European environment ministers and their counterparts from the six countries of the Eastern Partnership (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine), meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday 18 October, moved to the next stage in their cooperation in expressing their desire to forge ahead in jointly tackling the environmental and climate challenges in their joint interest.
The two parties agreed to cooperate on tackling air pollution, protecting human health against harmful chemicals, protecting water from pollution and protecting biodiversity, and to increase cooperation on implementation of the sustainable development agenda of the Paris climate agreement.
These advances came in a ministerial meeting with the Eastern Partnership, held back-to-back with the EU Environment Council – the first of its kind in this format but certainly not the last.
“Today we resolved to work together on a number of issues that have a real impact on people's lives. We are working to improve air and water quality, with a number of projects recently launched. We are working to protect people from harmful substances. And we are working to make sure nature too is protected”, said European Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella in Luxembourg on Tuesday, highlighting the success of Natura 2000 pan-European network of protected natural habitats. He was speaking after an exchange of views between the parties.
A joint declaration formalised this renewed political commitment on future cooperation. Environment ministers had adopted the declaration, without debate, on behalf of the EU the previous day.
The joint declaration is only a first step, to be followed by adoption of an action plan, progress on the implementation of which will be assessed in two years’ time, the commissioner said.
It is a profession of faith by both parties in the virtues, in terms of growth and job creation, of transition to sustainable management of natural resources in forms of consumption and production in line with the principles of the circular economy and in the opportunities presented by sustainable development and transition to a low carbon economy. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)