OSCE Centre helps Kazakhstan prepare for ratification of pollution control protocol

ALMATY, 6 September 2005 - A set of recommendations to assist Kazakhstan to ratify the Kyiv Protocol on pollutant release and transfer registers was offered at a meeting of government officials, national and international experts and civil society representatives, held as part of an OSCE comprehensive assistance programme. The programme of the OSCE Centre in Almaty is being financed by the United States.

Participants of the event on 3 and 4 September in Borovoe, recommended creating a national register of specified pollutants. They also called for introducing a favourable regime for pollutant-friendly industries, and capacity-building for state institutions and civil society organizations. Experts from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan underlined the importance of the regional co-operation on the pollutant control and implementation of the instruments of the Aarhus Convention.

A public awareness raising campaign focusing on the Protocol's provisions, as well as the creation of a national co-ordination council to facilitate further preparations are to follow soon.

"The Ministry of Environmental Protection is ready to take a leading role in the process of ratifying the Kyiv Protocol," said Sultangali Kesikbaev, First Vice-Minister of Environmental Protection.

"We believe that the introduction of pollutant registers will help Kazakhstan ensure effective control and reduction of pollution. The registers will also exert public pressure on industries to take preventive measures".

The Kyiv Protocol is one of the legally binding instruments of the Aarhus Convention, technically known as the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, adopted on 25 June 1998.