The 6th Workshop on the Trans-boundary Environmental Impact Assessment (TEIA) in Northeast Asia was held in Jeju, ROK from 7 to 10 December 2009.

In cooperation with the Tumen Secretariat, the workshop was jointly organised by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) of ROK and the Korea Environment Institute (KEI), of which the latter has prominent expertise in the field of environmental impact assessment (EIA).

Around 20 environmental experts from GTI member countries (China, Mongolia, Russia and ROK) attended this workshop to brief recent development updates on TEIA and relevant GTI activities; to review issues on sustainable development and regional stability in Northeast Asia; and to discuss Northeast Asia regional cooperation promotional strategy.

Mr. Kim Myong Hwan, Deputy Director of MOE delivered the opening address, followed by Mr. Kim Ji Young, Director General of KEI. Mrs. Nataliya Yacheistova, the director of the Tumen Secretariat, further emphasised the role of GTI Environment Board (EB) in the progress of Tumen River protection project. 

Ms. Anna Radnai, senior advisor of the Ministry for Environment and Waters in Hungary, addressed “Current Activities and Case Study of the Espoo Convention” including Hungarian EIA and the case study of  “Life-time Extension of a Nuclear Power Plant for Further 20 Years Operation.” Following on, Mr. Lee Young-Joon presented on “Frame work for TEIA and Guideline in NE Asia Discussion for Intra-governmental cooperation”.

There was a shared view among the participants on the need of further utilising the GTI Environment Board (EB) to enhance communications at both government and research levels. In this regard, the inaugural GTI EB meeting planned to be held in 2010, would be apparent for discussion of TEIA system and to reach an agreement at an official level, prior to specifics such as the development of practical TEIA guidelines for the region and standardising EIA contents among member states. A background paper outlining the main ideas on the EIA systems of each member countries was conceived to be beneficial across all participants.

 


CONTACTS

For further inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact: 

Dr. Young-Joon Lee Director, Division of Strategic Assessment Korea Environment Institute Tel: +82-2-380-7763 Fax: +82-2-380-7744 email: yjlee@kei.re.kr	Ms. Ha-young Kwon Researcher Korea Environment Institute Tel: +82-2-380-7762 Fax: +82-2-380-7744 email: hykwon@kei.re.kr
Mr. Myong Hwan Kim Deputy Director, Global Environment Division Ministry of Environment, ROK Tel: +82-2-2110-6560 Fax: +82-2-504-9206 email: newhopes@korea.kr