The Ukrainian delegation at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Berne Convention on the protection of wild flora and fauna and natural habitats in Europe managed to limit the rights of Belarus as a contracting party to the Convention.
This decision was supported by all the participants of the meeting, except for Belarus, reports Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine.
The message noted that this became possible thanks to the work of the delegation and a statement from Ukraine prepared by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Environment and the Permanent Representation of Ukraine to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. Berne Convention is one of the key documents for Ukraine regarding the Emerald Network.
The meeting lasted from November 28 to December 2 in French Strasbourg, France.
The press service emphasized that throughout the meeting there was a discussion regarding the limitation of the rights of Belarus as a contracting party to the Convention. Due to repeated attempts by Belarus, an accomplice of the aggressor country, to procedurally prevent the approval of the decision, the vote on the declaration was constantly postponed.
"A country that provides its territory for the invasion of Russia, the placement of Russian missiles and constant bombing should not enjoy the same rights as countries that faithfully fulfill all the provisions of the Berne Convention. Every missile launched from Belarus is a violation of the principles of international law and a violation of the provisions of the Convention, which is designed to protect the habitats of flora and fauna," the joint statement said.
The statement also emphasized that the invasion of the territory of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant from the territory of Belarus endangered the lives of rare species, their habitats, and the lives of millions of people.
The message noted that a decision was made at the meeting on a separate declaration aimed at:
- strongly condemn the unprovoked and unjustified act of aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the involvement of Belarus in the war, which grossly violates international law and the UN Charter and undermines international security and stability;
- to recognize that in addition to the tragedy of the mass death of Ukrainians, catastrophic damage is being done to the country's environment. Unfortunately, it will take years to restore natural habitats and species in Ukraine, and some species may be lost forever;
The press service emphasized that Russian military aggression, among other things, endangers Ukraine's implementation of all multilateral environmental agreements, and the achievements of recent decades are practically leveled.
- to support Ukraine in the continuation of cooperation under the Convention after the stabilization of the situation;
- to actively oppose the election of any possible Belarusian candidates for the role of Bureau member, chairman or vice-chairman, chairman of any expert group, working group, as well as instructing them to represent the Standing Committee under any circumstances.
It was noted in the message that the Standing Committee of the Convention also asked the Secretariat to monitor the participation and work of Belarus in other conventions within the framework of the Council of Europe in order to further limit its participation in all possible working bodies of environmental conventions.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wote, that the participants of the international conference of the Ramsar Convention (COP14), for the first time in its 50 years of existence, voted for restrictions on Russia's rights as a Contracting Party.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, the participants of the 19th Conference of the Parties to the CITES Convention (on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora) COP19 in Panama supported Ukraine and condemned Russia's military aggression.
