EU strengthens environmental policy in Eastern Neighborhood
Launch of the program "EU4Environment - Water Resources and Environmental Data" under the leadership of Umweltbundesamt, ADA, Office International de l'Eau, UNECE and OECD.
The protection and sustainable use of water resources as well as access to reliable environmental data are at the heart of the new EU program "EU4Environment - Water Resources and Environmental Data". The goal of this program is to contribute to environmental protection and human well-being in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine over the next two years. To kick off the cross-country cooperation, a virtual high-level meeting was held on February 9, bringing together representatives from the European Union, partner countries and the program consortium. This consortium consists of representatives of the Umweltbundesamt (Environment Agency Austria), the ADA (Austrian Development Agency), the Office International de l'Eau (France), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
"Careful use of natural resources is key to sustainable development in the EU's Eastern Neighborhood countries," explains Monika Mörth, Managing Director of the Environment Agency Austria. "In order to protect these resources and use them sustainably, reliable environmental data is needed, which we are making available to decision-makers and citizens with the new program."
Careful use of natural resources is key to sustainable development in the EU's Eastern Neighborhood countries.
EU4Environment: Water and data
For this purpose, strategies for the protection and careful use of water in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine will be further developed and prepared for implementation in the period 2022-2024. The basis for these strategies is the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive. In addition, environmental information on waste, land use, agriculture, air and water quality is being improved and access to this data is being made easier for decision-makers and citizens. Experts from the Environment Agency Austria, the ADA, the Office International de l’Eau (France), the UNECE and the OECD support the partner countries on behalf of the European Commission. Valuable preparatory work was done by these project partners in the previous project "European Water Initiative plus" (EUWI+) from 2016 to 2021, which focused on improved water resource management in the Eastern Neighborhood countries.
The program "EU4Environment - Water Resources and Environmental Data" is part of the Team Europe initiative, which aims to re-energize Europe and its partners after the pandemic and to support the green recovery. Priorities in the EU's Eastern Neighborhood include access to clean water for all and a pollution-free environment.
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Links
EU4Environment - Water and Data website
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