Eastern Europe

The website presents the key results of three years of an environmental cooperation programme (Environment and Security initiative) implemented in Belarus between July 2014 and December 2016 by Zoï Environment Network in collaboration with Belarusian partners.

English      Russian

In a project implemented for EU DG Clima, Zoï has analysed climate policies in Central Asia, Eastern Europe and South Caucasus, summarised in a series of climate scorecards per each country.

Sample deliverables:     pdf     ebook

Belarus is one of the most important transit countries for gas and oil as it offers the shortest route between the Russian gas and oil fields and the main Western European markets. Most of the country’s pipeline system was built in the mid-to-late 1960s and now faces widespread technical renovation. The environmental safety of pipelines crossing Belarus has been an issue for the country’s environmental authorities, the civil society and the neighbouring states.

Within the framework of Environmental and Security Initiative (ENVSEC) the international project, “Environmental Safety of Oil and Gas Pipelines in Belarus”, has been implemented by Zoï Environment Network on behalf of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The Strategic Framework for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Dniester River Basin is the result of joint efforts by international experts and organizations – the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) – and experts and organizations from Moldova and Ukraine with an interest in the protection and sustainable use of natural resources in the transboundary Dniester River basin under the conditions of a changing global climate. On the basis of research and extensive consultations, the Strategic Framework for Adaptation offers a set of measures, the joint and coordinated implementation of which will make it possible to respond to the coming changes in a timely manner and even to get out ahead of the process.

Implementation plan:    ebook     PDF     ebook Russian     PDF Russian   

Ebook:     English     Russian     Romanian     Ukrainian

PDF:    English     Russian     Romanian     Ukrainian

These maps in Russian and Ukrainian display flood risks in the Dniester river delta and around Mohyliv-Podolskyi.

Dniester river basin (Russian, jpg):

Risk from floods with 1% probability (medium-probability scenario)

Risk from floods with 0.5% probability (low-probability scenario)

Areas affected in case of a catastrophic flood

Mohyliv-Podilskyi (Ukrainian, jpg):

Areas affected by floods with 1% probability

Two posters in Russian which describe climate change and its impacts in Belarus.

Poster 1 (pdf)    Poster 2 (pdf)

The safety guidelines and good practices, as presented in this publication, were endorsed by the Conference of the Parties to the Industrial Accidents Convention and by the Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention). Both bodies encouraged Parties and other ECE member States to disseminate the guidelines for use by the appropriate authorities. The guidelines have been reissued in 2014 to update the references and provide a basis for their application throughout the region, following their review by the Joint Expert Group on Water and Industrial Accidents. Authorities, pipeline operators and the public are invited to apply these guidelines and good practices, which are intended to contribute to limiting the number of pipeline accidents and the severity of their consequences for human health and the environment.

Over the last four years, the European Union has been engaging the countries of the Eastern Partnership - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – in regional cooperation with the aim to improve national capacities for managing and sharing environmental data and information. The Synthesis Report, available in English and Russian, presents the outcomes of this cooperation, implemented in the framework of the project ‘Towards a Shared Environmental Information System in the European Neighbourhood’, funded by the European Commission and implemented by the European Environment Agency with the assistance of Zoi Environment Network.
 

flyer English   flyer Russian

This snapshot assessment of environmental damage to the Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine, plagued throughout much of 2014 with fighting that still continues, was prepared through cooperation between Zoï Environment Network and the Kyiv-based East Ukraine Environment Institute. To assess the situation and compile the map, the experts used the best available information from governmental and other sources and media reports, as well as their own data, judgements and direct interviews with the affected enterprises and areas. As new data are being collected, this remains work in progress.

A zoï article on the subject is available on the Sustainable Security website (link) and on the Ecologist website (link).

Russian version    Ukrainian version

This report presents achievements of the ENVSEC (UNECE/OSCE/UNEP) project “Transboundary Co-operation and Sustainable Management in the Dniester River Basin: Phase III – Implementation of the Action Programme”. The activities were focused on developing and signing the Dniester River Basin Treaty between Moldova and Ukraine, transboundary water monitoring, fish fauna conservation, information sharing on the basin level, public awareness, and reducing vulnerability to extreme floods and climate change. The publication also provides recommendations for further activities in the Dniester river basin.

The goal of the “Reducing vulnerability to extreme floods and climate change in the Dniester river basin” project is to reduce the risks of possible consequences of climate change, identify the most vulnerable areas in the Dniester river basin and improve adaptation capacity in Ukraine and Moldova. This study in particular is aimed at analyzing and discussing the capacity for information exchange on flood risks and timely warnings to the population.

The Environmental Atlas of the Dniester Basin is the first attempt to present the environmental state of the transboundary river in a visual format which includes over 30 thematic maps of the basin, graphics, diagrams and pictures. The target groups for the Atlas are specialists in environmental protection, as well as the authorities and the population in the Dniester basin.

The Atlas is further supported by the Dniester river basin geo-information system, designed to facilitate strategic and operational decisions in the basin including those related to implementing the New Dniester Basin Treaty signed by Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova in Rome on 29 November 2012.

This map by Zoï environment network is a contribution to an international effort to support Ukraine and Moldova in jointly managing their shared Dniester river. Besides being used in numerous reports and publications, the map is also 'carved in stone' on nearly fifty information boards mounted along the Dniester river from its source to the mouth. Hopefully this will help people of the basin better understand and appreciate their common heritage, thus in the end turning environmental information into action.

The publication prepared by Zoi in cooperation with GRID-Arendal and the Environment and Security initiative explores the impacts of climate change on Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. The three countries of Eastern Europe will not be affected as strongly as many other parts of Eurasia, yet they will see more of severe floods and forest fires, decreasing water reserves in the south, and gradual changes in biodiversity, agriculture and food security. The countries have only started to address these challenges: national policies remain week and the general public is hardly aware of the problem. Meanwhile the industrialized Eastern Europe contributes to the global emissions of greenhouse gases, thus affecting more vulnerable parts of the world. The report was launched at the 7th Ministerial conference "Environment for Europe" in Astana in September 2011.

ENVSEC Project “Reducing vulnerability to extreme floods and climate change in the Dniester river basin” (Dniester - III floods & climate).
Summary of the baseline studies for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, February 2011.

Zoï helps the EMPIS-SEIS (European Neighborhood Policy Instrument - Shared Environmental Information Systems) National Focal Points prepare the Country Reports and associated action lists. These assessment reports describe the existing institutional cooperation in the partner countries in the field of water resources, atmospheric air, soil and biodiversity protection and waste management, assesses current environmental inter-institutional cooperation in these priority fields and identifies the country's capacity for taking SEIS implementation forward.

Dniester Basin GIS (Geographic Information System)

Russian - English

This report reflects the current situation on public health in the country, including children’s health, and the impact of environmental factors on their health, as well as an overview of national priorities, policies and activities that were conducted to improve the existing situation.

The photographs in this book form part of a project commissioned by the Environment and Security Initiative (ENSEC) published in association with Zoi Environment Network. Alban Kakulya is a writter and photographer based in Switzerland.

Monograph on water management on the upper Pripyat river between Belarus and Ukraine, prepared by the project team to present project results to the professional audience (Russian).

Mapping flood risks in the Styr-Prostyr basin part of the upper Pripyat basin

A team of Belarus, Ukrainian and international experts visited the area around the Vyzhevsky water gate of the Beloozerskaya water-feed system, on 30 June - 4 July 2008. The report is in Russian.

Summary in English