Environmental performance reviews : North Macedonia

"ECE/CEP/186"

This third EPR of North Macedonia takes stock of progress made by the country in the management of its environment since it was reviewed for the second time in 2011 and assesses the implementation of the recommendations made in the second review. It covers legal and policy frameworks, greening the economy, environmental monitoring, public participation and education for sustainable development. Furthermore, the EPR addresses issues of specific importance to the country related to air protection, biodiversity and protected areas, as well as water, waste and chemicals management. The review further provides a substantive and policy analysis of the country's climate change adaptation and mitigation measures and its participation in international mechanisms. The review has an additional thematic angle on the Sustainable Development Goals: it includes an assessment of relevant targets and recommendations related to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. This EPR of North Macedonia began in February 2018 with a preparatory mission to agree on the structure of the report and the schedule for its completion. A team of international experts took part in the review mission on 17- 26 September 2018. In December 2018, the draft report was sent to North Macedonia for comments and was submitted to the ECE Expert Group on Environmental Performance Reviews for consideration. During its meeting on 9-10 January 2019, the Expert Group discussed the draft report with a delegation from North Macedonia, focusing on the conclusions and recommendations made by the international experts. The recommendations, with suggested amendments from the Expert Group, were then submitted for peer review to the ECE Committee on Environmental Policy at its twenty-fourth session on 30 January 2019. A high-level delegation from North Macedonia participated in the peer review and the Committee adopted the recommendations in this report. The Committee and the ECE secretariat are grateful to the Government of North Macedonia and its experts who worked with the international experts and contributed their knowledge and expertise. ECE would also like to express its deep appreciation to the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and the German Federal Environment Agency for their support by providing funds through the Advisory Assistance Programme, and to Norway and Switzerland for their financial support to this review. Sincere thanks also go to Germany, Hungary, Sweden and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for having provided their experts to this review. Furthermore, ECE is grateful to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for its support of this review. ECE also takes this opportunity to thank Germany, Norway, Portugal and Switzerland for their financial support to the EPR Programme in 2018 and expresses its deep appreciation to Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland for having provided their experts for the ECE Expert Group on Environmental Performance Reviews, which undertook the expert review of this report.