1. Improving access to environmental information in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia Aarhus Convention Task Force on Access to Information Task Force on Access to Information Second meeting Geneva, 16–17 December 2013 Lukasz Wyrowski ECE Environment Division

2. Background: Environmental Information at UNECE Monitoring and Assessment Programme Forums Joint Task Force on Environmental Indicators (JTF) Working Group on Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (WGEMA)

3. Background: Environmental Information at UNECE Monitoring and Assessment Programme Objectives To serve the policy-makers in improving environmental governance To serve the public to be well informed about the environmental conditions

4. Background: Environmental Information at UNECE Monitoring and Assessment Programme Focus Supporting the production and sharing of environmental indicators Enhancing the capacities for preparation of indicator-based State of the Environment (SoE) reports Enhancing the capacities for preparation of other assessments Supporting the use of modern technologies for environmental information presentation

5. Background: Environmental Information at UNECE Monitoring and Assessment Programme Tools Guidelines Networks to exchange good practice Hands-on training

6. JTF: Public access to environmental information in EECCA countries Country Indicators produced Indicators available online Languages Formats used for data presentation A1A2A3B3C10C11D1I1 NationalRUSENG Armenia ++++++++++++JTF Azerbaijan ++++++++++ +JTF Belarus ++++++++++++JTF Bosnia and Herzegovina ++ ++ +JTF Georgia +++++++ ++ +Partly JTF Kazakhstan +++++++++++ Partly JTF Kyrgyzstan ++++ + +++ JTF FYR of Macedonia ++++++++++ +EEA and national formats Montenegro ++++++++ EEA Republic of Moldova ++++++++++++Partly JTF Russian Federation +++++++++++ Partly JTF, national formats Serbia ++++++++++ +JTF, UNSD and Eurostat Tajikistan +++++ +++++ JTF Turkmenistan +++++++++++ National formats Ukraine + + +++++Partly JTF Uzbekistan No information provided ECE Core Set of Indicators: A1. Emissions of pollutants into the atmospheric airC10. BOD and concentration of ammonium in rivers A2. Ambient air quality in urban areasC11. Nutrients in freshwater A3. Consumption of ozone-depleting substances D1. Protected areas B3. Greenhouse gas emissions. I1. Waste generation

7. WGEMA: Improvements in data presentation since Oct. 2012 CountryImprovements in data presentation Armenia - Azerbaijan - Belarus Data from radiation monitoring stations, data on surface water quality, as well as data on concentrations of priority pollutants in ambient air are now made accessible to the public (http://rad.org.by) Bosnia and Herzegovina - Georgia An interactive map on protected areas was developed (www.apa.gov.ge) Kazakhstan The content management system of the web portal of Kazakhstan’s Aarhus centre of was modernized (www.aarhus.kz) Kyrgyzstan - FYR of Macedonia A pilot database for emission data was launched providing data on air quality in real-time (www.airquality.moepp.gov.mk) Montenegro An online water database including spatial data was made accessible to the public via EEA CountryImprovements in data presentation Republic of Moldova An internet platform to facilitate public access to information on water resources is currently developed A GIS containing information on ground waters is currently developed Russian Federation Data in real-time on concentrations of pollutants, as well as meteorological and hydrological parameters was made accessible to the public online (www.pogodasochi.ru; www.tatarmeteo.ru) An interactive map of monitoring data for geological processes was developed (www.geomonitorinp.ru/egp 2013 (II).html) Serbia Air quality monitoring data is now accessible to the public in real-time at EEA’s “Ozoneweb” (www.eea.europa.eu/maps/ ozone/welcome) Tajikistan - Turkmenistan - Ukraine - Uzbekistan -

8. Russian Federation: Data on air quality in Sochi region (www.pogodasochi.ru) WGEMA: Data presentation in EECCA countries Belarus: Data on the atmospheric air, radiation control, and surface water (http://rad.org.by ) Georgia: Interactive map on protected areas (www.apa.gov.ge)

9. Priorities for further improvement to data presentation in EECCA countries Production and sharing of data (indicators) in common formats Strengthening the visibility of SoE reports on agencies’ websites (easy access to pdf files, interactive presentation of SoE reports directly on the webpages) Improvements to descriptive parts of SoE reports (to be better policy- makers oriented and more understandable to the public) – brief indicator analysis – application of the Driving forces, Pressures, States, Impacts and Responses (DPSIR) framework – inclusion of countries comparative analysis – application of SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) – Increasing visual material (incl. GIS or satellite imaging)

10. Thank you for your attention