Environment and Security Initiative
Created by the OSCE, the Environment and Security Initiative aims to tackle environmental and security risks through promoting environmental co-operation.
Background
About the initiative and partner organizations
Environmental degradation and competition over natural resources can lead to political disputes and threaten stability. Environmental co-operation, on the other hand can contribute to conflict prevention and confidence building.
The Environment and Security Initiative, or ENVSEC for short, was created to tackle environmental and security risks by promoting environmental co-operation among and within the countries of four regions: Eastern Europe, South-Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. ENVSEC grew out of discussions at the OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum. It was launched simultaneously at the Fifth Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference in Kyiv and the OSCE 11th Economic and Environmental Forum in Prague in May 2003.
Fragment of the ENVSEC infographic.
A platform for co-operation
Founded initially by the OSCE, United Nations Development Programme and UN Environment, the partnership was later joined by other organizations, such as the UN Economic Commission for Europe. Over the years, the ENVSEC Initiative has accumulated a good network of national stakeholders representing governmental agencies, civil society and academia as well as a rich knowledge and expertise in addressing issues that are at the interface of environment and security.
Partner organizations:
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe (REC)
The Initiative’s work
The ENVSEC Initiative delivers vulnerability assessments of environment and security risks. It strengthens the capacities of national institutions for more effective environment and security policies. It provides technical expertise for clean-up and remediation. It also increases knowledge and awareness of the linkages between environmental and security risks and promotes the participation of interested actors in activities that aim to prevent and reduce these risks. Based on the national and regional consultations conducted across four sub-regions, the ENVSEC Initiative focuses on five priority areas:
- Transboundary natural resources
- Climate change
- Disaster risk reduction
- Hazardous substances and practices
- Information and participation in environment and security (Aarhus Centres).
The ENVSEC Initiative has resulted in the drafting, endorsement and ratification of the Dniester River Basin treaty between Moldova and Ukraine; climate and security risk assessments in Central Asia, Eastern Europe and South Caucasus; reinforced community-based disaster risk reduction in South-Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia; stakeholder engagement in the remediation of uranium legacy sites in Central Asia; and enhanced public awareness and environment and security matters and active citizen participation in decision-making.
Projects
OSCE-led projects as part of the initiative
Aarhus Centres
Engaging citizens, governments and the private sector in a dialogue on environmental challenges
Dniester River Basin
Website of the Dniester River Commission
Climate Change and Security in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus
Strengthening Responses to Security Risks from Climate Change in South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia
Resources
Publications, guidelines and other manually selected resources
OSCE Strategy Document for the Economic and Environmental Dimension
Transforming Risks into Co-operation
ENVSEC - The Environment and Security Initiative: Transforming Risks into Co-operation
ENVSEC in the South Caucasus: An Overview of Projects
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