National Funds Help the Environment in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

              Five Countries Raise Over $450 Million

Budapest -  Foreign aid and government budgets can be expected to
finance only a small proportion of future environmental projects in
Central and Eastern Europe, with the National Environmental
Protection Funds in some countries becoming more important sources
of financing, according to a survey recently published by the
Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC). 
National Environmental Protection Funds in Central and Eastern
Europe: Case Studies of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland,
and Slovak Republic is the latest in a series of surveys that aim to
facilitate cooperation between countries in the region and to
provide information which allows for comparative assessment.

Starting in 1989, National Environmental Protection Funds were
established in these countries to collect charges and fines on
pollution and recycle this revenue to fund environmental projects. 
In 1993 the five countries in the survey had collected about $456
million which primarily supported projects to combat air, water, and
waste pollution.  "In view of the financial situation in the
region," said REC Executive Director Stanislaw Sitnicki, "these
Funds are essential to ensure needed investments in environmental
protection".  The REC's survey compares the institutional framework
guiding the Funds' activities, their spending strategies, and their
decision-making processes.  It also considers their possible future
roles in environmental protection.

REC
Miklos ter 1
Budapest H-1035
Hungary
e-mail: 

Regional Environmental Center Hosts
              Electronic Communications Workshop


Budapest  -  Sixteen  leaders in the  field  of  environmental
information systems gathered for a workshop in Budapest hosted
by  the  Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern
Europe  (REC) on Thursday, January 19.  The workshop, entitled
"Cooperation in Building Electronic Communications in  Central
and  Eastern Europe," brought together users and providers  of
environmental  information services from Central  and  Eastern
Europe  as  well as Western international organizations.   The
main   goal  of  the  workshop  was  to  identify  areas   for
cooperation   among   the   many  organizations   establishing
networks,  in  order to maximize the benefits  and  avoid  the
costs of duplication.

The  Regional  Environmental  Center  has  recently  begun  to
establish a network, the REC-Net, to link local REC offices in
the  13 countries it serves and provide them access to as many
global  sources  of  environmental  information  as  possible.
Presently,  the  REC  serves as the  repository  of  the  most
comprehensive environmental data bank in the CEE region.   "By
collaborating  with  other information  resource  centers  and
exchanging  experiences, the REC can further  its  mission  to
increase   public  participation  in  sustainable  development
issues,"   according   to   Rossen   Roussev,   the   database
communications officer at the REC's Budapest head office.

Participants included representatives from the United  Nations
Development  Program's  Sustainable Development  Network,  the
Consortium   for   International  Earth  Science   Information
Network, the Soros Foundation, and Sun Microsystems.   Central
and  Eastern  European operators of environmental networks  in
Hungary   (GreenSpiderNet),  the  Czech  Republic  (EConnect),
Romania  (StrawberryNet),  the Slovak  Republic,  Poland,  and
Estonia  presented  their experiences  and  needs  for  future
expansion.

Among  the  immediate  outcomes  of  the  workshop  were   the
formation  of on-line working groups to examine and report  on
critical   issues,   collaboration  with   other   information
cooperatives   world-wide,  and  an  offer  to  establish   an
electronic link between the Warsaw University Computer  Center
and the REC's local office in Poland.


Contact:  Winston H. Bowman
          Tel: 36 1 250 3401
          E Mail: 

A BME es a BKE minden kornyezetes hallgatojanak melegen ajanlom a Colorado
State University nemzetkozi csereprogramjat. Ha tenyleg van kornyezetes
munkad, es tudsz angolul, konnyen megnyerheted, es itt olyan lehetosegekhez
jutsz, hogy el se hiszed! Azonkivul iszonyu jo buli!
Szivesen nyujtok tobb informaciot.

