UN hails Mid East peace 'milestone'

The UN has persuaded both Israelis and Palestinians to work together on solving environmental problems in the occupied territories.

" The environment will be part of a peace package, and this could be a start towards a peace policy "
Pekka Haavisto, Unep

A senior UN official says the agreement is a "milestone" for the UN Environment Programme (Unep).

It could, he believes, be a first step towards a peace settlement.

It gives Unep a unique role as an intermediary between the two sides.

Unep's governing council, at the end of a five-day meeting here, agreed unanimously a resolution welcoming a report published by the organisation's Post-Conflict Assessment Unit (PCAU).

Water resources

The resolution asks Unep's executive director, Dr Klaus Toepfer, to implement the report's 136 recommendations.

And in a key section, it asks him "to make Unep available to act as a facilitator, and also an impartial moderator when requested by both parties."

The 188-page report, Desk Study On The Environment In The Occupied Palestinian Territories, was compiled by the unit after a visit to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza in October 2002.

The team chairman, Pekka Haavisto, said they had found "cause for alarm in relation to the quality of the drinking water and quantity extracted, as well as the contamination of the aquifers from wastewater, landfills and hazardous waste".

Building confidence

Mr Haavisto told BBC News Online: "This is our report, but both sides can live with it, though there are many things that each of them would put otherwise.

"It's taken four days of intensive negotiations here to find a formula both of them would accept. Every word, every comma counts - there was a lot of suspicion.

"But in the end it's been accepted as a package, with no picking or choosing. The very fact we've got this milestone agreement is encouraging.

"And asking Unep to be a mediator is a first for us - we're not going in after a conflict has finished, as we always have done, but while it's still going on.

"This is only the first step on the way to using environmental cooperation to build confidence. But we're on our way.

"The environment will be part of a peace package, and this could be a start towards a peace policy."

Climate change

Problem areas covered in the report include water, solid and hazardous waste, land use and the way it is changing, threats to wild species and their habitats, and environmental governance.

It says: "The alarming, conflict-related environmental problems are adding to existing pressures, which include population pressures coupled with scarcity of land, weak environmental infrastructure, inadequate resources for environmental management, and global environmental trends such as desertification and climate change."

Dr Toepfer, who himself visited Israel and the occupied territories in July 2002, said: "I left with a feeling of compassion and deep sympathy for the plight and suffering of the Palestinians and the sense of insecurity felt by the Israelis.

"The peaceful end of the occupation and cessation of all violence must be the ultimate objective.

"It has been the clear assessment of governments from across the world that the environmental situation in the occupied Palestinian territories is real cause for concern."

Focus on Africa

The PCAU has also made assessments in the Balkans and Afghanistan.

Dr Toepfer told BBC News Online: "We really have to do more to use the unit in Africa. Nature in Africa is fragile, and the large numbers of refugees are worrying.

"The need for the PCAU may well be as urgent here as anywhere."

Discussions have begun about a possible role for the unit in Angola. It hopes to start work in the occupied territories in March.