On April 27-28, as part of a two-day online seminar organized by the OSCE, Turkmenistan discussed the Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context and the experience of its implementation.

According to the press service of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat, the event was organized to raise awareness of representatives of state bodies about the procedures and protocols applied under the Espoo Convention.

International experts presented best practices of the OSCE participating States in resolving cross-border issues between the parties under the Espoo Convention and familiarized the participants with normative mechanisms to facilitate cross-border dialogue.

“The principles of the Espoo Convention, embodied in the OSCE Maastricht Strategy on the Economic and Environmental Dimension and the OSCE Madrid Declaration on Environment and Security, serve as an important tool in achieving good environmental governance and environmental democracy at the national and regional levels,” said John McGregor, Head of the Center OSCE in Ashgabat.

The experts spoke in detail about the environmental impact assessment procedures and their transboundary application, highlighting opportunities, threats and risks. They stressed the importance of cooperation between the parties under the Espoo Convention, referring to examples of energy and renewable energy projects.

The seminar was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, the Mejlis (Parliament) and the Ministry of Adalat (Justice), as well as research and educational institutions and civil society of Turkmenistan.