ment and Sustainable Development (Eco-Accord) and the

International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) would

be key partners. Further joint projects are under discus-

sion and a concept note on a project on POPs and climate

change in the Arctic has been outlined prior to a joint GEF

proposal in 2013.

9.3

Green economy and

capacity building

In 2011, GRID-Arendal strengthened its standing within

UNEP as a key partner in raising awareness about Green

Economy issues through publications, dissemination and

active outreach. The most visible illustration of GRID-

Arendal’s growing engagement is the production

UNEP’s milestone report,

Towards a Green Economy:

Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradi-

cation

, which highlights the critical importance of shifting

the world’s economies towards a more resource-efficient,

low-carbon and socially inclusive economic paradigm, the

so-called ‘green economy’. The report has received atten-

tion from governments, industry and civil society organi-

zations worldwide, although it is too early to attribute to

this work any country-level progress in adopting ‘green

economy’ or ‘green business’ or ‘green growth’ policies.

71. BP funding is part of a growing global pattern of public-private col-

laboration in the oil and gas sector. Currently Caspian states are in the

process of appointing National Environmental Information Officers to

serve as the CIC liaison persons. The kick-off meeting was hosted by BP

72. The full report, the Integrated assessment of ecological state of Lake

Sevan, is available for download at

http://www.grida.no/publications/

lake%2Dsevan/

73. Ref. ministerial order (N5-A, 18.01.2012), Ministry of Operations.

74. GRID-Arendal completed the graphics and layout for the online

publication prior to the soft launch held in Nairobi on 21 February 2011.

Following an extensive review process, GRID-Arendal then undertook

a complete revision of the full report in preparation for its additional

launch in Beijing on 16 November 2011.

75. In the recent past, announcements of reform by a growing number

of countries illustrate the type of impact that the report is intended to

generate – they are plausible evidence of the global shift to which the

UNEP report alludes. For instance, China recently announced that it

would invest a total 468 billion dollars in green business developments

over the next 5 years. Other countries like Barbados, Cambodia, Indo-

nesia, Korea and South Africa have made plans for inclusion of green

economy in national policies. South Africa has also developed a green

economy strategy in the last year. Yet more countries – such as Arme-

nia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Kenya, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Senegal

and Ukraine – have introduced policies to support a green strategy in

various sectors, including agriculture, renewable energy, tourism and

clean technology.