Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine: Failure to settle Environmental Issues of the Black Sea may damage the Ecosystems of Entire Region
Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, delivered a welcoming speech at the 35th Meeting of the Economic, Commercial, Technological and Environmental Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation held in Kyiv on Wednesday .
V.Lytvyn stressed that "environmental conditions of marine environment in the Black Sea region are utterly important for the countries of this region, Ukraine in particular." "The Black Sea has trans-frontier environmental issues, and the failure to settle them may damage the ecosystems of the entire region," he emphasized.
He declared that Ukraine took action to fulfill its commitments under the following environmental conventions:
- the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution;
- the Convention on Co-operation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the River Danube;
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol to it.
Through its representation in the governing body of the Bucharest Convention the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution (the Black Sea Commission), Ukraine has a bearing on the development of balanced regional environmental policy regarding the Black Sea.
The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine stated that under the Resolution of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of 04.02.1994 "On Ratification of the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution", our state also ratified the following Protocols:
- Protocol on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Black Sea From Land Based Sources and Activities;
- Protocols on Cooperation in Combating Pollution of the Black Sea Marine Environment by Oil and other Harmful Substances in Emergency Situations;
- Protocol on the Protection of the Black Sea Marine Environment Against Pollution by Dumping.
The Law of Ukraine of 22.02.2007 ratifies another Protocol to the Bucharest Convention the Black Sea Biodiversity and Landscape Conservation Protocol, which confirmed the intentions of Ukraine to take action for establishing close cooperation in the Black Sea region by harmonizing the national legislation with the international standards.
V.Lytvyn underscored that Ukraine was the only country among the Black Sea states, Contractual Parties of the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution, that had drafted and adopted a special policy document the State Program on Protection and Reproduction of the Environment of the Azov and Black Seas.
The Head of the Parliament stressed that "economic activity of the countries in the basins of rivers falling into these seas, especially the Danube and the Dniester Rivers, is the main cause of the Black Sea pollution." "Analysis of the influence of anthropogenic activity on the Black Sea region environment proves that unbiased conclusions can not be made on the basis of a territorially limited economic activity, as the integrated ecosystem is concerned," he stated.
V.Lytvyn believes that "the countries of the Black Sea region should take joint action to protect and reproduce the Black Sea environment, preserve and rationally use marine natural resource, and provide sustainable socio-economic development of the Black Sea region.
Among the basic tools for settlement of the environmental issues of the Black Sea region, V.Lytvyn singled out discussions at the international forums, debates of specific problematic issues on the bilateral level, use of international legal instruments envisaged by the environmental conventions. "The Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation is obviously an international platform for discussion of the issues of the Black Sea region."