Belarusan ecologists analyze situation before the Forum

The overview of positive development tendencies and system errors in the environmental field are presented by Iryna Sukhij, the member of “Eco House” and Marina Dubina, a lawyer of “Green Network”.

On the eve of the Forum of Environmental Organizations 2013 which will be held next weekend in Polatsk Belarusan environmentalists and lawyers assessed the state of affairs in Belarus in the sphere of conservation and environmental management.

According to Iryna Sukhij, a member of the board of NGO “Eco House”, the main problem is that the people concerned cannot participate in decision-making processes; they don’t have access to the information and justice in environmental matters, the example of which can be non-compliance with the Aarhus Convention although Belarus has been its member since 2001.

The citizens must be involved in discussion at the stage when a decision is not yet made and there is only an intention to action: to start up a large-scale construction or to draw up a legislative act. It is at this stage that it is necessary to discuss a possible future solution and its alternatives with the people concerned. “In the initial stages you can find more allies among the public and to make more reasonable and balanced decisions”, - Iryna thinks. The same is said in the Aarhus Convention.

The mechanisms of participation that exist now are not effective enough. For example, according to the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment), a discussion with citizens takes place when the site has been selected and the technology has been defined. “That is, a lot of decisions have already been made and the only thing that can be changed is just a few insignificant details. Whatever the impact assessment is, it is impossible to cancel the construction of adverse business or to reduce the extent of the threats and the destruction of the environment, - commented Iryna Sukhij. – Our state agencies do not see the benefits of public participation and we do not have a mechanism of the participation in the initial stages in our legislation. And when we come much later it is no surprise that we look like trouble-makers, opponents of progress, because we do not let them do anything expressing discontent”.

Nevertheless, on the assumption of the communication experience with governmental agencies, according to many environmental activists, the Ministry for Environment is the most open governmental agency where one can get information easily. The same cannot be stated, for example, about the Ministry of Economy or the Ministry of Public Health. In many governmental agencies the information they must made public on the basis of the right described in the Aarhus Convention is declared “for official use only” and remains restricted.

Now, for example, in a joint project between the European Union and the United Nations Development Program in the Republic of Belarus the “Regulation of public discussions of significant environmental decisions” is being drawn up. “This document will be submitted for approval to the Ministry of Environment, but again it has not been discussed with the public. So it turns out that the regulation of public participation is being drawn up without public participation. Thus the adopted documents do not improve the situation for the public participation and the enforcement of law remains formal”, - says Iryna Sukhij.

According to Marina Dubina, the activities coordinator of the association “Green Net” to preserve green space, the environmental legislation evolves, changes are made. However, they are not always positive and do not always meet the expectations of public and the citizens.

The lawyers of “Green Net” record a number of cases of gross violation of the Aarhus Convention. The reasons for this is the absence of the necessary legal mechanisms and also the fact that the officials and judges are not competent in the areas of environmental rights and are not aware of the Aarhus Convention. And the citizens do not always know where they can turn for help.

“During the last year we have seen mass protests of citizens in terms of public debate in the sphere of town planning policy in Minsk. It is due to the fact that the amount of white land in the center of the city diminishes and it disturbs the public. But on the other hand it is a positive example of how people can unite. This is the observation of your rights in practice and the demonstration of how to defend your interests but not to turn a blind eye to the violations”, - thinks Marina Dubina.

An example of immaturity of the decisions and of the lack of strategic calculations in the conduct of business activities in the field is the Directive №3 (On the use of local fuels). The executive powers, especially in the regions, perform its implementation absolutely irrelevantly. “When they are informed of the plans to reduce the consumption of some energy sources and to switch over to local fuels, they start to cut down roadside forest belts. This entails not only human victims, but also the ecological instability of agricultural land hear the roads”, - says Marina Dubina.

This issue and many other urgent topics will be discussed during the Forum of Belarusan Environmental Organizations 2013.