ENG - UN CC:Learn

EUROPE AND THE COMMONWEALTH OF
INDEPENDENT STATES
REGIONAL SPOTLIGHTS
Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technology to Reduce Transboundary Pollution in the Danube River Basin 1
The Danube River is over 2,857 km long and travels through the heart of central and eastern Europe, eventually draining into
the Black Sea through a delta; the second largest natural wetland area in Europe. The UNDP/GEF Pollution Reduction
Programme identified 130 major manufacturing enterprises of concern, or ‘hot spots’ within the Danube River Basin; a significant
number of these were contributing to transboundary pollution in the form of nutrients and/or POPs.
The GEF Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technologies (TEST) project implemented by UNDP and executed by UNIDO set
out to build capacity in existing cleaner production institutions in the five Danubian countries of Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania,
Slovakia and Hungary. With a total budget of US$ 3.19 million and lasting three years, a total of 17 selected pilot enterprises in
these countries known to contribute to transboundary pollution in the Danube River Basin and the Black Sea were chosen to
apply the TEST procedure. The goal: compliance with environmental norms of the Danube River Protection Convention (DRPC)
while at the same time maintaining a competitive edge and adapting to the social consequences of major technology upgrading.
In the 3-year period, the project successfully completed training and knowledge transfer related to capacity building and
institutional strengthening at both the level of the selected demonstration enterprises and at the level of the national counterpart
institutions (Cleaner Production Centres, Pollution Control Centres, etc). Over 200 Cleaner production options have
been implemented in the 17 demonstration enterprises for a total investment of US$ 1.66 million and resulting in economic
and environmental benefits including, US$ 1.3 million in annual financial savings.
It also provided a highly valuable demonstration to the industrial private sector of how cleaner production and more environmentally
sound technologies can be embraced successfully by companies without jeopardising their market positions, and
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without incurring any significant long-term costs. In fact, the TEST process has demonstrated that CPA and EST can add a
significant market-level advantage and can increase productivity and make companies more cost-effective while producing
less waste materials.
Restoring the Dnipro River Basin
Watersheds seldom respect political boundaries. Without co-operation and co-ordination, conservation and pollution prevention
undertaken by one country can be quickly undermined by actions on the other side of the border. That was the reality
faced by the Dnipro River basin, located in a diverse economic region in three countries. Over the past eighty years, the Dnipro
River system has been progressively regulated and degraded with a large number of reservoirs, channels, conduits, ponds,
dams and drainage projects. Every year, millions of tonnes of pollution enter the Dnipro River, and ultimately the Black Sea, due
to surface runoff from drained land.
To address the short-term challenges facing the Dnipro basin, the Russian Federation, Republic of Belarus, and Ukraine joined
with UNDP-GEF to scientifically assess the various threats to the Dnipro, identify their root causes, agree on priority actions, and
begin building a multi-national management structure. The long-term goal of the Dnipro River basin project is the creation of
an International Dnipro Commission that will allow the countries to jointly manage the river, co-ordinate pollution mitigation,
and serve as a conflict resolution forum. GEF, the three Governments and IDRC finance this programme with a budget of US$
14.86 million.
The first tangible results of the Dnipro programme were the completion of a Trans-boundary Diagnostic Analysis and a
Strategic Action Programme. On a basin-wide scale, a Dnipro regional council was created to include representatives of Dnipro
oblasts, government ministries, the project implementation unit and representatives from civil society organizations. Each of
these national and regional institutions carries specific responsibilities for research, monitoring and management activities.
These institutions overall contribution have been judged to be so effective that the three countries have committed themselves
to financing their sustained existence after UNDP-GEF financing ends.
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