Working paper no.1
25 March 2015
Economic Commission for Europe
Committee on Environmental Policy
Group of Friends of the Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS)
Second meeting
Geneva, 11 May 2015
Item 1 of the provisional agenda
Adoption of the agenda
Annotated provisional agenda for the second meeting
To be held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, in meeting room V
starting at 10 a.m. on Monday, 11 May 2015*
I. Provisional agenda
1.
Adoption of the agenda.
2.
Friends of SEIS mandate for 2015.
3.
Monitoring and evaluating progress of SEIS development.
4.
Organizing and shaping the regular environmental assessment process.
5.
Reporting to the twenty-first session of the Committee on Environmental Policy.
6.
Other business.
II. Annotations to the provisional agenda
1.
At the Seventh Environment for Europe (EfE) Ministerial Conference (Astana, 21–
23 September 2011) Ministers decided to establish a regular process of environmental
assessment and to develop the Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS) across the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) region in order to keep the panEuropean environment under review. These should serve multiple policy processes,
including MEAs, and include the building of capacity in countries in Eastern Europe, the
Caucasus, Central Asia and South-Eastern Europe to monitor and assess their environment.
* There are accreditation procedures for all delegates attending meetings at the Palais des Nations.
Delegates are therefore requested to register on-line at www2.unece.org/uncdb/app/ext/meetingregistration?id=rWjhDf. In case of questions regarding the registration please contact Ms. Ludmila
Boichuk at Ludmila.Boichuk@unece.org. On their way to the meeting, delegates should obtain an
identification badge at the Pass and Identification Unit of the United Nations Office at Geneva’s
Security and Safety Section, located at the Pregny Gate, 14, Avenue de la Paix (see map and other
practical information available from the ECE website at
http://www.unece.org/meetings/practical.htm). In case of difficulty, please contact the secretariat by
telephone at +41 22 917 2364.
Working paper no.1
2.
The Bureau of the Committee on Environmental Policy (CEP) agreed that the
decision to develop SEIS across the region was one of the most important outcomes of the
Astana Conference and recommended that progress in its development be reported at the
next EfE conference. To strengthen the work of CEP at the political level and the work of
the Working Group on Environmental Monitoring and Assessment at the technical level,
the Bureau recommended to CEP to consider establishing a SEIS coordination mechanism
in the form of an ad hoc group of “Friends of SEIS” in which the main SEIS stakeholders
would be expected to participate.
3.
To support the development of SEIS, following recommendations by the Bureau,
CEP decided to establish a coordination mechanism in the form of a Group of Friends of
SEIS and approved the terms of reference for such a group (see paragraphs 38, 39 and 116
(v) a. of the document ECE/CEP/2013/21).
4.
Subsequently, the ECE Executive Committee formally approved the establishment
of the Group of Friends of SEIS, its mandate and its terms of reference and financial
requirements (see document ECE/EX/112).
1.
Adoption of the agenda
Tentative timing: Monday, 11 May, 10-10.30 a.m.
5.
Friends of SEIS will be invited to adopt the agenda as set out in the present
document (working paper no. 1).
2.
Friends of SEIS mandate for 2015
Tentative timing: Monday, 11 May, 10.30–10.15 a.m.
6.
The Group of Friends of SEIS is mandated until the end of 2015 to function as a
coordination mechanism for the development of SEIS. The terms of reference approved by
CEP and the ECE Executive Committee define the modalities of the Group.
7.
The nineteenth session of CEP in October 2013 mandated the Friends of SEIS to
address the following questions:
(a)
How should progress be monitored and evaluated: what should be the clear
targets and performance indicators for the development of SEIS?;
(b)
How should the regular assessment process be organized and shaped, taking
into consideration the benefits of SEIS?
8.
At its first3 meeting the Friends of SEIS agreed on a work plan for 2014–2015 and
worked on fulfilling the first part of the mandate. The outcomes of the work of the Friends
of SEIS were presented to CEP at its twentieth session in October 2014 (see CEP document
ECE/CEP/2014/74).
9.
