UNECE is now executing a number of projects linked to industrial security in Central Asia, which may not be completed by 2023, according to Franziska Hirsch, Secretary of the UNECE’s Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents.
The Convention on Industrial Accidents’ updated work plan for 2023-2024 foresees the following initiatives within the Convention’s Assistance and Cooperation Programme:
1) National Policy Dialogues (NPDs) for Central Asian industrial security;
2) Developing cooperative strategies to prevent and respond to air pollution in the Syr Darya River basin (Phase II);
3) Assisting Central Asian countries in strengthening policies and governance for the protection of tailings management facilities, including incorporating climate change implications into Natech risk management – subject to funds availability.
UNECE conducted an assessment of national industrial security policies and laws in five Central Asian countries as part of the “National Policy Dialogues for Industrial Safety in Central Asia (Phase I: Launch)” initiative, which was launched in 2020.
“These studies reflect the current situation and advise national governments on how to better align national laws with the Convention’s requirements to improve the implementation of the Convention on Industrial Accidents and strengthen policy linkages and coherence relating to industrial security,” Hirsch said.
Notably, UNECE has been actively assisting the strengthening of tailings security and governance in Central Asia, as well as disaster risk governance and the management of multi-hazard risks, including risks from hazardous industrial activities and pure hazard-triggered technical catastrophes.