Zalka Peter (jelenleg a fenti program resztvevoje)

KORNYESZ 25-ben emlitett felmerest reszletekben kozlom. Barkinek
szivesen elkuldjuk a teljes valtozatot e_mail-kent avagy ha nagyon
szukseges hard-copy (korlatozott szamban) szinten elerheto: e_mail
to Mr. Terry Collins at  or to me 
snail mail address: UNEP/Regional Office for North America, 
Two UN Plaza, Room DC2-806, New York, NY 10017 USA

                                * * * 

                              Part 1 of 6

UNEP GLOBAL SURVEY ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES OF  
              THE FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY  

Executive Summary  
  
This research, conducted by the Environment and Finance Research  
Enterprise, sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme 
with additional financial support from Salomon Inc, serves as a  
barometer of how the industry is currently looking at key  
environmental issues.  It is a critical first step in the  
establishment of a more proactive and global approach to  
environmental initiatives within the financial services industry. 
 
Due to its international scope and the breadth of issues covered, 
the survey is intended to provide an empirical contribution to  
understanding how environmental issues are influencing the  
financial services industry, and the perceived importance of such 
issues within the industry.  
  
The research was designed to examine five major areas:  
  
       1. Determine the current extent and focus of environmental 
          activities/programs within the commercial and investment 
          banking segments of the financial services industry.  
       2. Explore the differences in the approaches taken towards 
          environmental liability exposure and risk management  
          between equity and debt financing transactions.  
       3. Identify industry practices and related trends as they  
          pertain to environmental regulations and guidelines  
          affecting the financial services community.  
       4. Understand the industry's short-, medium-, and long-  
          term perspective on environmental issues, as well as,  
          the extent of specific environmental programs and  
          activities currently in place and those anticipated to  
          be adopted in the future.  
       5. Identify where additional technical support would be  
          most useful in responding to the environmental concerns 
          of the targeted segments of the financial services  
          industry and specifically how multilateral agencies  
          could fill that need.   
  
Key findings  
  
A substantial amount of data was gathered concerning the  
environmental activities, perceptions and future expectations of  
the international financial services industry.  Some of its  
findings are consistent with previous country-specific studies.   
In a number of instances, however, the information gathered is  
more broadly based and thus more descriptive of industry trends  
than previous surveys.  The study identified a number of key  
trends:  
  
       1. Seventy percent of the respondents believe that  
          environmental issues have a material impact on their  
          business.  Initially, it appears that firms focus on  
          non-core activities such as energy conservation and  
          recycling.  However, as their awareness grows so does  
          their willingness to take on environmental initiatives  
          that relate directly to core banking activities, such as 
          environmental credit risk analysis and transactions with 
          firms that focus on environmental technologies.  
       2. The focus on environmentally related activities crosses 
          all geographic regions of the world~s industrialized  
          economies.  North America is most focused on risk  
          management processes and tools and European institutions 
          are leading the way on identifying environmentally-  
          related new business opportunities.  
       3. Over 80% of the respondents perform some degree of  
          environmental risk management on the debt side of their 
          business.  This percentage is even higher in  
          industrialized countries.  However, environmental issues 
          presently appear to play little role when it comes to  
          equity financing.  Also, compared to the day-to-day  
          management of risk associated with a specific  
          transaction, environmental criteria are less likely to  
          be included in formulating an overall lending and  
          investment strategy.  
       4. Liability is the single greatest issue currently facing 
          respondents.  The financial risks, present and future,  
          associated with environmental liability arising from the 
          extension of credit have become a major concern for  
          financial institutions around the world.  
       5. Differences in regulations, both within and across  
          national borders, are posing an increasing problem for  
          the industry.  Firms are concerned about their ability  
          to comply with the growing volume and complexity of  
          environmental regulation that affects their industry.   
          This trend is expected to continue over the next fifteen 
          years.  
       6. While much environmental due diligence is performed  
          prior to committing funds to a transaction, once the  
          funds are committed little monitoring of the  
          environmental risk associated with a company~s  
          activities  occurs.  This appears to be tied to (i) the 
          current interpretation of national legislation on the  
          issue and related liability concerns and (ii) the cost  
          of designing and managing a monitoring process.  
       7. A need exists for more meaningful analytical data  
          and risk quantification tools.  
       8. Regardless of their current perspective, geographic  
          base, or economic stage of development, all respondents 
          believed environmental issues will receive more  
          attention and become increasingly integrated with core  
          business activities over the next 15 years.  In  
          particular, financial institutions will be more likely  
          to look for transactional opportunities with  
          environmentally-related businesses.  
  