CEP welcomed the work of the Group of Friends of SEIS accomplished thus far and
invited the Group to continue working on fulfilling the second part of the mandate given to
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www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/documents/2013/ece/cep/ece.cep.2013.2.e.pdf.
www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/documents/2014/ece/ece.ex.11.e.pdf.
www.unece.org/index.php?id=35470#/
English (www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/documents/2014/ece/cep/ece.cep.2014.7.e.pdf); French
(www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/documents/2014/ece/cep/ece.cep.2014.7.f.pdf); and Russian
(www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/documents/2014/ece/cep/ece.cep.2014.7.r.pdf).
Working paper no.1
the Group by CEP at its nineteenth session, i.e. to answer the question, “how should the
regular environmental assessment process be organized and shaped, taking into
consideration the benefits of SEIS?”.
10.
Friends of SEIS will be invited to briefly consider their mandate for 2015; taking
into account that the substantive discussion will continue under agenda item 4.
3.
Monitoring and evaluating progress of SEIS development
Tentative timing: Monday, 11 May, 10.15–11.30 p.m.
11.
At its twentieth session in October 2014 CEP adopted the targets and performance
indicators as presented in CEP document ECE/CEP/2014/85, and expressed its gratitude to
the Friends of SEIS and to the secretariat for the excellent document.
12.
Furthermore, CEP mandated the Working Group on Environmental Monitoring and
Assessment, in accordance with its renewed amended mandate for 2015, to review the
progress in developing SEIS based on the targets and performance indicators adopted by
CEP at its twentieth session, with a view to preparing an evaluation report on progress
made in developing SEIS in the pan-European region for the next EfE Ministerial
Conference. A first report on that activity should be presented to CEP at its next session in
October 2015.
13.
Following up to the mandate by CEP, the Working Group is meeting in Istanbul on
16–17 April 20156 to work on advancing the establishment of SEIS. The ECE secretariat
will inform the Friends of SEIS of the key outcomes of that meeting of relevance to the
work of Friends of SEIS.
14.
Friends of SEIS will be invited to consider the information provided. Those Friends
of SEIS who are involved in the practical establishment of SEIS at the regional and/or
national level are invited to consider making a short presentation during this agenda item
with a view to share good practices and lessons learned thus far.
4.
Organizing and shaping the regular environmental assessment process
Tentative timing: Monday, 11 May, 11.30 a.m.–1 p.m.; 3-5.15 p.m.
15.
CEP requested the Friends of SEIS to look into and provide answers on how should
the regular environmental assessment process be organized and shaped, taking into
consideration the benefits of SEIS?
16.
Friends of SEIS will be invited to share their views on this matter, taking into
account, among others, the outcome of the April meeting of the Working Group on
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. To facilitate the work of the Friends of SEIS
the ECE secretariat in consultation with partners will prepare a background note after the
Working Group meeting, that will be presented in the working paper no. 2.
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English (www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/documents/2014/ece/cep/ece.cep.2014.8.e.pdf); French
(www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/documents/2014/ece/cep/ece.cep.2014.8.f.pdf); and Russian
(www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/documents/2014/ece/cep/ece.cep.2014.8.r.pdf).
www.unece.org/index.php?id=38414#/
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Working paper no.1
5.
Reporting to the twenty-first session of the Committee on
Environmental Policy
Tentative timing: Monday, 11 May, 5.15–5.45 p.m.
17.
The secretariat has forecasted two official documents for the next session of CEP, as
follows: the Friends of SEIS report on its second meeting; and the proposed organization
and shape of the regular environmental assessment process. The deadline for submitting
these two documents for editing is 22 July 2015. Therefore, the documents need to be
finalised during the months of June-July 2015 in due time before the deadline.
18.
The CEP Bureau will meet in Geneva on 15 and 16 June 2015 to prepare the next
session of CEP. A draft version of the two documents will be submitted to the CEP Bureau
for their consideration and comments. The secretariat will revise the documents in the light
of comments by the Bureau. Final versions of these documents will be consulted with the
Chair of the Friends of SEIS before being processed for submission to CEP.
19.
Friends of SEIS will be invited to take note of this information and share their views
on the proposed reporting to CEP.
6.
Other business
Tentative timing: Monday, 11 May, 5.45–6 p.m.
20.
Friends of SEIS may wish to discuss any other business that might be brought to its
attention.
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