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BAKU: Environmental security initiative launched in S. Caucasus

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  • BAKU: Environmental security initiative launched in S. Caucasus

    ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY INITIATIVE LAUNCHED IN SOUTHERN CAUCASUS
    [May 19, 2004, 14:35:03]

    Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
    May 19 2004

    Workshops held May 10-18 in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.
    Eliminating environmental problems helps to ease political tensions:
    that is the basic idea behind a new initiative launched in the
    Southern Caucasus region by the Organization for Security and
    Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the U.N. Environmental Program (UNEP)
    and the U.N. Development Program (UNDP).

    An initiative focusing on the links between environmental problems
    and security was launched this week with national events in Georgia
    and Azerbaijan.

    Through the Environmental Security Initiative, the OSCE, the United
    Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and the UN Development Program
    (UNDP) aim to identify cases in which environmental degradation
    may pose threats to human security and contribute to instability,
    and suggest action to deal with them.

    The initiative began on 10 May in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, with
    two days of consultations among government officials, non-governmental
    organizations and local and international experts. They discussed
    key environmental risk factors that have the potential to hamper
    security in Armenia.

    The workshops continued on 14 and 15 May in Tbilisi, Georgia. They
    focused on the role of environmental security in economic growth and
    poverty reduction in Georgia, both greatly dependent on the quality
    and quantity of existing natural resources in the country.

    Concluding the series, a workshop in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 17 and 18 May
    focused on principal environmental concerns with security implications
    in the country, including trans-boundary water pollution and freshwater
    quality as well as contamination of the Caspian Sea and deforestation.

    The main idea behind the Environment and Security Initiative, launched
    in 2002, is that eliminating environmental problems helps to ease
    political tensions. In order to achieve this, the Initiative seeks to:

    Raise awareness of environmental risks and their impact on security;

    Engage with government and non-government groups to identify both risks
    posed by environmental change and opportunities for trans-boundary
    co-operation to promote sustainable development, peace and stability;

    Map risks, as well as needs and opportunities, for environmental
    co-operation to improve sustainable resource management, crisis
    prevention and peace promotion;

    Develop and implement projects to reduce risks identified.

    National consultations are considered to be a key element of the
    Initiative as they generate information on specific problems that
    can then be addressed through individual projects.
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