Environmental situation in the OPT – Release of study – UNEP press release

Study On The Environment Of The Occupied Palestinian Territories Released

UNEP's Governing Council 3 to 7 February: Environment for Development

Nairobi, January 2003 – A report on the environmental situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories was today published on the Internet.

The document will be discussed by environment ministers attending the 22nd Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which runs from 3 to 7 February 2003.

The report, Desk Study on the Environment in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, was requested from UNEP by Governments who attended the Seventh Special Session of the Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum which took place in Cartagena, Colombia, in February 2002.

Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director, says in his foreword to the study: "The unanimous decision of the Council was motivated by the alarming reports related to pollution of water, dumping of wastes, loss of natural vegetation and pollution of coastal waters in the region. I gave implementation of this decision high priority".

The Desk Study team, comprising eight highly qualified and impartial environmental experts under the chairmanship of Pekka Haavisto, the former Finnish Minister of Environment and Development Cooperation, visited the region between 1 and 11 October. The report carries recommendations on improving the environment that will benefit the territories and the region as a whole.

Note to Editors The report is published along with other 22nd Governing Council documents at http://www.unep.org/GoverningBodies/GC22/documents.asp 

For More Information Please Contact Eric Falt, Spokesperson/Director of UNEP's Division of Communications and Public Information, on Tel: 254 2 623292, Mobile: 254 (0) 733 682656, E-mail: eric.falt@unep.org or Nick Nuttall, UNEP Head of Media, on Tel: 254 2 623084, Mobile: 254 (0) 733 632755, E-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org