Implications of findings  
  
The results of this study highlight eight areas that need to be  
addressed by the industry, governments and multilateral agencies  
as financial institutions become more involved with environmental 
issues over the next 15 years.  
  
       1. Individual institutions will need to continue to expand 
          environmental initiatives, especially as they relate to 
          core banking activities.  
       2. The industry and multilateral agencies need to extend  
          the environmental practices already in place in  
          industrial economies to developing countries and expand 
          the existing process of establishing environmental  
          practices in transitional economies.  
       3. Institutions need to explore more seriously the  
          revenue side of the equation rather than focus primarily 
          on risk management.  
       4. Institutions need to broaden their focus to include  
          effective approaches to address environmental issues  
          associated with equity financing.  
       5. National governments and multilaterals need to play a  
          key role in creating "global" environmental  
          guidelines/regulations that would simplify the approach 
          to cross-border transactions, while also setting the  
          stage for an ~even~ playing field.  
       6. The industry needs more sophisticated, empirically-  
          based risk management tools.  
       7. More information needs to be gathered on the  
          industry's requirements in the areas of risk management, 

          credit analysis, training and modeling.  
       8. Given the regional differences in focus and  
          activities, the overall industry would benefit from a  
          global exchange of information on environmentally  
          focused banking policies and practices.  
  
This study establishes a base of knowledge about current  
environmental policies and practices within the global financial  
services industry.  Understanding the reasons behind the study~s  
findings is an important next step in helping both banks and  
multilateral agencies within the industry to improve their  
responsiveness to the risks and opportunities presented by the  
environmental questions facing the global economy.  


                 Gabor Szilagyi  > 
                 United Nations Environment Programme
                 Regional Office for North America
                 TEL (212)963-7781 
                 FAX (212)963-8193

Ago es tobbiek:
a Csussz valoban nev (becenev), es azzal a hanggal ejtendo, ami a 
magyar abc-ben kozvetlenul a ty utan all, azaz rovid u ( nem u' nem u: 
es nem u" ) :-)

Az adatforrasaimrol annyit: mint a JATE fizika szakos hallgatoja, 
lehetosegem volt tanulmanyi kirandulast tenni a paksi atomeromuben, 
mintegy ket eve, onnan szarmaznak. Hulye fejjel nem jegyzeteltem, nem 
gondoltam arra, hogy anno... me'g jol johetnek az ott kozolt adatok. 
Mindenesetre megprobalok friss informaciohoz jutni es ugy gondolom, hogy 
az is hasznos volna, ha valaki(k) ossze tudna(k) szedni a tobbi orszagra 
vonatkozokat is. Azt hiszem, tanulsagos lehetne osszevetni, hogy 
a kulonbozo energiaforrasbol szarmazo elektromos energia mely 
orszagban mennyibe kerul. Arrol jutott ez az eszembe, hogy valahol 
olvastam, hogy a - viszonylag kozvetlenul - napenergia felhasznalassal 
mukodo eromuvek legjobbjai kb. 1 es 1,5 dollarcent kozotti aron kepesek 1 
watt elektromos energiat produkalni.

Es egy masik kerdes: tobbszor olvastam mar arrol, hogy a allitolag 
regesreg vannak mar a dugattyus motoroknal jobb hatasfoku benzinpusztito 
szerkentyuk, csak piaci megfontolasokbol nem vezetik be oket az auto- es 
motorgyarak. Tudja valaki, hogy milyen motorok ezek? Csak nem a 
Wankel-motorok? Vagy valamifele turbinak?

csussz