April 16, 2013, Kyiv — MAMA-86 Executive Director Zoriana Mishchuk called for making environmental security a priority for OSCE, speaking at a round table held within the framework of an OSCE meeting under Ukraine’s presidency in this organization.

The round table "Civil Society Involvement in Achieving the OSCE Goal: Recommendations of the Expert Group on How to Update Maastricht Strategy Document of the OSCE" allowed Ms. Mishchuk and other civil society experts – members of the group – to present their recommendations on revision of the OSCE Strategy Document for the Economic and Environmental Dimension, which has been defining priorities of this pan-European security organization in such spheres as economy, good governance, sustainable development and environmental protection for the last ten years.

Ms. Mishchuk was in charge of reviewing “Protecting the Environment” section of the document. In her view, since 2003, when the Strategy was adopted at the 11th OSCE Ministerial Council Meeting, environmental risks, such as climate change, water deficit, and air, water and soil pollution, have increased significantly, now posing a serious threat to regional and national security. Having analyzed the existing threats and opportunities, as well as current OSCE activities in this sphere, Ms. Mishchuk concluded that "as a political security organization uniting countries with different environmental standards, OSCE can play an important part in increasing awareness of environmental risks, enhancing the capacity to counteract them and strengthening the political will to develop regional environmental cooperation and to raise the priority of environmental policy on the national level."

To reflect this opportunity, the revised Maastricht Strategy and further OSCE activities in this field must fully consider existing environmental risks, focusing primarily on those issues of cooperation that lie on a junction of environment and the Organization’s other priorities such as energy, security, transportation and good governance, where a synergy of efforts could be achieved. Integration of environmental policy into sectoral policies should be declared as an overarching principle of OSCE work but can also constitute a separate subject of cooperation, for example, through promotion of establishment of relevant governance mechanisms on the national level, according to Ms. Mishchuk.

She also pointed out that involvement of other stakeholders in OSCE planning and implementation activities, civil society in the first place, will make the Organization more effective. "We suggest establishing a special consultative body for interaction with stakeholders, as well as providing wider opportunities for civil society to engage locally in the implementation of OSCE’s projects, in particular those related to environmental education and awareness raising," she said.

The round table, organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Office in Ukraine and Belarus, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Public Council thereto, was a side event to the Second Preparatory Meeting for the 21st OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum. Participants in the meeting, including representatives from OSCE's 57 participating states, other international organizations, and NGOs, discussed ways to improve cooperation in the area of new and renewable energy sources, green economy development, innovative development, and sharing up-to-date energy conservation technologies.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UPDATING THE OSCE MAASTRICHT STRATEGY DOCUMENT FOR ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSION (in Ukrainian)