Parties to the Convention on Espoo called on Belarus to comply with Convention’ requirements

At a meeting in Geneva parties to the Convention confirmed that Belarusan nuclear power plant in Astravets breaches the UN Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context.

“Parties to the Convention, which held a high-level meeting in Geneva last week, approved the findings issued by the Espoo Convention Implementation Committee in April 2013 that the nuclear facility project did not comply with the requirements of the Convention”, delfi.lt quotes the report of Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry.

Parties to the Convention called on Belarus to comply with the requirements of the Convention and to consider the issues raised by Lithuania. They also called on Minsk to ask the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to carry out an independent assessment of the site chosen by Belarus for the construction of the nuclear facility.

The Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context presupposes an environmental impact assessment of certain activities at an early stage of planning, involving a party of origin, i.e. a state where an activity is planned, and an affected party, i.e. a state whose territory may be significantly adversely affected by the activity.

Belarus has ratified the Convention on Espoo on November 10, 2005.