The UNECE has announced a contribtion of 30,000 CHF to the 2009 work programme of the Kiev Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR).

The contribution is to be used to support capacity-building activities agreed by the UNECE Working Group on PRTRs aimed at enabling Signatory states with economies in transition to develop national PRTR systems with a view toward facilitating their ratification of the Protocol on PRTRs.

"The development of an open global protocol on PRTRs as [an] legally binding instrument is a key step to prevent and reduce pollution," said Dr. Georg Karlaganis, Switzerland's leading chemicals expert, in a letter announcing the Swiss Government's contribution.

The Kiev Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfers Registers to the UNECE Aarhus Convention entered into force on 8 October 2009.  The first Meeting of the Parties of the Protocol will be held from 20 to 22 April 2010, in Geneva.

[Source: UNECE]