After a year-long deferral, the Parties to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment (the Espoo Convention) and its Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (the Protocol on SEA) have again met at the resumed sessions of the Meetings of the Parties to the Espoo Convention and the protocol on SEA, held on 10 December 2024.
Lifetime extensions of nuclear power plants
The resumed meetings successfully concluded their decision-making process with the adoption of decision IX/4 i on compliance by Czechia with its obligations under the Espoo Convention regarding the lifetime extension of four reactors of the Dukovany nuclear power plant.
Decision IX/4 highlights the ongoing importance of applying the Convention to lifetime extensions of nuclear power plant. This matter first appeared on the Parties' agenda in 2014 (Decision VI/2 concerning the application by Ukraine of the Convention to the lifetime extension of the Rivne nuclear power plant) and has remained high on the agenda since then. In Europe alone about 100 nuclear power plants have reached, or are reaching, their originally designed lifetimes.
Over the past decade, the Parties to the Convention have extensively discussed the application of the Convention to lifetime extensions of nuclear power plants. The Implementation Committee also kept receiving information from various stakeholders on the subject. To address the need for a joint approach, in 2017, the Parties agreed to develop guidance on the applicability of the Convention to lifetime extensions which. after three years of intense discussions, culminated in the adoption of the Guidance on the applicability of the Convention to the lifetime extension of nuclear power plants in December 2020.
Even before concluding these discussions, the Parties started making various efforts to ensure the actual application of the Convention in addressing the environmental impacts of nuclear power plant lifetime extensions. Certain Parties have proactively conducted environmental impact assessments and applied the Convention to lifetime extensions. Other countries have amended their legislation to make the Convention's application mandatory for all such activities within their borders. Still other Parties have introduced legislation allowing for voluntary transboundary consultations under the Convention, and some have begun applying the Convention to the lifetime extension of their nuclear power plants.
Geneva Declaration stressed role of the Convention and Protocol in accelerating the sustainable energy transition and the SDGs
The resumed Meetings of the Parties also adopted the Geneva Declaration.
The Declaration highlights the potential of the Convention and its Protocol to accelerate sustainable energy transitions, promote carbon neutrality, biodiversity conservation, and the circular economy, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, including in marine regions. It also calls for enhanced cooperation with regional sea conventions to effectively apply the Convention and Protocol to the protection of the Mediterranean Sea. The Declaration also highlights the importance of the treaties for the green reconstruction of Ukraine.
France and Greece are new Parties to the Protocol
The Parties also welcomed France and Greece as new members to the Protocol, further strengthening the community of states committed to the Protocol's objectives. Additionally, the Parties welcomed the closure of the case regarding the Bystroe Canal project in Ukraine, with the caution issued in 2008 by decision IV/2 now lifted.
In his closing remarks, the Chair of the High-Level Segment of the meetings, Vladimir Cuc, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Moldova to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, stated:
"The Espoo Convention and the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment represent a major framework for environmental protection and, through the joint efforts of its Parties, serve to protect the environment at the local, regional, and global level. In the current circumstances, it is important that the application of the Convention and the Protocol remains effective and consolidated."
This resumed session demonstrated the Parties' ability to advance collaboratively, even under challenging circumstances, and underscored the strength of multilateral efforts in addressing complex compliance issues under consideration.
