Modern Diplomacy
Oct 1 2019
Armenia on the way to ratification of the key Air Convention protocols with help from UNECE
October 1, 2019
Four decades of experience under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention) have demonstrated that ratification and implementation of the Convention and its protocols reduces health and environmental impacts in a more cost-effective way than unilateral action by one country alone. This also creates economic benefits as harmonized legislation and standards across borders can introduce a level playing field for industry across countries and prevent Parties from competing with each other at the expense of environment and health.
One of the priorities for the Convention in recent years has been to encourage the ratification and to strengthen the implementation of the Convention and its protocols, targeting Parties from Eastern, Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. In this regard, UNECE organized a high-level level awareness-raising meeting in Armenia, which included a national round table to discuss domestic law on air pollution control, in Yerevan this week (25 September 2019).
The purpose of the event was to raise the political profile of the Convention and increase awareness of the benefits of accession to its Protocols; to further assist Armenia in aligning national legislation with the provisions of the Protocols and determining the next steps towards ratification; and to highlight the Convention’s links and complementarity with the relevant European Union legislation, which Armenia plans to transpose into domestic law pursuant to its Partnership Agreement with the European Union.
High-level participants from the Ministry of Environment and other Ministries as well as representatives from the private sector and civil society discussed the recommendations on the steps towards ratification of the key protocols of the Convention. Parties to the Convention also shared their experiences with ratification and representatives from the European Union presented on the links between the Convention and European Union legislation.