On the occasion of the entry into force of the Kiev Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers to the Aarhus Convention, the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) and the Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (IES) kindly invite you to their next Environmental Policy Forum on
"Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers:
the Kiev Protocol and its implementation by the EU"
The Kiev Protocol and its importance for environmental policy in Europe will be introduced by Mr. Michel Amand from the Direction de la Coordination et de la Concertation , Direction générale Agriculture, Environnement et Ressources naturelles, Service public de Wallonie, and Chairman of Working Group on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers of the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention. The respondent will be Ms. Dania Cristofaro, Industrial Emissions & Protection of the Ozone Layer Unit, DG Environment, European Commission, who will comment on the measures taken by the EU pursuant to the Protocol.
The PRTR Protocol was adopted during the 5th pan-European Ministerial Conference 'Environment for Europe' in Kiev, Ukraine, on 21 May 2003, and has been signed by 36 European States and the European Community. Having now been ratified by 19 Parties, including 15 EU Member States and the European Community itself, it will formally enter into force on 8 October 2009.
The Protocol requires each Party to establish a register of annual releases and transfers of at least 86 pollutants (such as greenhouse gases, acid rain pollutants, ozone-depleting substances, heavy metals, and certain carcinogens, e.g. dioxins) from major industrial and agricultural point sources (such as, e.g., thermal power stations, mining and metallurgical industries, chemical plants, pulp and paper mills, waste incinerators, etc.), as well as existing information on releases from diffuse sources. PRTR registers must provide public access, free of charge and primarily through internet, to standardized, timely data maintained on structured, computerized databases.
The EU did not await the entry into force of the Kiev Protocol to implement its provisions through EC Regulation No 166/2006, which imposes reporting requirements on operators of E-PRTR installations to make available data on emissions, releases and transfers of specified pollutants for dissemination through the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR).
The Environmental Policy Forum will take place on
Thursday, 8 October 2009, 12:00-14:00
at the IES, Pleinlaan 15, 5th floor, 1050 Brussels.
This event will start at 12:00 with a lunch reception and the talks will begin at 12:30.
Please register at the following website: http://www.ies.be/policyforum/.
