Members of BSEC join forces to protect environment

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

BSEC’s environmentalist Black Sea Box project has been introduced to school children across the member states. Hürriyet photo

Environmental protection is among several areas in which the BSEC is active. The gradual degradation of the environment in the Black Sea region over recent decades is a source of grave concern. This degradation has brought about the need to undertake measures to rehabilitate, protect and preserve the environment for future generations. The causes of degradation show that regional and international cooperation is indispensable for this.

Thus, exchanging scientific and technical information, increasing public awareness and incorporating environmentally-friendly approaches in economic development - with particular attention to the promotion of innovative and resource saving technologies - comprise priorities for the BSEC.

Project partners
It is important that public awareness-raising projects also address children and the youth, as the notion of environmental protection should be instilled at a young age. It is with this in mind that the “Black Sea Box” education project was prepared - comprised of teaching materials pertaining to the protection of the Black Sea environment - with the joint cooperation of the BSEC, the World Wildlife Fund – Turkey (WWF-Turkey), the UNDP and the Coca-Cola Company.

The “Black Sea Box” is set to be introduced to classrooms across the BSEC Member States at primary and secondary school levels.

Currently, BSEC Members are also discussing the modalities of establishing an information exchange mechanism for environmental protection. There is also an ongoing study on the possibilities of strengthening cooperation with other organizations, institutions and partners on issues related to the protection and rehabilitation of the Black Sea marine environment.

In dealing with climate change, the BSEC Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs adopted a Joint Declaration on Combating Climate Change in the wider Black Sea Area in 2010, in Thessaloniki. This important policy document was submitted to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, in December 2010, constituting a significant contribution of the BSEC to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations. A project on introducing climate change in the environmental strategy for the protection of the Black Sea is also expected to be launched soon, jointly with the UNDP.