Members of Working Group 3 of the Ukrainian National Platform—the DiXi Group and ICO “Environment-People-Law”—took part in the Regional Workshop titled ‘Better environmental inspections for stronger environmental resilience’ for the Eastern Partnership member countries, which took place in Brussels on 5 to 6 December 2022 under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Our colleagues represented the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum.
Environmental inspections are one of the traditional tools used by countries to monitor compliance with environmental regulations and to ensure compliance with environmental laws. There are many features that determine the effectiveness of environmental inspections, including the reasonableness of risk assessments, the clarity of procedures and instructions, the number and skills of inspectors, the adequacy of equipment, the effectiveness of follow-up measures, and the transparency of inspection plans and findings for the general public. Achieving a high level of compliance with environmental laws is important to strengthen the environmental resilience of the society and the economy.
Environment-Law-People:
Although there are no specific directives or regulations on environmental control at the level of the European Union, some specific inspection requirements have been laid down in the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). The Directive (2010) was the first EU legislative instrument to establish mandatory legal requirements for such inspections. One of the main provisions of the IED is that the frequency of inspections of different types of installations must be based on an assessment of their environmental risk. The IED has also formalised, in many regards, non-binding provisions of the 2001 Recommendations for Minimum Criteria for Environmental Inspections.
Interestingly, some members of the Eastern Partnership are well ahead of Ukraine with the implementation of reforms in the area of environmental control and industrial emissions. For example, Georgia has recently reformed its environmental control laws and passed an environment liability act, thereby implementing two EU Directives. Unfortunately, Ukraine has not even started working with these EU legislative instruments, with the Ukrainian Bill on State Environmental Control collecting dust at the relevant Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. This year, Moldova passed an industrial emission act to introduce integrated permits. Quite the opposite, Ukraine has failed to decide on the relevant reform for the third year in a row.
Representatives from various government institutions attended the event.
Ukraine’s draft law on environmental control and recording/assessment of war damages (Oleksandr Stavniichuk, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine)
The role of the body in recording and documenting eco-crimes on the territory of Ukraine caused by armed aggression: Part 1 | Part 2 (Igor Zubovych, State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine)
During his speech, Ihor Zubovych, Acting Head of the State Environmental Inspectorate, pointed out:
Today, Ukraine has become the first European country to document crimes committed against the environment as a result of the russian federation’s military aggression against our State. For the time being, we have received 2,267 reports of documented damage to the environment for a total of UAH1.4 trillion. The experts of the State Environmental Inspectorate ensure the sampling of water and soils while risking their own safety and, sometimes, life. Before, we had no experience of exercising state supervision (control) during a war. However, we are ready to share, with our colleagues, the results and skills that we have achieved and acquired over an extremely short period since 24 February.
Про семінар The regional seminar on better environmental inspections for stronger environmental resilience took place on 5-6 December 2022 in Brussels, Belgium (програма, презентації)
Implementation of the EU IED in Ukraine’s energy sector – Achievements and challenges: Part 1 | Part 2 (Olga Polunina, DiXi Group, Ukraine; Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum)
Environmental inspections of major industrial installations: Proposed reforms on the way to the EU (Yelyzaveta Aleksyeyeva, Environment-People-Law, Ukraine)
Про програму EU4Environment
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