For information only - not an official document

 UNIS/MA/70
18 September 2014

MEDIA ADVISORY

Media are invited to attend the closing

Press Conference

of the

Fourth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP4) to the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians

When: Friday, 26 September at 13:00 (following the ministerial segment)

Where: Hotel Galant, Mikulov, Czech Republic

Who:    with Ministers and Officials of the Carpathian Convention Member States: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine

The following events are also open to the media:

Friday, 26 September 10:00 - 13:00 (see programme for full schedule)

-       The Introduction and Adoption of the Protocol on Sustainable Transport

-       The Signature of the Protocol and Ceremony

-       The adoption of the Ministerial Declaration on Cultural Heritage and the Joint Alpine - Carpathian Statement on Adaptation to Climate Change

Media representatives who wish to attend the press conference or the side events should register no later than on Tuesday, 23 September by writing to: tiskove@mzp.cz

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The Fourth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP4) to the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians will take place on 23-26 September in the City of Mikulov at the invitation of the Government of the Czech Republic.

At COP4, the Parties will sign the Protocol on Sustainable Transport to the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians and will adopt

The meeting also marks the handover of the Slovak presidency of the Carpathian Convention to the Czech Republic, which will hold the Presidency of the Convention until 2017.

More information about COP4 can be found at www.carpathianconvention.org

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About the Carpathians:

The Carpathians are Europe's largest, longest and most twisted and fragmented mountain chain in Europe, shared by seven Central and Eastern European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. The region represents a centre of extensive biological diversity and unique and well-preserved cultural heritage. The European Union's largest populations of brown bears, wolves, lynx, European bisons and imperial eagles (a globally threatened species) are found in the Carpathians. They are also home to almost 4,000 plant species, including one-third of those species existing in Europe that are found nowhere else in the World.

About the Carpathian Convention:

The Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians (Carpathian Convention) was adopted and signed by seven Central and Eastern European countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine) in May 2003 in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is the only multi-level governance mechanism covering the whole of the Carpathian area and the second sub-regional treaty-based regime for the protection of a mountain region worldwide. Since 2004 the Interim Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention (ISCC) is administered by the United Nations Environment Programme in the Vienna office and hosted by Austria.

The COP is the main decision-making body of the Convention, consisting of High Level Representatives of the contracting states to the Convention. Amongst others, the COP is responsible for the adoption of protocols and amendments to the Convention and for the establishment of subsidiary bodies to the Convention. It decides the programme of work and the financial budget of the Convention and reviews and supports the implementation of the Convention and its Protocols. The ordinary meetings of the COP are held every three years.

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For more information please contact:

Mathilde Köck
UNEP Vienna ISCC
Email: mathilde.koeck[at]unvienna.org
Telephone: (+43-1) 26060 4454